“What about Prince Cedric? What’s he like?”
“It’s not my place to give an opinion on the matter.” Callum’s brown eyes tightened at the edges. “Perhaps you’ll meet him someday and learn that answer for yourself. Though, as your friend, I’d advise you to keep your distance and never get close enoughtofind out.”
His warning about the crowned prince was shoved to the back of my head as something else in his statement stuck out.
“We’re friends?” I asked, feeling a bit ridiculous by how happy that made me.
Callum scoffed and kicked at me beneath the water. “You better consider me your friend.”
“I do.”
“Good.” He returned to his cinnamon roll self. “I consider you mine as well.”
After the much-needed soak in the hot spring, I changed into the clothes Callum had picked up for me. A dark green tunic and black trousers. They fit great.
“They belonged to my younger brother, Gerard,” Callum said as we descended the hill back toward the barracks. “He’s outgrown them.”
“How old is he?”
“Fourteen.”
I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry. Curse my small genes. A fourteen-year-old was bigger than me. “Well, tell him thank you for me.”
“I will.” He beamed with a smile. “Gerard is leaving for the academy soon, where he’ll train to become a knight in the Third Order. I’m very proud of him.”
“Is the Third Order like the bottom level?” It was the only one Maddox hadn’t told me about.
“Yes. All knights begin there and work their way up the ranks.”
“Cool. How many siblings do you have?”
“Four,” he answered. “Two older sisters, one younger, and Gerard.”
“Wow. I bet that was a lively house growing up.”
“Very much so.”
Given his smile as he spoke of them and his bubbly personality, I got the impression Callum had been shown a lot of love as a child. A close-knit family who probably never missed a meal together. A part of me envied him because of it. Family was an unknown concept for me—something I’d seen from a distance and read about but never experienced for myself.
“Would you like me to walk you home?” he asked.
Home. Not the word I’d use to describe the small room I’d spent the last few nights in. “No, it’s okay. I can find my way back on my own.”
Callum seemed hesitant at first—more than likely recalling Maddox’s orders to watch over me—but he nodded. “Will you be working with Briar again tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I think so. Unless I get promoted to being Kuya’s playmate or something, I don’t really have many other places I can work.” I couldn’t swing a sword to save my life, and I fumbled over my words too much to have any kind of job where I had to talk in front of people—which ruled out theincredibly nicesuggestion from Maddox that I be the court jester.
“If all else fails, you could always return to mucking out the stables,” Callum said in a matter-of-fact tone. One that was soon accompanied by a shit-eating grin. “But I must say your skills are better used elsewhere.”
“Are you kidding?” I feigned shock. “I’m the best stable boy who ever lived. Just ask Seabiscuit. He saw it all.”
Callum laughed. “You’re referring to Samson. He rarely sees much action these days. He’s older than the other horses. More temperamental too. None of us can ride him. But Captain Maddox refuses to sell him. He has a soft spot for the stallion.”
Why did that givemea soft spot for a certain captain? Well, an even softer spot. Maddox was very quickly breaking down the barriers around my heart. Even if hewasstubborn.
“Between us, Callum, I think my skills as a physician’s assistant are about as good as my work as a stable boy. Which isn’t saying much.”
“Fret not, Evan.” Callum clapped me on the back. “You’ll soon find the place where you belong.”
