Cold Flame

by Susan Copperfield

  “I would’ve paid more. And anyway, His Royal Majesty of Montana started that with his crazy bid on his future queen. I just knew after what happened with your sister, you might get snubbed, too. I didn’t want you to get snubbed. I was also the one who put in the minimum on your sister so she wouldn’t get snubbed, either, despite her being a bitch. I just added together how much I spent on your sisters and beat it when bidding on you, truth be told. Dad wasn’t annoyed I bid on New Yorkers but rather upset that I had bid a rather high amount on one while refusing to inform him which one or why.”

  I’d forgotten the auction had been the same year His Royal Majesty of Montana had placed an insane bid on his future queen. I hadn’t even realized he’d been Montana’s reclusive monarch.

  “And now you’re doing your best to move into her condominium,” my boss muttered.

  “She is holding Doomsday and Armageddon hostage. For the sake of my kittens, I must.”

  “I’m too old to be goosed by my overgrown nephew. Yet here I am being goosed by my overgrown nephew. Is there anything else you’d like to tell me about your manipulations, you little brat?”

  “I’m seriously thinking about accepting her offer to run to Europe with our pets if I feel she’s going to be at risk in the Royal States.”

  Dr. Stanton frowned, looking Ethan over with a raised brow. “Prince Ethan, how much exposure did you have to His Royal Majesty of North Dakota as a child?”

  “Enough, I guess.”

  “He spent a couple of summers romping around the Royal States. North Dakota was one of his destinations,” my boss announced.

  “I’m starting to think His Royal Majesty’s empathy is literally contagious,” Dr. Stanford muttered. “First His Highness of New York, now His Royal Highness of California? If it’s contagious, Prince Ian is the likely candidate to have passed it to his sister; Prince Ian is fairly obsessed with getting his sister help—and I mean you, Rachel. I’ve heard plenty about the situation, as North Dakota is helping with his therapy, and I’ve been involved in some parts of the process.”

  “That’s not how talents work,” my boss protested.

  “There are two traumatized New Yorkers with probable empathy talents, a Californian prince who is demonstrating every empathy symptom I’ve been trained to watch for since I entered magical medicine, and there’s no logical explanation for the development of these talents in any of them. How many empaths are in the California line?”

  “One known,” my boss admitted. “And that one is Ethan’s brother, who went on the same trips.”

  “Contagious empathy, and it seems probable King Adam of North Dakota may be the index case. From him, three princes would have plenty of exposure to other people to spread it. The empathy would then take root in the appropriate type of people, resulting in our current situation. It’s only a theory, but the more I think about it, the more I think it’s highly probable. What if King Adam’s flaring talent can actually create the empathy talent in others? That would explain the unusual rise of empathy bonds among royals, too.”

  “Does that mean I can keep her, Dr. Stanton?”

  “I feel it necessary to remind you that she’s a human being you can’t just keep like a pet, Your Highness.”

  “May I politely disagree? I found her first.”

  “I’m willing to file paperwork acknowledging a probable bond to aid in your efforts to convince her to tolerate you,” Dr. Stanton replied. “Frankly, it’s disgustingly obvious, observing you with a refined empathy talent. Agent Pattens?”

  Terry sighed. “I’d assumed she was so starved for positive attention she reacted accordingly. I wasn’t looking for active bonds, although I did make a mention it wouldn’t surprise me if she developed a form of empathy. Dr. Tomastani thinks she has animal empathy with rats.”

  “I’m willing to sign off on that; her reaction to you handing them to her is fairly symptomatic of an animal empath. I have no idea if the animal empathy is naturally hers or possibly a case of talent infection. Frankly, I never thought I’d have to research contagious talents before now, but contagious empathy is making a great deal of sense.”

  “Is it possible His Royal Majesty of Texas is the contagious party?” Terry asked. “He has a very well-defined empathy talent.”

  Dr. Stanton’s brow furrowed. “Had His Royal Majesty of Texas been exposed to His Royal Majesty of North Dakota prior to probable infection of the Californian princes and New York prince?”

