“And your trousers are far too fine for a commoner.” Felix’s eyes widened, and Leo could see the moment the truth dawned on him. “You’re—you’re not stealing this horse, are you?”
“No, I’m not,” Leopold agreed with a sigh.
Felix made a high-pitched noise in his throat and continued to back away, a tremor in his voice as he pointed at Blackbird. “This is—is thisyourhorse? Are you—are youhim?”
“The king with the stick up his arse?” Leopold sighed again, inexplicably disappointed. “That would be me, yes.”
He’d been havingfun,and now that Felix knew who he was, he was doubtless going to turn into just another apologetic forelock-tugging lackey, and Leo wouldn’t get to spend the afternoon naked with this delightfully pretty lad after all.
Instead of bowing and scraping, though, Felix took a couple of rapid breaths and, apparently having gathered his wits, turned an accusing finger on Leo. “You set me up! You let me insult you and proposition you, and now I’m going to get sacked for it, aren’t I? And what are you even doing here? I was specifically told that if you wanted to ride, I’d get plenty of warning, and instead you come skulking down here dressed in God knows what—” He broke off mid-sentence and took a step closer, eyes narrowed. “Did youstealthat coat?” Leopold felt warm breath against his cheek as Felix leaned in and examined the coat more closely. “You did! That’s my father’s coat! He’s captain of the guard, not that you’d care. Anyway, you can’t just go around taking people’s clothes for your own entertainment. What’s he meant to wear home at the end of his shift?”
Leo’s eyebrows rose. The only one who dared to speak to him like that was Mattias, and he probably should have been offended, but instead he found himself intrigued, if only by the sheer size of the balls on his new groom.
“Your father is captain of the guard?” he asked, to give himself time to regroup.
Felix nodded, jerky and suspicious. “So?”
“Janus is a good man.”
“Yeah, he is.” Felix sighed and fixed his gaze on the ground. “So, I guess you’re going to relieve me of my position now.YourMajesty,” he added belatedly, and it sounded suspiciously likeFuck you.
Leo couldn’t help but smirk. Perhaps all wasn’t lost if the boy still had some spark left in his belly. “Let’s see. So far, you’ve accused me of being a horse thief, implied that you’d only release me if I slept with you, and then, when you found out who I really am, yelled at me forborrowinga coat and shirt from the laundry. I reallyshoulddismiss you.”
Felix’s head snapped up at that. “You never said youweren’tstealing the horse,” he argued hotly, “so technically, Iwasdoing my job.”
“And the part where you tried to seduce me?” Leo asked, enjoying himself enormously now that he was back in control.
Felix’s mouth opened and closed again, and then he shrugged as if he knew that what he said wouldn’t matter. “I thought you were my type, and I wanted to get you into bed. Looks like that won’t be happening now either.”
Leo couldn’t help the laugh that came bubbling up out of him. Such refreshing honesty was rare, and he found himself wanting more of it—more ofFelix. And having it confirmed that the attraction went both ways was just the icing on the cake as far as he was concerned.
He rested a hand on Felix’s shoulder, gratified when Felix didn’t flinch away but instead gave an uncertain smile. “I suppose that you did only threaten to harm me to protect Blackbird, even if she is my own horse,” Leo said, mind ticking over, “which means you’ve proven yourself loyal. So no, I’m not going to dismiss you.” He was distracted for a moment by the way Felix’s face lit up with a hopeful expression and by the curve of his lush, Cupid’s bow mouth, but he managed to drag his gaze away and get back to the matter at hand. “I can’t help but feel there’s a better place for you than the stables, though. Given who your father is, I’m assuming you’ve been trained in the defensive arts?”
Felix nodded rapidly. “Weapons and hand to hand both.”
“So why haven’t you joined the guard? Are you such a terrible soldier?” Felix ending up in the stables just didn’t make sense otherwise.
Felix bristled. “I’m good! But I didn’t want to work for my father. In the guard I’d be under his eye all day, and I wanted—” He swallowed. “I wanted to be able to have a roll in the hay without my dad knowing about it, okay? And I’m good with horses, so Mattias—I mean, Chancellor Allingdon—arranged for me to train in Fortescue. I worked there until he invited me back to take the position in the stables.”
“So that’s why I haven’t seen you before,” Leo mused. “You’ve been away.”
Felix nodded. “Six years, sire.”
Leo hummed in response, mind whirring with possibilities. Felix, far from crumbling under royal disapproval, had shown himself to possess a spine of steel, which made him even more attractive, and Leo found himself intrigued. He still wanted to bed him, of course, but he also wanted to get to know him better.
If Felix was telling the truth about his skill with a weapon, he might actually be the solution to several problems at once, assuming he was willing, of course. Well, there was only one way to find out.
“Follow me,” Leo said and turned on his heel and marched back to the castle. He didn’t bother to check and see if Felix had followed him, but smiled when he heard footsteps behind him hurrying to catch up.
He did so love a young man who could take direction.
ChapterFive
Felix followed the king—theking!—across the courtyard, silently thanking the gods that instead of being dismissed on the spot like he’d expected, he was being summoned to the castle. He wasn’t sure why, but he took some reassurance from the fact that Leopold didn’t seem angry about Felix berating him. In fact, Felix would say he’d seemed more amused than anything. That could only be a good thing, in Felix’s book.
Leo’s boots were loud against the worn cobblestones as he strode towards the castle, and he walked with a confidence that was in direct contrast to the way he’d slipped silently towards the stables when Felix had pegged him for a thief. Felix caught up soon enough but stayed back, some long-forgotten edict of royal etiquette that had been drummed into him as a child rising up and keeping him one step back and to the right. They cut across the courtyard and around the back, along the narrow alleyway that led to the entrance to the laundry area and boot room, and the king ushered Felix inside.
The king discarded his borrowed coat and hat, hanging them on one of the bent nails that had been fashioned into hooks, and the familiarity with which he moved around the room made Felix suspect that this wasn’t the first time Leopold had slipped out of the castle unguarded. In all honesty, Felix couldn’t really blame him. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be so important that every move was scrutinised, or to never have anyone speak their mind frankly in case it earned them a royal reprimand. It must be exhausting. Perhaps that was why the king was more entertained than irate at Felix’s irreverent attitude.
