Page 37 of Iron Unicorn

“But she’s beautiful,” I blurted.

“And judging from the offense in your tone, you have always felt she was beautiful, crooked nose and all.”

“Well, yes.” I scoffed at the reality of the princess’s life before her operation. “I’m going to be using the clicker a lot when she’s anywhere near mirrors.”

“Yes. Her difficulties with accepting she’s quite a beautiful woman now will be an issue moving forward. That’s why you’re our ace up our sleeve; she knows you have always felt she was beautiful. I suspect that is the source of your bond with her. Very few do. Or they do so out of familial obligation. His Royal Majesty loves his sister, but the entire family is trained that this love is mandatory on virtue of her existence. You have always valued her because of her personality, and her appearance has never been an issue for you. On an instinctual level, she understands this. The conditions for a bond were perfect for you. You’ll need to be assertive at the appropriate times, but we are of the opinion that she believes nobody should love or appreciate her because she went through the operation. Reinforcing that you’re glad she got the operation, that you think she was beautiful then and she’s beautiful now, would help significantly. She’s also afraid of her brother’s reaction.”

I foresaw many problems, and fixing them would fall to me. Unlike most of my problems, the effort would be worth the hassle, and I’d walk away feeling better for taking action. “And I already told her I’d roll him in the mud if he made a fuss. I meant that.”

“We’ll make sure the Montana RPS is aware of the situation. They’ll look the other way, as that would be an ideal situation for Princess Olivia. You will need to do some training to get a better idea of when and how your empathy talent is being blinded. From our understanding of the situation, you are likely assuming your bond with Princess Olivia is a symptom of the other empaths you’re surrounded with. As such, we’re taking care to have only controlled empaths on your team to prevent issues. Ideally, by the time we’re done this exercise, you will be able to detect your bond with the princess. This means a stress test.”

I sipped my coffee, rolled my eyes, and heaved a sigh. After having done my fair share of stress tests on other empaths, I understood precisely what I was getting myself into, especially if the suspicions proved to be accurate. Unfortunately for my peace of mind, when it came to empaths, there was a fine line between the affection of friends and the deeper emotions held by lovers.

Even in the days after Sabina’s death, I’d harbored nothing but gratitude and friendship for Olivia.

Along the way, I could understand how those emotions could grow into something more.

And, despite everything, I could readily understand how and why I would ignore the truth right in front of me.

I refused to be one of those men who fawned over a woman without invitation. I’d been the same way when I’d met my wife, admiring her quietly and from a safe distance.

Olivia had heard that story more than a few times as I’d worked my way through my grief. In retrospect, however much I had loved Sabina, I doubted we would have remained together into old age. Over time, her needs had changed.

Mine had not.

The accident had, in some ways, spared us both from the long goodbye. Instead, I’d been left wondering what might have been different. Over time, I had changed, but a Montana princess held most of the responsibility for the person I had chosen to become.

Before her, I doubted I would have been able to include a stubborn little squirrel in my life. Before her, I doubted I would have had the fortitude to chase a New York princess across the Royal States and protect her from the shadows.

Because of Olivia, my priorities had changed.

Sabina and I had been friends and lovers, but we had never held such sway over the other. Our affections had never run that deep.

We had entered the relationship with a firm set of boundaries. Then, we had both been happy enough with that.

Olivia had taught me how people—and boundaries—changed.

“Which one of us will you be stressing?” I finally asked, staring into the fire.

“Mostly her,” Carl admitted. “You’re an easy nut to crack. I mean, if you were to take the offensive, you’d shock her senseless—and we’re concerned she will think that you’re only expressing interest because of her operation. You acting exactly the same as normal is the best thing for her. Her face may have changed, but your feelings for her have not. The psychologists believe that if you remain steady and behave the same way as always, she will come to the realization you have always loved her even before the operation.”

“All right. How does me rescuing her help with this problem?”

“We are going to pull a second scenario. We have recruited some help from outside of the Texan RPS to join us in a scenario. As the help is on the outside, we can turnhermonitoring channels into a scenario she doesn’t know about. All the agents will know this is a controlled situation. She will not. As she has a lethal talent, your kidnappers will not be in the building when she catches up to you. You will undergo a stress test before undergoing sedation if sedation is necessary. We are hoping this will force her hand. After your recovery, we will adjust your ride across Texas to be a controlled evasion scenario.”

“You mean you’ll be following at roughly a quarter to half a mile and pretending you’re catching up just to give Olivia the illusion we’re escaping?”

“Yep. We do it with Their Majesties all the time. They just relax and enjoy the ride, and they’re monitored. It gives them the illusion of having time alone. In reality, we have riders all around them keeping a close eye on the trail and surrounding terrain. It’s good training for Eddie.”

“And him being exterior for this?”

“We’re on edge,” Carl admitted. “But the empaths are reporting it’s excellent for his mental health, so we’re going to follow through. We’ll assign him to California, and we’ll have Prince Ian serve ashisdetail until we find out how everything will work with Princess Deidre. With luck, we’ll be able to run a few stress tests on him and bring our princess home.”

“And the political side?”

“Princess Deidre has the support of most European monarchs; she has been loyal, and everyone knows it. She has carried herself with pride and dignity. Prince Leonid is not liked at current, and if he makes any moves against our princess, he will find history will repeat itself—and King Patrick is not the same man he was when Germany’s disowned prince acted against him. And Germany was among the first to warn the European powers that the worst thing they could do was underestimate King Patrick’s love for his daughter. He will tolerate a great deal when it is directed at him. Targeting his daughter? That is true political suicide.”

“And Princess Deidre has her mother’s pride.”

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