  “Or, more importantly, has he had any access to a young Princess Rachel of New York?” Terry asked. “That’s what we may need to look at. It’s easy to find out with a single phone call.”

  “I’ll do it,” Dr. Stanton said, pulling a cell phone from her briefcase. She dialed a number and said, “I’m Dr. Stanton, a royal physician from North Dakota. I need to speak to His Royal Majesty of Texas about a medical matter of importance.”

  I scratched my head. “I don’t remember if I’ve met him.”

  Dr. Stanton glanced at me, and she offered a smile. “Don’t try to remember. Let’s not stir unnecessary trauma. You’re fine as you are. I’d just like to have a better idea of what I’m working with to see if this is actually a possibility.”

  “Or New York is the contagion source,” I suggested. “We are where empathy talents go to die.”

  “This is a possibility, especially considering what Prince Ethan remembers. You wanted to meet someone your own age, and he reacted to you. You’re demonstrating extreme symptoms of it as well. His Royal Majesty of North Dakota does have two empath parents and a very diverse bloodline, so it’s possible that he was already a blooming empath. If Prince Ian passed this potential contagion to you, then it may have strengthened an already developing talent. This would possibly explain why King Adam reacted to hexapentin like he did.”

  “Hexapentin?”

  “A drug meant to kill talents. It was part of what was used to burn out your sister’s talent. I was asked for recommendations. I will say I am sorry for my role in her death.”

  “It wasn’t your fault, Dr. Stanton. It wasn’t mine, either. It was no one but Sylvia’s.”

  “Be that as it may, you’ve paid the price for it, a consequence of being what you are. And having seen enough empaths come from abusive situations, I am entirely unsurprised you would inherently leech onto the first person who showed you any positive attention, even from a distance. In this case, His Royal Highness of California, when you were very, very young. Too young to understand what was happening—and when he was too young to realize what was happening. You wanted to meet him, and he wanted to meet you. That was enough for your talent. Rogue empathy talents can cause a great deal of trouble, especially for a pair of young empaths who don’t understand they have a talent taking root and dictating certain things, such as your partner.”

  Ethan shrugged. “I’m all right with this.”

  My boss inhaled before heaving a sigh. “I have to admit this makes an alarming amount of sense, and Californian law forbids interference with bonded pairs. New York, however, does not have such laws.”

  “As such, this becomes a serious safety issue for Her Royal Highness—and yes, there is active paperwork confirming your status as New York’s heir upon recovery,” Dr. Stanton announced. Her eyes narrowed, and she held up her hand. “Good afternoon, Your Majesty. Thank you for taking my call. I have a question for you regarding your interactions with the New York royal family from a rather long time ago. Do you remember if you met Princess Rachel of New York when she was a child? Yes? How old do you think she was when you met her?” Dr. Stanton’s brows rose. “Interesting. No, I am not calling on behalf of New York. I’m actually on call from Montana and California, both of whom have invested interest in a matter I have been requested to handle. I realize I may be asking a sensitive question, but do you remember when you first met His Royal Majesty of North Dakota? Is that so? How about the elder princes from California? Mhmm. Yes, Your Majesty. I’d like to interview
you about a situation when you have more time, if you’d be all right with this. Excellent. Please contact me when you have the time. I’ll make time on my end for a meeting or call. Thank you.”

  Dr. Stanton hung up and returned her phone to her briefcase. “His Royal Majesty of Texas, apparently, gets invited to meet and greet with most royal children, and he’s also been invited to meet elite children as well. He had exposure to all four. Rachel, he’s met with you several times when you were a child. According to him, after age four or five, your parents stopped allowing most interactions with other royalty, including children, but he wrangled a few extra meetings with you until you were seven or so. His Royal Majesty of Texas sounded very displeased about this, as he wanted to introduce you to his, at the time, newborn eldest child as a potential babysitter and playmate. He thought you’d be a good candidate because he found you to be a sweet child. He promised he’d check the archives for meetings in New York and put together a list of the times he met you.”

