Poppy looked at Caius and he held out his hand. As if pulled by a stronger force she went and put her hand in his and let him lead her out of her office, studiously avoiding looking at her friend and advisor. She could feel his smirk.
An hour later, Caius was changed into jeans and a T-shirt and on a horse on a narrow winding uphill trail. Poppy was ahead of him on her own horse, similarly dressed, hair pulled back into a low ponytail, wearing a hard hat. Her hair was a vivid splash of red against the white of her polo shirt.
She moved as one with the horse with graceful command. An innate horsewoman.
Cauis had always loved horses and had played polo over the years but he’d never really had time to ride recreationally. When the trail widened out a bit, he came alongside Poppy and she looked at him and smiled. ‘You look relaxed.’
Caius realised he was relaxed. More relaxed than he could remember feeling in a long time. And he couldn’t discount the pleasurable after-effects of lovemaking lingering in his blood.
‘You have horses in Sadat?’ Poppy asked.
He shook his head. ‘Not now. We did, when I was young, but my mother had a fall and my father got rid of the horses and built over the stables.’
‘Oh no… I can understand why maybe, but to take such a drastic step?’
‘He didn’t do it out of any romantic notion for his wife’s safety, he did it because she was having an affair with one of the groomsmen.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yes,oh,’ echoed Caius.
After a moment Poppy asked, ‘Was he your father? Or do you even know who he is?’
Caius’s insides clenched tight. Poppy said, ‘Forget I asked, it’s none of my business.’
Caius shook his head. ‘It’s fine. And it is your business, we’re having a child together. The truth is that I don’t know. Both my parents had died before I knew about my birth. I can probably do some detective work to find out, but as yet no one has crawled out of the woodwork, which is surprising given the very public nature of the way the news was announced.’
‘How did it come out?’
‘There’s a small contingent of anti-monarchists in Sadat and they were determined to disrupt my rule. Somehow they were able to hack into the royal family medical records and discovered I have a rare blood type, different from the rest of the family. They did more digging and found that my father’s DNA and mine didn’t match.’
Poppy asked, ‘How long beforehand did you know? Before it became public knowledge?’
‘Hours. We got a call from the editor of the local tabloid letting us know what they had and that they were publishing as it was in the public interest.’
Poppy winced. ‘That was rough.’
Caius let out a laugh. ‘One way of describing it.’ He could remember all too well the way his insides had seemed to turn to liquid. And the awful sense of exposure—as if the reason why he’d always felt so redundant was now laid bare for all to see and he had nothing to hide behind any more.
‘Maybe your biological father doesn’t even know, himself,’ Poppy pointed out. Caius made a dismissive sound.
‘Do you want to know who your father is?’
Caius shrugged but he was sure his nonchalance didn’t fool Poppy. He said, ‘I can’t say I’d hold out much hope for a happy reunion and my experience of fathers so far leaves much to be desired. Maybe I’m better off not knowing.’
‘You could have family, brothers and sisters.’
He looked at Poppy. ‘I have a sister.’ And he’d given her enough of a burden to carry without concerning himself with other potential siblings.
Fair enough. Poppy got the hint, subject closed. She couldn’t exactly argue with his view on fathers. She felt something poignant grip her to imagine that Caius might actually have the experience of bonding with his child in a way that could restore his faith in what a parent could be.
And this coming from her, who’d had not much better of an experience than him! But still…she had somehow managed to hold onto a sense of hope for something better.
At that moment a bird flew out from a bush nearby, startling the horses, who skittered. Caius immediately caught Poppy’s reins and held onto her horse. He looked at her. ‘Are you OK?’
‘I’m fine, it’s fine. The horses are used to wildlife in the woods.’
Neverthless, Caius got off his horse and led it and Poppy’s horse onwards.
