“Your father? Does he have a name?”
Vi wrung her hands, looking askance. “I shouldn’t say.”
“I can’t rightly give the crown prince a gift that I can’t verify.”
“Clearly they’re warstriders of good stock,” Deneya huffed.
“Yes, I can see that, but the Emperor will insist.”
“Then the Emperor is—”
“It’s all right, Danya,” Vi said hastily, interrupting the woman with the fake name they had agreed on. She looked over at the stable master, attempting to be the living embodiment of insecurity. “Between you and me?”
“Yes?” The man’s eyebrows arched.
“My father was Ronaldo.” There were a few events that Vi would never need Taavin’s help recalling, and the night she escaped Norin with Fiera was one of them. The stablemaster in Norin had assumed she was taking Prism to Ronaldo for boarding, following the birth of the prince.
“Ronaldo… you can’t be talking abouttheRonaldo? Legendary breeder for warstriders?” Vi gave a meek nod. “I thought he only had two sons.”
“I’m not…” Vi intentionally fumbled her words.
“Vivian was conceived on the wrong side of the sheets. Or barn, as it were,” Deneya finished for her.
“Ronaldo, the dog.” Augus shook his head. “Right, well, this all explains the apparent quality of the animals. You willing to part with the other yearling as well? Perhaps the whole family? I know the black one with the stripe is a gift for the prince. But I could pay you for the others.”
Vi and Deneya exchanged a glance. They hadn’t really discussed this. They’d managed to stretch the gold Vi had taken from Norin for years due to their own resourcefulness, with help from Deneya’s profits selling her wares. But it couldn’t hurt to have a little extra coin.
It also didn’t hurt to have a swift getaway on good horses they didn’t have to steal.
“I hadn’t planned on it,” Vi started slowly, hoping her hesitation read as a bastard daughter’s love for tokens gifted from her father. “The other yearling we might be willing to part with.” Vi looked at the creature. “But the parents…”
“The yearling is a start.” Argus stroked his chin. “How long are you staying in the city? At least a year?”
“Hopefully longer than that. We wanted to find work,” Deneya answered. “Perhaps establish a life here.”
“You seem like an able-bodied young woman. I could put you to work here, in the stables. Even board these fine beasts at no extra cost to you.”
“Really? That’d be great!” Deneya flashed him a bright smile.
“Excellent. And perhaps, if you’re still here come summer… you’d let me breed these two again and sell me that foal too?” Argus showed the root of his kindness. “Warstriders of this caliber are hard to come by, and I would be remiss to let you go so easily.”
He gave a genuine chuckle. The whole time the stable master had been stroking the mounts. Vi doubted he even realized that he’d gone through all of their bridals, checking them.
“Perhaps,” Vi relented. Deneya had a job in the palace without too much effort. The longer the man thought they’d be useful to him, the better. “Thanks for offering my friend a job.”
“No trouble. I could put you to work as well? Daughter of Ronaldo would be a welcome addition to my staff.”
“Thank you, but I’m hoping to find a job that doesn’t involve horses. I’ve mucked enough stables for one lifetime.”
Argus chuckled at that. “Well, if you change your mind, come back. And you, Danya, I’ll see you with the sun tomorrow.”
“Of course.” Deneya forced a smile so false that Vi had to struggle not to laugh at it.
“If you’ll excuse us, we’re meeting an acquaintance in the Imperial Library.”
“Is that right? Marc!” Argus called for the guard from earlier, who begrudgingly stepped over. “Take these two up to the library through the castle.” He looked back to them. “Much faster than going through the city.”
Vi and Deneya said their thanks and followed behind Marc into the palace of Solaris.
