Page 116 of My Queendom for a Horse

John appears and takes the reins from me. “Let me cool him down. You go with Sean.”

Obsidian neighs loudly, but there’s nothing he can do for me, not here, not right now. I shouldn’t have dismounted yet, I guess. “It’s okay. Once I can move again I’ll come see you in your stall.” I rub his nose and he calms down enough for John to lead him away.

“Where did you want to go?”

“Let’s head to the stalls.” I can’t exactly tell him that I think Obsidian may be able to heal me, once he’s human again.

Sean frowns. “Is Aleks there?”

I almost choke, but I recover quickly. “Maybe.”

“Once I saw you on Obsidian Devil, I figured he had to be back.”

I want to tell him that it’s not like that, but it kind of is. Lying to him won’t help anything.

“I wasn’t going to come, you know.” Sean angles us toward the stables and moves slowly, one hop at a time. “But as it grew closer, I couldn’t not come. We didn’t work out romantically, but we’re friends too. What kind of jerk would I be if I didn’t come to support you in your biggest, and possibly scariest, moment?”

“Thank you.”

“And it turned out to be way scarier than I could have imagined.” He shakes his head. “What were you thinking out there, you lunatic?” Sean sounds genuine and sincere, and it makes me happy. The idea of us coexisting with nothing but positive thoughts about one another going forward is a good one.

“I wasn’t thinking,” I say.

“You shouldn’t have done all that, just to earn the money to buy your land back.” He shakes his head. “I’m still happy to secure you a loan, you know. The offer wasn’t ever predicated on us dating.”

“Actually, I already got my land back,” I say.

“You did?” He beams. “That’s great. How?”

“Aleksandr was the buyer, it turns out.”

Sean swears under his breath. “I knew I should’ve bought it, but you were so firm when you said not to.”

I shrug. “You listened to me, and I’ll never fault you for that.”

“But I didn’t get the girl.” He sighs. “Note to self. Next time, less listening and more grand gestures.”

I laugh.

Sean looks around as if he’s just registering where he’s helping me hobble. He frowns. “Why’s Obsidian Devil in the farthest barn from the rest of the complex? I went by and saw Five—he’s in the main barn. If you were in the main barn, we’d have been there a long time ago.”

I could probably explain that Aleks showed up last minute, and that there wasn’t any space in the main barn. But we could have switched Five and Obsidian easily enough. The real reason why we took a space out here is that it’s essentially empty. And I need very few people to be watching Obsidian’s stall, or there will be no way for him to switch back to Aleksandr.

We’re still two dozen yards from the overflow stable when I hear John shouting behind us. “No, stop, you stupid, demonic beast. We just cooled you down. You can’t drag me all the way to the stalls—”

When I spin around, that’s exactly what’s happening. Obsidian, exhibiting the worst ground manners in existence, is pulling John along behind him at a trot.

They stop when they reach my side, Obsidian Devil snorting and pawing the ground. When Sean and I just stare at him, he tosses his head, dislodging the lead rope.

“This horse is still just as much of a lunatic as he ever was,” John says. “Tell that moron Aleks to take him back.”

I laugh. “I’ll take him from here. Aleks will be here to collect him any moment.”

“But you can’t even get to the barn without help,” Sean says.

“Boost me.” I look at Obsidian’s sweaty back and suppress a cringe. I was up there a few moments ago. It’s not like I’m not just as gross.

“You can’t go riding around with him in a halter, bareback, with an injured leg.” Sean’s looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. The same way he looked at me the day Obsidian Devil crashed our date.

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