Page 100 of My Queendom for a Horse

He shrugs. “I thought at the time that maybe someone had tampered with the track, but that was crazy. I guess I just stumbled.”

“Not to mention, it was our second time around. If someone had done something dicey, we’d have noticed on that first pass.”

I’d been thinking about it, too. Wet weather is dangerous, and the faster you’re moving, the less control you have. I’m sure for someone like Obsidian, someone powerful and talented and strong, that’s a hard thing to admit, even to yourself.

“I’m just glad you’re alright,” I lie.

“You’re disappointed,” he says. “I’m sorry about that. I feel really bad—I know you needed that money.”

I shrug. “It’s fine. Sean will take care of it.” I hate myself for saying that, but it’s the right thing to do. Other than staying close to me to have access to his powers, he has no reason to want me.

I’m poor.

I’m not young or fresh.

I’m average looking.

And I’m not that smart.

Plus I owe a bundle of money, to pretty much everyone, and I’m about to lose my family land.

For a split second, I contemplate calling my brother again. I dismiss it right away. Even if he changed his mind, which seems really unlikely, help from him would be worse than help from Sean. If I can’t let my, well, almost my boyfriend, pay my debt, how could I let the brother who abandoned us do it? No, we’ll still have the house, the old barn, and a few small pastures. It’s enough.

“I owe you an apology,” Aleks says. “After we lost, instead of trying to barge my way over and force you to do something, I sat back and listened for a moment.”

This should be interesting.

“And when I started doing that, it made me think. I know this sounds idiotic, but for the first time since meeting you, I thought back to the moment we met, at a race like this one, and I thought about what that was like for you. What you gave up for me, to save me, and then how your sacrifice became even worse when you found out I wasn’t really a horse at all.”

It’s taken him eight weeks to get there, but I’m glad that he’s learning to think about things from another person’s viewpoint. That’s some real, adult behavior. He may be over a hundred, but he hasn’t really acted very mature.

Until now.

“I’m sorry, Kristiana. I’m sorry for further wrecking a life that was already hard. I’m sorry for being another burden to you. I’m sorry for interfering with your relationship with—” He chokes up here, and clears his throat. “With your relationship.” He coughs again.

“It’s fine—”

“No,” he says. “It’s not fine. For my entire life, I’ve seen what I wanted, and then I’ve taken it. End of story. Except, with you, I don’t want the story to end.” He freezes then, and he shakes his head. “What I mean is, I don’t want to hurt you. Not any more than I already have.” He shuffles a bit, and looks down at his hands. It may be the first time I’ve seen him look nervous. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry for everything, and I’ll do as you asked and leave, and I hope that one day, you’ll forgive me.”

It’s one of the nicest apologies I’ve ever heard, and it makes me feel a little better. “It’s been a rough few weeks, but very few of my difficulties were caused by you, and almost none of them were caused on purpose.”

“I think Sean will move past it, for what it’s worth,” he says. “Once I’m gone, I doubt he’ll look back much on what I’ve done. He doesn’t seem to be that kind of guy.”

He’s not. I’m lucky about that, at least. “You’re right, and now it’s my turn.”

“Turn?” Aleks’ brow furrows. “For what?”

“You made a very nice apology. Now you have to listen to my answer.”

“Your—you don’t have to give me an—”

I reach out and take his hand. “I forgive you, Aleksandr Volkonsky. I forgive you for being rude, for being pushy, for biting people, and for arguing with me all the time. I forgive you for costing me a quarter million to save, and then for losing that race with a stumble. I forgive you for that, and for anything and everything else. All that you’ve done, and all that you will do.”

A weird sort of shivery, twitchy, buzzy kind of sensation begins, starting at the base of my back, and traveling up my body and down at the same time, and then exploding out my extremities. My entire body bows, and then constricts, and I cry out and collapse against the shavings piled up in the stall.

And then the insane feeling is just. . .gone.

“Kris,” Aleks says. “Are you alright?” He crouches next to me, but before he can touch me, he freezes. His eyes widen. His mouth drops open, and he inhales, slowly.

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