“I would like a word with Toby,” I said.
Maggie’s mother might not have known me, but she clearly recognized I was nobility of some sort. She nodded, uncertain, before turning her head and calling, “TOBY!”
Something clattered, like wood upon wood, before I heard the patter of footsteps coming in at a run. A young boy probably only two or so years older than his sister skidded into view, sportingthe same red hair but with vastly more freckles. He looked at us uncertainly but spied Maggie with her Bear Bear and flushed, clearly caught out.
“Toby.” I sank onto one knee to put us more at eye height. “I am James, Third Prince of Zuskal.”
The mother sucked in a breath and looked abruptly faint. I ignored her, though, my focus on the wide-eyed boy who was almost shaking.
“Your sister asked me for help,” I said. “Explain to me why you thought it a good idea to throw a beloved toy into a dangerous place like that.”
He mumbled something about it being funny.
“Funny, eh. Was anyone else laughing? Was she laughing?”
He shook his head, eyes on the ground.
“Then it wasn’t funny, was it? It would have been a disaster if I hadn’t helped her—she may have become desperate enough to climb the fence to fetch the toy herself. The rocks are slick from moss and water, dangerous even for me. She would likely be either very hurt or dead if she’d attempted it, which you knew, so it wasn’t funny. Bullying people never is. I’m very disappointed in you, Toby. I expect the men in my country to safeguard the fair ladies.”
He was red all the way to his ears now.
I judged I’d gotten my point across and stood. “I trust this won’t happen again. Maggie, some of my knights will be stationed here. If ever Toby bullies you again, you are to go to them and they will aid you.”
Her broad smile showcased her two missing front teeth. “I will. Thank you, James!”
“Prince,” her mother hissed at her. “Call him prince.”
I laughed this off, as it wasn’t important. Instead, I lifted Maggie’s hand and bowed over it in full courtly manners. “I’ll see myself out. Have a wonderful evening, Miss Maggie.”
“Bye, James!”
The door had barely closed behind us when I heard the mother go off on Toby. I didn’t comment until I was well off the porch, though. “Kid’s going to have a brand-new asshole by the time his mother’s done with him.”
Sir Alloways snickered behind a hand. “Sure sounds like it to me. You did that on purpose.”
“I’m sure his mother’s scolded him before about being mean to his little sister, but boys of his age don’t put a lot of stock into what adults tell them. A little fear of the gods is healthy at this stage.” I shrugged, as it was no skin off my nose. “Well, let’s get dinner.”
Somehow, before I’d even fully settled into my seat in the inn’s taproom, the story had made the rounds among my knights. I didn’t find my actions to be remarkable, but I had to remember my royal siblings would never have done something similar. Royce and Helena would help people, but they’d send a knight in to help. Being raised nobility, they just weren’t trained to thinktheyshould personally help. They’d been trained to delegate. But I wasn’t of that mindset. It hadn’t cost me more than twenty minutes of attention. Wasn’t a little girl’s safety worth that? But Victor especially wouldn’t have viewed it as such. So, to my knights and Edwin, what I’d done was remarkable.
Edwin sat right next to me without a by-your-leave, studying me like he’d never seen me before. “Do people normally do that?”
“Do what?”
“Come up and ask for your help.”
“Oh, that.” I thought about it for a second. “Hmm, yes? It’s happened more than once. I seem to have one of those faces. The I’m Helpful face. Children especially have no fear of me.”
“So you’re used to saving teddy bears and little girls in distress?”
“Something like that.” Seeing he didn’t quite know how to take my answer, I pointed out, “I’d rather spend twenty minutes saving a teddy bear and seeing a little girl properly home than have a dead child on my conscience. Her bear was very much in a precarious state. She’d have been in true danger if she’d tried to rescue it herself. I want to like the man I shave in the mirror every morning.”
Edwin softened, ducking his head with a smile. “I quite understand.”
Seeing how I more or less had the full table’s attention—all my knights had settled in while I’d spoken with Edwin—I chose to address the table at large. “Now, since we’re all here, I have a question. What changes do you want to see in this country?”
I didn’t expect an immediate answer, but Dame Remfrey’s hand shot up.
“Yes, Dame Remfrey?”
