Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 48853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Cassian looks even more furious at being told to calm down. He thrusts both his hands into his blond hair and growls. Then he points a long finger at the stallion. “That isn’t any horse. That’s Onyx, Chairman Varga’s horse, and everyone and his dog just witnessed Lady Aubrey Levanter riding him through Royal Park.”
My mouth falls open in an O of surprise. Chairman Varga had a horse? This beautiful big creature belonged to the dictator who ruled over Paravel with an iron fist? The man who put Daddy in prison for half his life?
The people in Royal Park weren’t filming me and Onyx because we looked impressive; they were filming us because someone was riding the dead Chairman’s horse in broad daylight. Like the rider thought it was funny or clever.
Like it was some sort of statement.
My stomach suddenly feels like it’s full of lead. Daddy isn’t going to be happy about this. Not one little bit.
5
Cassian
Lady Aubrey’s face drains of color. As well it should.
I try and think what damage control I can do before it’s too late, but it’s already too late. Everyone who was in the park just now will have uploaded their videos to social media, and it won’t be long before the news outlets pick up the story.
I can’t stand looking at Aubrey’s devastated expression. I turn away and start to unbuckle Onyx’s saddle with rapid flicks of my fingers.
“Why is Varga’s horse here?” Lady Aubrey asks. “Did you buy him after the People’s Republic fell?”
“No,” I growl over my shoulder. “Onyx has always lived here. The Chairman and the Party members all stabled their horses here. That was my livelihood under the People’s Republic. Not pretty, is it? But at least I fucking ate. Now I have to make a living from the next set of idiots in charge, which is your lot. I was hoping they might all conveniently forget who my previous clientele was, but you’ve just gone and blown that, haven’t you?”
When she doesn’t reply, I turn and glare at her. She looks even paler, like she might be sick. Good. At least she’s finally grasping the gravity of the situation. If she wants to bring scandal down on her head, fine, but she’s screwed me in the process. No one’s going to stable their horses here now.
“You shouldn’t have neglected him,” she says, in a small voice.
“I don’t neglect him, you little fool. I exercise him at night when there’s no one around. I can’t sell him; I can’t trust that anyone else won’t mistreat him. I was trying to keep his presence here a secret so that the poor horse could have some peace, and I could earn a living, but you’ve just fucked that, Lady Aubrey. You’ve fucked that right in the ass.”
She recoils at my crass language, but I don’t care. She needs to learn that the world doesn’t revolve around her, and that when someone tells her not to do something, she should listen.
“You can’t just do whatever you want with no consequences, no matter who your father is or how many dresses you have hanging in your wardrobe.”
Tears start into her eyes, and she stares at the ground, seeming to shrink in on herself. She can cry, but apparently, she can’t say she’s sorry.
I haul the saddle down from Aster and push past Lady Aubrey. “Get out of my sight.”
When I come out of the stable, a few minutes later, there’s no sign of her. I let out a hard breath and lean against the stable door. How long did it take for a Levanter to ruin my life? Less than a week?
Thanks for the bad fucking karma, Dad.
The papers are going to jump all over this, so I take the phone off the hook, finish up with Aster and Onyx and keep busy for the rest of the afternoon.
In the evening, I consider going online to find out how far the story has spread. If Lady Aubrey hasn’t been identified as the rider, maybe not far. If she has, it will be everywhere. Archduke Levanter is a pillar of Paravel and paid for his service to the old King and Queen with half the years of his life. His daughter parading about on his enemy’s horse will cause a huge scandal.
I open my laptop and look at the black screen. Then I change my mind and close it again. I may as well get a good night’s sleep if it’s the last one I’m going to have for a while.
I fall asleep, cursing every Levanter who’s ever lived to hell and back.
At six the next morning, I get out of bed, pull on yesterday’s jeans and a fresh T-shirt and pad barefoot through the house to the front door. Maybe I overreacted in the moment. Maybe people won’t care about what Lady Aubrey did, and I’ll have a peaceful day. Maybe I’ll even get a new client, who knows?