  My eyes widened, and the tight feeling in my throat intensified. “I don’t remember that. He wanted me for what?”

  “To watch over and play with his eldest daughter. You’re older than she is, but a wise monarch tries to expose their children to others from different kingdoms to build relationships early. Judging from the conversation, he met you for the first time before his daughter was born. He likely decided you were the most pleasant of the New York royal children, which makes sense. While he may have infected you with empathy, you were likely already a candidate for developing the talent naturally. I understand this is hard for you. It also backs your agent’s belief of parental abuse. It’s not uncommon for people to block unpleasant memories, and you would likely have been very distressed by the seclusion. Prince Ethan, being completely honest with me, how accepting would your parents be of Princess Rachel?”

  “May I answer this question?” my boss answered.

  “By all means.” Dr. Stanton sat and waved her hand for him to continue.

  “All you’d have to do is tell them she’s been treated poorly and has no idea what it’s like to be part of a family. Once my sister-in-law stops crying, because that’s what she does when she gets frustrated, Rachel would be integrated into the fold. You could probably convince the monarchs to ship His Royal Highness off to New York to set the kingdom straight, assuming one of his brothers is willing to accept his job. That, admittedly, would take quite the campaign, but I think it could be done.”

  “Assuming it’s determined New York is capable of handling a traumatized monarch. I am not convinced New York can, not without a major overhaul of their system.” Dr. Stanton took to pacing, and she snagged a pen off the table and clicked it like she wanted to stab someone with it.

  My boss shook his head. “That’s exactly what the people of New York want, Dr. Stanton, and unlike with North Dakota’s situation, should civil war break out in New York, it won’t be a day-long affair. It would endure, because there are few as stubborn as a New Yorker on a mission. They want change, and they’re determined to get it. That the New York monarchs are willing to spend so much to recover Rachel is evidence of this. They’re old, they’re tired, and they have a growing rebellion on their hands—a rebellion they created through their poor choices. My apologies for being so blunt, Rachel, but that’s the situation. I’ll admit, I didn’t realize you were New York’s Rachel until Ethan tipped me off today. Without him, you would’ve flown right under my radar.”

  I stared at my boss. “That was the general idea.”

  “I’m also relieved you have an RPS agent here, even though I find myself annoyed that Montana’s meddling again.”

  Terry checked the door before taking a guard position standing beside Vince. “His Royal Majesty of Montana feels partially responsible for Rachel’s situation, sir, and he feels that she was unfairly treated. He has a very refined sense of justice.”

  “I’ll pick a fight with His Royal Majesty of Montana myself to have you as the permanent head of her detail. She’s going to need an empath,” my boss announced.

  “Seconded,” Ethan said. “I’ll pick a fight with him over the matter, too.”

  “I’m just going to third this, Agent Pattens. You obviously know how to handle her. More importantly, she trusts you. And I apologize for exposing this about your state of mind, Rachel, but I feel it’s necessary to make certain you get the care you need.”

  No matter what I said, I couldn’t win—but I didn’t lose, either. “I’m the first in line to admit I probably need therapy.”

  “It’s true. She’s very open about therapy,” Terry confirmed, his tone relieved. “New Yorkers don’t tend to shy away from difficult things. Rachel just tends to pick a different sort of difficulty.”

  “That’s because she’s a probable empath and can’t cope with the way New Yorkers typically handle things,” Dr. Stanton said, dropping the pen onto the table. “We haven’t even gotten to the physical examination portion yet, and I’m already concerned about the groundwork for treatment. The first step, no matter what the blood tests come back with, unless there’s a major disease or illness to worry about, is to get your diet somewhat healthy without stressing your body. Then there’s the issue of heart attack risk.”

  “Heart attack risk?” Ethan demanded, rising to his feet.

  “The probable leech needs to sit back down, take a few breaths, and remain calm so the other probable leech doesn’t pick up anything from him and heighten said heart attack risk.”

