“Me? Ah, right.” James shrugged, expression sad for a flicker of a moment. “I do need a proper mount of my own, I suppose, until I can locate my soul horse.”
I kept my mouth firmly shut. We walked into the stables, and the shade from the roof overhead felt much cooler than the weak morning sun. I blinked to let my vision adjust, nose filled with the scent of horseflesh, dung, and hay. A few horses whickered to each other, the stable hands talking amongst themselves as they worked.
I stopped James at the first stall. “They’ve been put in these front stalls, from here down to the post.”
“Ah, splendid. We won’t have to walk the whole stables, then.”
Walking the stables would be a feat in and of itself. It held a hundred and twenty horses, at least. That didn’t even count the secondary stable used to accommodate guests’ horses as well.
James propped his elbows on the stall door and leaned in. He let out a low whistle of admiration, eyes roving the tall bay inside. “Splendid creature. Truly splendid. A fine destrier for anyknight. I’ll let the knights sort out which horse they want to be theirs. Personalities go into that, after all.”
Indeed they did. “I’ll alert the knights that they can come and select their mounts this afternoon. I wanted you to review them all first and send back any you don’t think will suit.”
James snorted. “I’m sure the breeder sent his very best, knowing which household they were due for. This pretty mare is a good example.”
She looked incredibly strong even to my eyes, and I was no expert on horseflesh. James was likely right about the breeder sending the best. One horse on the list in particular was meant for a king.
Something hard and heavy hit a stall door, like a hoof striking wood. Startled, I snapped about, looking in that direction. What the hell?
Under my incredulous eyes, the stall door four down came completely off its hinges, flying until it landed against the opposite side. I stared at the door—it wasn’t a small or light thing!—quite aghast, but with a memory swarming to the surface.
Hadn’t James said his first meeting with his soul horse had started with the horse breaking out of his own stall…?
James whipped about, and I was positioned perfectly to see his face as a pure black destrier stepped through the opening. James’s green eyes flared wide and then went bright with unshed tears as this massive brute of a horse pranced right up to him.
“Titan,” he whispered, holding up both hands.
I swore to any god I could name, Titan remembered him. The stallion stepped right into his hands, lowering his head to rest his forehead against James’s. Both man and horse stilled, and for a perfect moment, just basked in each other’s presence. It was so beautiful a picture, my fingers itched for pen and paper.I’d do my best to draw this later, but for now, I soaked up every detail. How James’s eyes were closed, the softest curve of his mouth showing his joy. How Titan had also closed his eyes, tail swishing softly, the picture of contentment.
James stroked Titan’s proud neck softly, murmuring words I couldn’t quite pick out. Titan’s ears flicked forward and swiveled, depending on what he said. They were perfectly in tune with each other, and I now understood why James described him as his soul horse. Never before had I seen two creatures in such perfect harmony.
James had described Titan to me many times, which was why I’d been able to find him. He was younger than James had said by a good three years, barely old enough to be trained.
And massive. My god, what had they fed this horse?! He stood several hands taller than every other destrier, and they weren’t small, either! James almost looked dwarfed standing next to this horse, and he wasn’t a small man by any stretch of the imagination.
James finally lifted his head enough to hold out a hand to me. In all our time together, I had never seen him smile like this—with such impeccable joy, as if the world was perfect for once.
“You found him for me, didn’t you.”
It wasn’t a question, and I just smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“I seriously love you.” James leaned in to kiss me, soft and flavored with joy.
I kissed him back but mostly just watched his face. This was exactly what I’d hoped for. James had been through so much, perhaps too much for any heart to take. Giving him something like this was all I could think to do to mitigate his burden. I was glad it had gone so well, as I’d hoped it would.
James addressed the horse as if Titan could understand every word. “Titan, this is Edwin. You must protect him as you would me, all right?”
I swore the horse actually did understand, the soft brown eye facing me taking me in from head to toe before the horse nodded his head.
“James, you’ve told me how intelligent he is, but…you didn’t exaggerate, did you?”
“If anything, I might have undersold his intelligence,” James admitted ruefully. “I have a feeling my goddess tweaked this horse some to give me an edge in battle. He saved my life more than once.”
Knowing how fond Vuheia was of James, I absolutely believed him. I scratched Titan’s chin, trying to get on his good side. “Hello, Titan. Let’s be friends, shall we? I know you and James adore each other, but share him with me sometimes, that’s all I ask.”
Nimus preserve me, the horse actually thought about it. Thenwuffedas if to sayFine, if I must.
My rival was an equine. Could my life get any stranger from here?
