Page 23 of Trickster King

I twitched. “What’s a pittance?”

“The meat auction was going to give him seven hundred for her since she’s in good health, on the larger side, and has a solid record of good health. That translates to premium meat.”

“Why can’t I ban meat markets?” I complained.

“You can’t ban them because Texans need to eat, and when there isn’t sufficient cattle, we rely on horses. Most of the animals who go to the meat market are lamed in some fashion or another, but there are exceptions.”

On one hand, I understood the necessary evil of the meat markets, but on the other, I struggled to accept a shit owner would send a perfectly good horse to the market solely due to the animal being an inconvenience. “I’m not sure ribbons will save me once you send the mare over to my wife.”

“The mare is in foal, and the stud is a good one. While I doubt you’ll end up with another prime seller, you might have a solid racer should you decide to try your hand at a derby. While you’ll never be riding a race, not with your size and weight, the method that will be used on your colt will keep the horse happy and healthy for a lengthy racing career.”

“And what’s the vet bill for that?”

“Far less than correcting it after the fact. It’s nominal considering the palace staff. But it’ll only work if the horse loves to race. You never know with the foals.”

“Better add a few extra bows,” I muttered. “And add a note to my wife she can champion for a ban on mares in foal being sold to slaughterhouses or meat market auctions. That is unacceptable, and it will not be happening in my kingdom.”

“I will make certain the queen understands you have decided that practice will be ending.”

“That might keep her busy for a few days.”

“It’ll also be trivial to pass, especially if you allow any auctions except to slaughterhouses and meat markets.” Randy grabbed the nearest hose, turned it on, and went to work cleaning my cows so I could have my turn with them. “While their field should be safe, we aren’t taking any chances with you, so you’ll have to wait till I’m finished here. Geoff has already caught Bullmanchu and is rinsing him off and applying the antifungals, so once he’s done, you can help Eddie groom the beast.”

I acknowledged my dismissal with a nod and headed for the other side of the barn where I typically brought in Bullmanchu, as he had a rather amusing relationship with one of the rancher’s geldings. Given a ball and an hour, the animals would exhaust themselves and take a nap together.

I adored my strange bull and his gentle and playful ways.

As expected, Eddie and Geoff had Bullmanchu secured to crossties and battled a rather thick layer of muck. “What did you two do, roll him through puddles on the way in?”

“Bullmanchu decided he wanted to dig a hole in the pasture. Once he dug the hole, he took a nap in his hole. The hole happened to be near the pond and became a mud puddle. This was extra appealing to your bull. As I don’t want you to get another infection, don’t come any closer until we get this mess cleaned up.”

As I wanted nothing to do with a reoccurring fungal infection, I did as told. “I don’t want you two getting ill, either.”

“We’ll be evaluated and watched, especially considering how bad this is. The hands are gathering the other bulls and getting them cleaned up so they can go to their new fields. They’re just waiting for their assignments. When they were notified there would be one bull per pasture, there were requests for calves.”

“Two per ranch hand, and they won’t be able to select the viable hybrids for breeding. Those need to be work animals for the lines,” I replied. Two calves each would give the ranchers something to be happy about, and outside of a few rules on care, I didn’t care what they did with their calves. Some showed, some grew them for their dinner tables, and some turned them into pets. “I’ll get one of the wife’s pesky attorneys to draw up the paperwork and issue bonuses to cover their taxes once we’re back from our trip.”

“Why don’t I contact the attorneys?” Geoff’s tone implied he believed I would cause yet another row with my wife’s pesky attorneys. “You can’t add to the royal nursery right now anyway, and you can’t wait a year before dealing with them.”

I snickered at Geoff’s jab over the harpy-screeching fights inevitably triggered whenever I had to deal with my wife’s pesky attorneys. “It’s probably for the best.”

“Dad, have you been fighting with Mom’s attorneys again?” Eddie put his hands on his hips and glared at me.

Damn. Jessica really had gotten to our boy. “When am I not fighting with her attorneys?”

Eddie blinked, opened his mouth, and then furrowed his brows before turning to Geoff.

“At moments like this, it’s just best to let your dad enjoy his victory. It’s one of the perks of being his wife’s king. Whenever he annoys your mom’s attorneys, they tell her about it, and they have one of their happy fights.”

“Oh!” Eddie nodded. “It’s all right if it’s one of their happy fights.”

While we called it our harpy-screeching fights, we’d taught Eddie the difference between adults blowing steam in a safe environment versus an actual dispute, changing harpy to happy around him. In one, we warred against each other in competition while allowing ourselves to express the emotions we were often denied.

The others were just fights, and we tried to avoid those.

“As everyone in the palace says, when the dust settles, there’s probably a new royal brat on the way,” I said, rubbing my hands and observing the pair wash Bullmanchu. “Finish washing my baby so I can cuddle with him, please. I need time with my bull.”

“You’re something else, Dad.”

---