  In what I viewed as a miracle, Ethan sat down and shut up.

  “I would like to know the answer to that question,” my RPS agent announced.

  “His Royal Majesty of North Dakota suffered from a heart attack during his talent evaluation. Stress, a strained empathic bond, and his diet all factored into it. While his heart is now healthy, the medical team toed lines with him for months until he was out of the danger zone for another heart attack. Mostly, I kept this information to myself, as I didn’t want to stress either him or his wife about the situation. In this case, I feel it’s wise to be open about the possibility so that the heart attack can be avoided. Once it’s public Rachel is in California, I would recommend calling in someone from Maine to ensure there are no long-term issues with her heart.”

  The last thing I needed was a heart attack. “Do you really think it’s probable I’ll have one? I’m not that old.”

  “Thirty-one isn’t all that old, no, but with the amount of stress you’ve been under, your diet, and your current emotional state, I am not comfortable saying you’re a low risk. It’s better to treat you as a high risk until we can confirm your actual risk levels. What you need to do is tell Agent Pattens immediately if you start experiencing any pain in your chest or have any difficulty breathing. I’ll work with any agents brought onto your detail to make sure they know how to handle emergency treatment. To begin with, I’m going to put you on a low daily dose of aspirin in addition to making dietary changes to mitigate the risk. Agent Pattens, I want you to put in her file she’s at an elevated risk for a heart attack, and I would like you to tip off Montana to pass word to New York about this situation. New York will still act to bring her back. That’s what New York does. But at least they can make certain they don’t kill her trying to recover her.”

  I wrinkled my nose at the doctor’s blunt commentary about my home kingdom. “Anything else I should do?”

  “Avoid stressful situations. If being near Prince Ethan keeps you calm, follow him around at your leisure. I’ll handle the details. If you can’t get authorization to go to the palace, then I recommend Prince Ethan follow you around, as he has, frankly spoken, more general freedom than you do. Prince Ethan, I recommend you notify your mother that she should take heavy-duty allergy medications instead of burying her head in the sand and refusing to address her immune system. Allergies can be treated.”

  “She doesn’t like how drowsy it makes her.”

  Dr. Stanton snorted. “She’s
just going to have to get over it. Your father, too. If Rachel needs a support dog, then I’m going to get her a support dog. If she needs a pair of therapy kittens, then she’s getting a pair of therapy kittens. If there needs to be an entire room dedicated to rats, then she’s getting an entire room dedicated to rats.”

  I grinned. “Can I have the room dedicated to rats anyway?”

  “Considering you’re carting around a nest of baby rats with you and you have two rats on your shoulders, I expect this will be a natural development.”

  “She’s going to need another pair of wild Norways,” Ethan announced. “The kangaroo rats won’t be able to ride on her shoulder like Snookums and Flamingo do.”

  “Down, empath,” Dr. Stanton ordered, snapping her fingers at Ethan. “Should a situation arise where she needs new rats for any reason, it can be handled.”

  Terry sighed. “I’ll talk to Dr. Tomastani about wild Norways, and we’ll look into the lab rat situation. We’ll want to closely monitor Snookums and Flamingo, and we’ll need to talk with other animal empaths to get a better idea of how to handle the situation as they age.”

  “Rats die. It’s just a part of life. Once Snookums and Flamingo die, I’ll just get a new pair of babies to raise.”

  And cry. Probably for weeks, maybe months. Realistically, I’d cry for years and ignore anyone who tried to tell me they were just rats.

  “I expect you’ll be raising babies all the time,” my agent replied, shaking his head. “And don’t even try to convince me you aren’t happiest when nursing your babies.”

  “It’s true. It’s really true. They’re just so cute, Terry. How can you not love them?”

  “I find it impossible, personally.” Somehow, the RPS agent managed to keep his tone solemn.

  “See? Everyone should listen to Terry.”

  “Well, the first part of your talent evaluation will be to figure out how many rats you can bond with at one time,” Dr. Stanton announced. “You’ll find this part of the process enjoyable.”