Page 72 of My Queendom for a Horse

“I told Sean he can’t give me money or buy my land for one very important reason.”

Aleks raises his eyebrows expectantly.

“Because we aren’t equal right now,” I say. “It’s not that he’s hugely rich and I’m poor. I’ve never been caught up on that. Before, when we were in school, he had everything, but at least I had my farm. I had intelligence and health and plans for the future. He left me, even then. He wanted our relationship to work less than I did, clearly. But now he’s back, saying he never got over me, and I’m excited to hear that. But I’m in trouble. My dad’s put the family farm in peril, and if I let him save me? What am I then? A Disney princess?” My lip curls, and my head shakes, and my hands tighten into fists at my side. “I will never be a Disney princess. I’m more than that. I work hard, and I do whatever it takes to fight for my happy ending.”

“You aren’t weak because you let someone else help,” he says. “And Sean’s not the only one who can help.”

“Oh? Who else did you have in mind? You?”

He shrugs.

“Do you really think you can help me?”

“Of course I do.”

“You have no money.” I hold up one finger. “You have no identification or paperwork.” Then another. “No home.” I throw up all my fingers and wiggle them. “You can’t control your magic, and we’ve located absolutely zero answers about your curse, your family, or your friends. You pick fights. You push me around. Aleks, I’m not trying to hurt you, but you bring nothing to the table other than trouble. What am I missing?”

He did save my dad’s life, and mine, and he is the key to winning the purse at the King George in a few days. I’m too mad to acknowledge any of that, though.

“Probably most importantly, you never listen to me, not to anything I say. You think you know better than I do, but you don’t know anything about my life or the modern world. You don’t fit in. You have no place here, and that’s why you have nothing to offer me. So please, please just go back to the barn and leave me alone.”

To my surprise, after staring at me for a moment, he listens. He heads back out the window and disappears into the night. He didn’t even bother taking my iPad with him.

15

About Face may be several years behind Five Times Fast, but he’s still fun to ride. We clear the course I set up to mimic the upcoming hurdle with plenty of energy and focus. I pat his neck. “Nice work, boy. Really nice.”

The prize money for the novice hurdle isn’t quite as good as the champion chase, but at least I won’t need to pay Finn. I can ride About Face and Obsidian myself. My dad won’t be pleased, but he hasn’t griped or sniped at all, not since Aleks had to save us from his latest issues.

After I’m done with About Face, I pass him off to a groom and saddle Obsidian up. Aleks may be upset at me, but at least when he’s in his horse form, he behaves. Obsidian takes every single fence beautifully, in sync with me in every way. I’m not sure I’ve been on a horse that was more ready for a race than he is.

Why can’t the man be half as perfect as the horse?

It’s a little hard for me, as we ride back toward the main farm. “This will all be gone soon,” I say. “I mean. Relatively soon.”

Obsidian slows to a walk and turns his head back to look at me.

“I hope it’s gone,” I say. “The more I think about it, selling it really is the only way. But I’m going to miss it a lot, too. I mean, I grew up riding around in all these woods and hills.”

When he stops entirely, I slide off his back. I walk toward the edge of the cleared path. Obsidian stays close, so close we’re touching. It’s nice, actually, because his huge body blocks the wind, and as always, heat rolls off of him, keeping me warm.

I breathe in and out, trying to find gratitude for the time I had with Liepašeta, so I’m not wallowing in sorrow that she’ll soon belong to someone else instead.

Obsidian paws at the ground, at another pile of rocks he’s found.

“What?” I ask. “I know you’re obsessed with rocks, but I don’t care about them. I left the ones you found before in that green bucket in the old barn. If they were on the path, I’d clear them for you. I don’t want them bruising your feet, but these are way over here, by the trees.”

I glance down at them. It’s a large pile of green rocks, dozens and dozens of them. Some of them are actually pretty sparkly in a bizarre way. I mean, they’re strange rocks. They kind of look like limestone or something, but then there are huge chunks of what looks almost like green glass stuck on the limestone in blobs. And there are also chunks of orangey and yellow resin-looking rock as well.

“They’re kind of cool, really,” I say. “But look, you don’t need rocks, and neither do I. You’re not twelve. You’re too old for rock collections.”

He snorts and turns away from me.

I feel like I’m ruining all his hopes and dreams, especially after my rude assessment of his future last night. “I know I was kind of harsh yesterday, and I know since you woke up, life has sucked. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be to lose everything you knew and everyone you loved. But you have to face reality. You and I can’t find anything on this curse. No one has come to attack you, and it’s not very clear whether you’ll ever be able to shift or access your magic again, at least not without holding my hand.”

He bumps my shoulder playfully and trots along ahead of me.

“No,” I say. “As I mentioned yesterday, you can’t hold my hand forever. I have to think about my future, and so do you. Realistically. You and I don’t work. I can’t adopt you like a dog—some homeless Russian man who can’t accept that his glory days are past.”

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