A Royal Embarrassment

by Emma Lea

  “It’s okay,” he murmured into my hair and for just a moment I believed him. Unfortunately, I knew that things were not okay.

  I don’t know how long we stood there—not long enough—when Jed pulled back and tipped my face up so he could look at me.

  “What’s going on?”

  I sighed. “It’s my father,” I said. He was really the only one I could talk to about it. Margaret knew about Papa and Archer, but I didn’t feel right with burdening her with the whole story.

  “Is he okay? What happened?”

  “He’s okay…for now,” I said, pulling away from Jed and walking over to the railing of the horse pen. Mistborn lifted his head to look at me and then stuck his head back into the feed bag hanging off the railing. “I may just have to kill him though.”

  Jed came to stand next to me and I was grateful for the comforting warmth of his body next to mine. Just his presence made me feel a whole lot better. “What did he do?”

  “He went to visit the queen,” I said and dropped my head on my arms.

  Jed remained silent. I took a breath and lifted my head, turning to look at him. His jaw was clenched tight and his eyes were narrowed.

  “He told me he wanted to ask her for a raise for me so I didn’t have to work so hard but I know it’s not that. My father has a…problem. A gambling problem. I thought he had it under control. I didn’t think there would be anywhere in Calanais that he could get involved in a high stakes game. Obviously I was wrong.”

  “Are you sure that’s why he went to the queen?” Jed asked.

  I huffed out another sigh and nodded my head. “I’m positive. I earn plenty to support us. I give him an allowance and I cover the costs of looking after Archer. The only reason for him to go to the queen and try and get more money is because he needs it and he’s too much of a coward to ask me.”

  Jed put his arm around me and drew me close again. I soaked in the strength of him, relishing not having to carry this burden alone. I appreciated that he didn’t try to fix the issue and was just willing to listen to me. There was nothing he could do anyway. I would speak to my father and find out just how much he owed and to whom and I would make it right. I didn’t know how I was going to stop it from happening again, but I could only deal with one crisis at a time.

  Chapter 12

  Savannah

  I stood on the dock and took a deep breath of the cold, winter air. It felt good to get away from the palace for a while. Something was going on with Alyssa and I felt like I was under a microscope. I’d made excuses for my father and told her that he had to get back home. I still felt ashamed and embarrassed about his stunt and had a hard time looking her in the eye. Like a coward, I escaped the palace so I wouldn’t have to endure an interrogation.

  I knew I was on thin ice and I was holding on too tight. I couldn’t lose my job, it meant everything to me. And I couldn’t afford to lose the income. But most of all, I had become attached to everyone. I’d sworn I wouldn’t, but the ladies in waiting had become my friends and I thought we made a good team. Leaving them would devastate me.

  Not to mention Jed.

  Not that there could ever be anything between us.

  But I wanted there to be, which was a problem.

  “You look like you need this,” a voice said from beside me and I jumped. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  I turned to look at Chase and smiled. He held a take away coffee cup out to me and I took it gratefully.

  “I didn’t know what you drank, so I just got you a latte,” he said, and if I didn’t know better I would think he was feeling a little out of his depth. I didn’t think anything could cause Chase to feel uncertain, he was the type of guy who oozed confidence. Just like David.

  I took the cup. “Thanks,” I said, taking a sip. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warm coffee as I swallowed.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, leaning against the rail of the dock beside me.

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Not really,” I said, “but there’s not much anyone can do about it.”

  “Is it Jed? Do you need me to knock some sense into him?”

  I smiled at Chase. “Thanks, but no. Jed and I are…fine, good even. We’ve come to an understanding.”

  Chase nodded. “That’s good. He needs something good in his life and from what I’ve seen, you make him happy.”

  I looked at him curiously. “What happened between you two?” I asked.

  “He hasn’t told you?”

  I shook my head.

  Chase sighed and dropped his head for a moment, before raising it and looking at me. I could see the pain in his eyes and the abject misery on his face. “It’s not really my place to say anything,” he said, “but suffice it to say that he walked in on a situation that made me look bad. He wouldn’t let me explain. Didn’t give me a chance to tell him what was really going on. Then he left and came here. I didn’t think I would ever see him again.”

  “Did it have anything to do with a woman?”

  Chase smiled wryly. “Isn’t it always about a woman?”

  “You should apologise,” I said.

  “Don’t you think I’ve tried? He won’t stand still long enough for me to get two words out. He can barely breathe the same air as me without wanting to knock my block off. I don’t know how to reach him. I don’t know how to get him to understand that I did what I did for him.”

  I turned to look at Chase, searching his eyes for sincerity. People did stuff all the time because they thought it was best for the other person and it very rarely was. More often than not there was an ulterior motive, it was just more convenient to make it look like they wanted to help. But looking at Chase I think he really believed that he was trying to help Jed by doing whatever it was he did.

  “You care for him.”

  “He was my best friend,” Chase said. “We grew up together. We did everything together and we planned to open our own horse farm together. Then I went and ruined everything. Now he hates me and if it wasn’t for Mistborn and Titania then I doubt I would still be standing here.”

