Page 32 of Trickster King

“Her Majesty has caught her trying to get to the other horse in the closet several times now.”

Ah. “A simple enough problem to solve. Give her the horse.” I shook my head, dug out my phone, and shot off a text to my wife so she knew what I was doing and another to one of the palace staffers I trusted in our bedroom to retrieve the horse, put a pink bow on it, and deliver it to Deidre’s bedroom along with one of the spares. “Deidre needs the freedom to make her own choices and mistakes. She has convinced herself that Prince Leonid is her prince. She has to decide, for herself, to sever the betrothal documents when the time comes. I’ll be there to catch her when she falls, but I know her and her mother. She’ll fall. How? That I don’t know. But I’ve had a feeling from the start.”

“A bad one, judging from your commentary.”

I shrugged. “I can’t afford to take away her independence. This is her mistake to make. I’ve done everything I can to give her ways to continue making her mistakes. I don’t want her to be railroaded like Jessica was. But I also understand a five year old child isn’t able to make decisions like that. But she’s Jessica’s daughter as much as mine, and she won’t quit just because she’s young. I just wish I knew what was wrong about the whole thing. Prince Leonid, on the surface, appears to be the perfect prince.”

Geoff nodded, and he waited until the helicopter’s lights disappeared into the night to say, “But few are as they appear.”

I wrinkled my nose. “He’s charming, and that’s the problem. Once he’s a little older, he’s going to realize he’s charming. Deidre is methodical. She’s not like her mother, who will flaunt her father’s rules for the fun of it. I’d wager Morning Glory and Baby Boy he’s not going to stay loyal.”

“I hate that you’re probably right. But you’re also right about Deidre’s personality. It needs to remain her mistake to make.”

“Nobody told me how hard being a father can be. If anything, now that I know, I realize I didn’t appreciate my parents enough.” I turned and regarded the ranch’s driveway and front yard, which had been taken over by cattle transports, trucks, and trailers. “Of course, back then, the last thing I expected was to be responsible for an entire kingdom of Texans.”

“You’ve handled the burdens and responsibility with far more grace and dignity than anyone expected. You, just from being king, have done far more for your human rights plans than anything else. They see you, and they remember you were among the lowest of the low. Texas doesn’t have all that many nulls to begin with, and you were a sole step up.” Geoff clapped my shoulder and nodded in the general direction of the farmhouse. “You’re due for your medications, and everyone else is handling the cleanup. It’s time for you to get rest, too. You’re the one who needs it the most. I’m afraid I’m going to insist you get to sleep in, and I’ll take care of notifying the queen we feel you need to delay coming home for at least another day.”

“Me? Sleep in? Did you forget we’re watching Eddie?”

“He won’t budge until after ten.”

“A new hat for me says he’s up no later than six and is at least half the reason you’ll be taking me to an RPS clinic for my back by the time we head home.”

“You’re on.”

EIGHT

“We might even indulge in fast food breakfast.”

Sometimes, I hated being right. At precisely a minute before six, Eddie climbed into bed with me and indulged in the sort of squirming, fidgeting, and bouncing destined to account for at least ninety percent of the reason I’d be back in the body shop for my back. “Dad? Dad?”

I considered hiding under one of the pillows, but instead of triggering an early morning tantrum, I said, “Geoff’s Dad today.”

The boy snorted, informing me I would not be pawning off any responsibilities onto the RPS agent. “It’s time to give the cattle their breakfast.”

Why had anyone thought it was a good idea to start feeding the cattle at six in the morning? No, more importantly, who had thought teaching Eddie that cows were fed at six in the morning had been a good idea? Oh. Right.

Me.

If I wanted to work my ranch, I had needed to get my poor agents on the move at three in the morning to be at the ranch no later than five so I could start feeding my cattle at six, and when I came, even at six in the morning, Eddie came out to help. I’d made the bed, but I wouldn’t get to sleep in it. I had a child to tame and cattle to feed. “All right. I’m up, I’m up.”

Eddie bounced off the bed, and I winced at the cascade of cricks along the entirety of my spine. As I didn’t hurt yet, I’d pretend I hadn’t gotten rolled over by a child determined to maintain his morning routine.

“Are we making breakfast this morning?” he asked.

“For the cattle, yes. For the people, probably not. We might even indulge in fast food breakfast.”

Eddie sucked in a breath and stared at me with wide, adoring eyes.

“Take some of that excitement and get your other fathers out of bed, and make sure Randy knows we’re hunting fast food like the apex predators we are.”

That got the boy to give me a few minutes alone, and I did my best to work the kinks out of my back before getting dressed. Ten minutes later, a bedraggled Geoff and his wife staggered out of their guest bedroom. I kissed the woman’s cheek. “Sorry to wake you. Eddie loves his routines more than I appreciate some mornings.”

It had taken me and Jessica a few months to realize neither one of us minded showering other people with affection, and my wife had learned early on that I appeased Geoff’s wife through such displays. She smiled and kissed my cheek as well. “I’ll make sure that cretin of mine picks out a good hat for you. I already informed him he’d made a stupid wager. Finally decided it was time for a new one?”

I plucked my hat off my head and regarded it with a sigh. “Jessica thought leather would last longer, but in reality, I just get it filthy, it’s even more work than the other hats, and it’s getting worn from the number of times horses take it off and use it as a toy.” I eyed one of the spots What’s the Story, Morning Glory had damaged with her teeth. “Pick whatever you think will make Jessica drool the most, honestly.”

“She’s already pregnant. You do not need any additional prowess. If I did that, the poor woman might implode—or hold you hostage in your room for longer than comfortable for anybody.”

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