Page 7 of The Prince of New York

“Excellent. That’s all I can ask of you. Now that we’ve taken care of that business, what do you want for dinner?”

My sister’s eyes narrowed. “You haven’t had dinner, Ian?”

I eyed Terry. “How did you know I skipped dinner?”

“You have anxiety, and when you’re that anxious, you skip large meals because you’re afraid of throwing up. As such, I guessed you haven’t had dinner. But thank you for confirming it. If you are concerned about becoming ill, I’ll have the cooks make you some soup and provide a protein shake. Chocolate or vanilla?”

“Chocolate,” I requested, aware if I asked for one, my sister might indulge in a milkshake. “Can you make it in milkshake format?”

“I am sure an arrangement can be made.”

As expected, my sister made a soft sound, which I deciphered as her trying to behave.

“You can have one, too,” Terry promised. “We can arrange for a few extra minutes of exercise a day to make up for your indulgence.”

In reality, Terry would trick my sister, giving her slightly longer but easier exercises to deceive her into believing she needed to maintain lower calories. The last I’d checked, he wanted her to gain a few more pounds. Despite his best efforts, Rachel still weighed below a hundred and twenty.

Terry wanted her at a healthy one thirty, which would be a balance of good body fat and muscle.

As far as I knew, Terry worked hard to keep his goals for my sister a secret from her and her husband, and I valued that I’d been asked for my opinion on the matter.

Rachel wouldn’t learn that her prized agent tricked her, not from me. “I’ll pay penance with you,” I offered.

“We can try the mud run together.” My sister stared at Terry with wide eyes. “We can, can’t we?”

“I’ll allow you to do the course with your brother as a team. Neither one of you are up for it solo, but working together, it should be manageable. After I make sure your brother is fed and settled, I’ll make the arrangements. If you’re fine with it, Ian, we’ll tack on two days to our itinerary. That way, you’ll have a chance to recover from tomorrow’s adventure.”

For Terry to want to delay a matter involving another kingdom by even two days, the situation truly bothered him. An extra two days wouldn’t hurt anything.

Well, I hoped.

* * *

For the firsttime in a long time, I slept in until after noon. Terry or one of the RPS agents had let Dr. Stanton into the room, and the woman fussed while prowling around my new suite. I checked the time again, groaned, and covered my head with one of the extra pillows. “Don’t you live in North Dakota?”

Dr. Stanton chuckled, came over, and sat on the bed beside me, patting my shoulder. “I do, but your sister called me last night. She wants me to check on Terry, and she wanted to make sure you can run this mud course they’ve got set up. Then you slept in, and the entire lot of them panicked. Fortunately for my sanity, I was already here, so I had them let me in to check on you. Fatigue is the first official diagnosis for the day, but I’m approving the obstacle course. You’ll rest better when you’re mentally, emotionally, and physically tired. Also, good job coercing your sister into having a milkshake yesterday. Her metabolism is up again, so she gets to have one of those every evening before bed.”

My sister would never tire of chocolate milkshakes, of that I was certain. “Terry was trying to trick her into more exercise yesterday.”

“I’ll make sure she gets a large milkshake if he’s trying to improve her endurance—and make certain he isn’t exerting himself again. If he starts trying to get you into shape, call me. Terry is not sensible, and he has zero control over his mending talent.”

As the doctor wouldn’t leave me alone until satisfied with my general health, I tossed the pillow to the side, untangled from my blankets, and sat up with a yawn. “Why do I have a fatigue diagnosis?”

“You work too hard and don’t sleep enough. Concentrated empathy types without a bond, like yourself, tend to work to pretend depression is not an issue. Honestly, you’re better than I expected on the depression front. Terry has been monitoring you, and while he’s concerned, he admits you’re nowhere near as despondent as your sister before she settled her bond with Ethan. As such, I’m not going to be making any recommendations on that score. Working hard is helping you cope, so keep working hard. That said, I’d like you to try for a minimum of six to eight hours of sleep a night. If you need to work harder to tire yourself out, I’m sure we can accommodate that. I am going to ask one uncomfortable question, however. Are you like Adam?”

I winced at the reminder of how North Dakota’s king and my friend had suffered for so many years, separated from the woman of his dreams due to her father’s greed. “No, it’s nothing like that.”

“Why don’t you tell me about it. I’ve got all the time you need.”

I considered the woman, wondering if telling her would change anything. After a few minutes, I sighed and said, “There was a woman from a lower caste who came to the palace, and I loved everything about her. I didn’t tell her who I was. When she found out, I guess she left.”

“Or she finished her work at the palace and had no reason to stay?” Dr. Stanton sighed. “It’s funny how something as simple as meeting someone kind can wake magic. And for your magic to work, she must have felt something similar towards you. That’s all it takes, two people sharing similar emotions at the same time. It’s much like how your sister bonded with her husband. They both wanted the same thing at the same time.”

As the doctor’s speculations matched my personal beliefs on the matter, I nodded. “The first time I saw her, she’d just arrived at the palace and stared at everything in open wonder and delight. She’s not the prettiest woman in the world, but then? That joy made her beautiful. It was so honest, so genuine. It was like she had stepped into a dream and found nothing but magic in everything—magic she won’t ever have because of her caste.”

“Magic she doesn’t need as your partner. If anything, her having a limited talent would benefit you and your children, should you have any. And your empathy would know about your fears. You met her after your brother spontaneously combusted, didn’t you?”

As always, the pain of my brother’s death stirred.

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