  “Titania? Who is Titania?” My stomach clenched at the thought that there might be a woman in this whole equation. I wasn’t naïve enough to think there had been no women in Jed’s past, but if there was someone else in his present, it would crush me.

  “Titania is a mare. A beautiful, Arabian mare who won a Kentucky Derby and who I am hoping Mistborn will find irresistible.”

  Relief flooded my system and I shook my head, smiling. “That horse. Seriously, he is a brute and he has everyone wrapped around his finger…er, hoof.”

  Chase chuckled. “Yeah, they tend to do that. His bloodline is pretty special and combined with Titania, they would produce guaranteed winners. I have no doubt.”

  “So that’s why you’re here,” I said, sobering. “Not because of Jed.”

  I felt bad for Jed. His friend was here to use him and his connections. I wanted to protect him from that.

  “No,” Chase said. “Mistborn is why I came to Merveille, that’s true. But I didn’t know Jed was here. Nobody knew where Jed disappeared to. It was pure fluke that I found him here. I came for the horse, but I’m staying because of the man.”

  “Does he know that?” I asked softly.

  “He would kick my as…butt if he thought I was here for anything more than the horse. He is only tolerating my presence because of the possibility of Mistborn and Titania.”

  “I think you’re wrong,” I said. “I think you should tell him. I think you should force him to hear you out and tell him everything. You owe him that.”

  Jed

  “Mathieu,” I said, startling the old man as he sat at the table, holding his cards to his chest.

  “Jed, what are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you.”

  I couldn’t believe he was here. I’d asked around to find out where a guy could get in on some poker games and it had taken me a few false starts be
fore I found him. I thought for sure that after the mess he’d gotten himself into, he would be steering clear of the games for a while. Apparently I was wrong.

  “Are you here to play or talk?” one of the guys around the table asked.

  “Neither,” I said. “We’re leaving.”

  “No, not yet,” Mathieu hissed.

  “This is not a negotiation,” I growled.

  With a sigh, Mathieu folded his hand and scooped up what was left of his money—a pathetically small sum by what I could see—and stood.

  “Sorry gentleman,” he said, “it seems I must leave.”

  I grabbed his elbow and walked him out of the back room of the tavern. I didn’t speak until we were on the sidewalk. He shrugged out of my grip and straightened his coat.

  “Just what do you think you’re playing at?” he asked, his eyes narrowed.

  “I should be asking you the same question,” I replied, my voice hard.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means, one day I find you completely drunk off your…completely drunk because you lost your shirt in a card game and then Savannah comes running to me upset because you had the gall to show up at the palace trying to get money out of the queen.”

  “I was not trying to get money out of the queen,” he spluttered.

  I raised an eyebrow at him and he had the good grace to flush. “I was doing it for her. She works so hard and they don’t pay her enough.”

  I snorted. “Your lies won’t work on me. And they don’t work on Savannah either. She knew what you were up to. So, tell me, how much are you in the hole for?”

  Mathieu pulled at his cuffs to straighten them. “That’s a rather personal question,” he said.

  “Okay then,” I growled, “then tell me why you were in there when you’re already in over your head.”

  “I had a feeling,” he said, and I could see the glint in his eye as he thought about it. “And I was on a winning streak too until you rudely interrupted me. I could have made back the money and then some if you hadn’t ruined it all.”

  I stared at him in disbelief. “Your solution to your gambling problem was to gamble your way out of it?”

  “Well, when you put it like that...”

  I shook my head. “You need help,” I said. “You need to get help or you are going to lose more than money. You think Savannah will put up with this? You think she will risk Archer and her job at the palace for you? She has stuck out her neck enough times for you and this is how you repay her? You need to take a long, hard look at yourself and maybe get your priorities straight. If you love Savannah then you will get help.”

  I strode off. I couldn’t do anything to help the man if he didn’t want to help himself. I just hoped that I didn’t make things worse.

  A familiar blonde head made me stop and a smile tugged at my lips. How was it that just a glimpse of her made everything in my world right? We spent so much of our time arguing, but when we weren’t arguing, there was something undeniable between us. Something real. Something right.

  I started to walk toward her when I realised she wasn’t alone. She was standing on the dock talking to…My smile soured and my stomach clenched. She was talking to Chase. They had their heads bent together like they were sharing a secret and then Savannah laughed. My fists tightened at my sides as Chase shoulder bumped her in an inappropriately familiar way and I’m pretty sure I ground my back teeth to dust as he leaned close and said something to her that had her tossing her head back and laughing like she didn’t have a care in the world.

  I knew it was too good to be true. Her and I. I thought there was something real growing between us, even if I knew nothing could come of it. Which made no sense at all. My stupid heart had wanted to find a way for us. I could provide a good life for her. I had money, not that anyone here knew that. I was heir to a fortune back home and I’d hoped that it might be enough to make me a suitable match for Lady Savannah.

  When had I started to think of a future with her? It hadn’t really crystallised until this moment, until I saw that very future crumbling to dust in front of my eyes. And of course it was Chase ruining everything, just like he had last time. At least this time I found out before it was too late.

