“That will be all, Titus,” I said. “Have the staff get the tea ready in the gardens for later.”
“Very well, Your Highness.” He bowed, then retreated back to the house.
Elle watched him leave and gave me a crooked smile. “You dragons are really into this old-fashioned stuff, aren’t you?”
I sighed and placed a hand on her lower back to lead her to the horses.
“It’s partly because of our extended life span. Old habits die much harder.”
“Wolf shifters live a long time too,” she argued, then made a quiescent little grunt. “Though, not as long as you guys, so I guess that’s true-o h wow!”
She gasped as the nearest horse lifted its head to look at us.
“She’s gorgeous,” Elle murmured and reached out a hand.
“He,” I corrected. “This is Shadowfax.”
Frowning at me she rubbed the horse’s nose gently. “Why does that name sound familiar?”
“I must admit, I am a big fan of
The Lord of the Rings,” I said.
“Oh, shit,” Elle blurted. “That’s right. The old guy’s white horse, right?”
“Gandalf, yes. I enjoy fantasy literature. The other”-I pointed to the second chocolate-colored horse-“is Artax.”
“Shadowfax and
Artax? Did you make them rhyme on purpose? Where’s that name from anyway?” she asked.
“The rhyming was by accident. As for the name? Another fantasy book. A movie was made from it that’s more well-known, but either way, it’s very depressing. I’ll save you the story.”
“Fair enough. Can I brush them?”
“They would love that,” I said.
She picked up a brush from the table by the door and brushed Shadowfax, then Artax. After a few minutes, she turned to me and huffed out a little sigh. “Why the heck would dragons need horses? Can’t you guys fly wherever you need to go?”
“Interesting question,” I admitted. “I will say that I enjoy them more as pets than as beasts of burden or travel. I do ride them, but not often. We used them in the past to blend in with humanity. It’s even more difficult to stay hidden now than a hundred years before. When the humans gained flight, our lives grew ever more problematic. Now? We tend to only shift and fly late at night, or in the deep wilderness. At times, we do take chances during the day if there is enough cloud cover or rain. It’s part of why we like it in this part of the country. Lots of clouds to hide us. The last thing our kind needs is for someone to look out of an airplane window and see a thirty-foot-long dragon coasting through the sky beside them.”
She laughed and started to braid Artax’s mane. “Does your dad ride? I haven’t seen him yet.”
“He had to leave early this morning for some business in Los Angeles. A normal flight in a plane, unfortunately. He’s been made aware, though, so perhaps if he returns before you depart, the two of you will meet.
“As for the horses?” I winced. “Dad is not a fan. He kept them here for my mother and me. She was the real horse lover.
She would ride them any chance she got. I wasn’t much for dressage, but she would actually enter and compete in human riding competitions. She was most at home on the back of one of these,” I patted Shadowfax’s flank. “Sometimes it seemed like she preferred to ride a horse instead of flying in her dragon form.”
“She passed away a long time ago, right?” Elle asked.
“Indeed. It happened when I was nine, only a couple months before I turned ten.”
“You were so young,” Elle said, her brows knitting with confusion and sadness. “What happened?”
Dragons had incredibly long lives. For one of us to die as young as my mother had from something other than an accident or battle was rare beyond words.
“She fell ill. An intense fever wracked her body. None of the magical healers we brought in were able to stop it. She slowly succumbed to whatever was ravaging her,” I said, but purposefully left out the prevailing rumor that the Laurent family might have poisoned her in some way. I didn’t believe that, nor did Father, but many of the noble houses had espoused that conspiracy in the years since her death.
“I’m sorry,” Elle said, putting the brush down. “Should we ride?”
Happy to get to a more pleasant line of conversation, I grinned at her and raised my hand. Two large men strode out of the stables, each holding a saddle.
“I thought you might want to,” I said.
Ten minutes later, after the horses had been saddled, Elle and I trotted across the grass to explore the grounds. After going a few hundred yards over the rolling grass lawns, she turned in her saddle, her face alight with happiness.
“This is easy. I thought I’d have a hard time,” she said.
“These are our best horses. They’ll do all the work as long as you let them,” I said.
I nudged Shadowfax along until I walked beside her.
“I really am sorry about your mother,” Elle said. “That must have been difficult for you.”
Her words, simple and heartfelt as they were, struck me hard. Growing up as the prince and rightful heir to all of the world’s dragons, it had been the most natural thing to push my mother’s death to the back of my mind and continue with my studies. Father had been heartbroken, but even he’d kept his emotions in check. All these years later, and I’d never truly been given the time to properly mourn her. Elle’s deeply apologetic gaze told me she wasn’t performing lip service. She really did feel bad for me. I felt seen in a way I’d never experienced before. Strange.
“Thank you.” I cleared my throat. “Loss can be difficult. Uhm, have you ever experienced anything like that?” I paused, wincing at how blunt the question was. “I don’t want to pry. You don’t have to answer that. I’m sorry.”
Her eyes grew distant for the barest instant, but then that sarcastic smile returned. I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn’t overstepped.
“Loss? Oh, you know, just the normal stuff.” She slapped her hand on her thigh. “My phone or car keys every other day.”
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