  I turned on my heel and strode away. I didn’t know where I was going, I didn’t care. I just needed to get away from them. I needed space to get my bearings. I still had to work with Chase, at least until we knew whether Titania and Mistborn were compatible. As for Savannah…we hadn’t made any promises to each other. It was painfully clear now that she didn’t feel the same way about me as I was beginning to feel about her. I owed her nothing.

  Sweat dripped from my face as I shovelled, which was saying something considering it was below freezing outside and the sky was coated by dark, snow-filled clouds. I’d chased the stablehands away so I could do the physical work myself. Mucking out stalls was not what I was employed to do, but it burned off energy and the need to put my fist through Chase’s face.

  “Hey. What’re you doing?”

  I grunted at him. Chase. The man who had ruined my life once and had very nearly done it again.

  “I was hoping we could talk about the strategy to getting Mistborn and Titana together.”

  “You put them in a pen together and walk away,” I growled, not stopping my shovel and maybe, by total accident, shovelling some muck a bit closer to Chase than he would have appreciated.

  “Yeah. I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” he said, side-stepping out of the way and not looking at all perturbed by the near miss.

  I grimaced as I sent another shovelful his way. He looked at me then, one eye cocked.

  “Do we have a problem?” he asked.

  “Nope,” I replied, getting the next shovelful in the wheelbarrow this time.

  I threw the shovel down and picked up the handles of the wheelbarrow, pushing it toward the exit. Chase didn’t take the hint and walked companionably beside me.

  “Mistborn is skittish around other horses,” he said.

  “I’d hardly call him skittish,” I growled in response. “He’s wary. I don’t know what happened with his previous owner, but he definitely doesn’t like being in close quarters.” I snapped my mouth shut. It was more than I wanted to say. More words than I wanted to waste of my ex-best friend.

  “And that’s the reason I’m concerned about Titania. What if he hurts her?”

  I dumped the load and turned, pushing the wheelbarrow back into the barn, Chase keeping pace beside me.

  “She’s worth too much.”

  “I know what she’s worth,” I said, and the shut my mouth again as I picked up a pitchfork and started pitching fresh hay into the stall. Chase’s parents owned Titania and she was their one diamond in a crown of very average horse stock. I didn’t know how they managed to get her, but she had been worth far more than they paid. Chase’s father told him he’d won her in a card game. I didn’t believe him for a minute.

  “When is she arriving?” I asked against my desire to not speak with the man.

  “In two days,” Chase said. His voice sounded weird and that, more than anything, got me looking at him. “Jed, listen—”

  “No,” I said. “No.”

  I threw the pitchfork down and tried to leave the stall but Chase blocked the entrance.

  “We need to talk about what happened. You need to know—”

  “I know all I need to know,” I said. “I saw it with my own eyes.”

  I tried to shoulder past him, but he stood his ground.

  “It’s not what you think. What you saw was—”

  “What I saw was my best friend and my fiancée in a compromising position. A sight that I will never be able to get out of my head. Now, if you want us to continue with the plans for Mistborn and Titania then you had better move out of the way before I make you.”

  “Were you always such a stubborn git?” Chase asked, not moving, his voice tight with anger. “Why won’t you let me e
xplain?”

  “Because there is nothing to explain,” I spat through clenched teeth. “I saw everything I needed to, to know where your true loyalties lie.”

  Chase put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me back, his eyes flashing. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe I did it for you? You wouldn’t listen to me when I told you what she was like—”

  I stepped up and grabbed the front of his shirt. “So you took one for the team? Really Chase? That’s your excuse? You were worried that my fiancée wasn’t in it for love and so you decided to prove a point?”

  Chase pushed me away and I let go of his shirt. Anger burned in his eyes. “You’re such an…” he shook his head. “Whatever you thought you saw, wasn’t the real story and if you’d just stopped for even just a second you would have known that I would never do anything like that to you. But no. You have this chip on your shoulder the size of Texas and you think everyone is against you. We have been friends since we were in diapers and yet you still believed Caroline’s stunt over me, over our friendship.”

  I didn’t like that he was making me doubt what I had seen. I didn’t like that he was trying to weasel around what I’d seen…what I had known. I shoved him. Hard.

  “You were always jealous of me,” I growled. “Our farm was bigger than yours, I had a better car, a better horse and a better girlfriend. You wanted what I had. You wanted my life. So you thought you’d take it from me.”

  Chase looked at me with eyes wide and a shocked look. “What the hell?” He shook his head. “Is that really what you think? You really think I wanted your life? Aren’t you forgetting that I knew the real story behind your so-called charmed life? Aren’t you forgetting that I knew what your father was really like and the way he stepped out on your mother? You really think I wanted that life?”

  We stared at each other. My heart raced with adrenalin and shame. Even as I spoke the words I knew they weren’t really how I felt. The words were my father’s. He’d put them in my ear when I’d called the wedding off and told him what happened. I hadn’t really believed Chase would do something like that to me, but I’d seen him and Caroline together and I’d gone to my father.