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Hector smirked. “Let me introduce you to Javier.”
I lifted my chin and followed Hector out of the stable into the back paddock, where a yearling cantered around on a lead line. In the center, holding the line and a lunge whip, was a dark-skinned man with a ponytail that reached his waist. He had a wide face, handsome and angular, and pointed ears. Delicate silver chains dangled from the top of his ears to the bottom.
He never once looked away from the horse circling him in elegant, quick strides. His body turned slowly around in the sandy space. His shoulders were wide and strong, but he was even shorter than me.
“Javi,” Hector called out.
The man didn’t look up.
“I have your new assistant.”
The title pleased me immensely, and I couldn’t prevent a broad smile from flashing across my face, even though his words suggested my role wasn’t to be Rafael’s wife but this man’s help.
Javier grunted and barked out in a raspy voice, “Come here.”
Hector lifted a hand toward the man, and I started forward. I disliked the way this man was constantly ordering me about, but I was delighted to be given a role that I actually wanted. Horses I understood.
I walked into the circle and stood right behind the man’s shoulder, as was proper. I turned as he turned, acting as his shadow. Though I didn’t know this man, my smile remained. This was familiar work. He completed three circles before he held out the lunge line to me.
His expression was so hardened that I took the line without question and stepped up to take his place. Instinctively, I clicked my tongue in my cheek to urge the horse on. He never missed a beat but continued cantering round and round. Javier crossed his arms and stood behind me a moment before backing up out of the circle entirely.
“Tell me how he moves,” rasped Javier.
I wasn’t certain what this man wanted, but I watched the horse for a moment, studying his legs. My father had taught me to see potential in a racehorse by watching the length of his stride, the lift of his hooves, and the way he held his head.
The black horse was young, with spindly legs and a coat that shined beautifully in the bright sun. His neck arched and his hooves kicked up sand like he was merely playing.
The corners of my mouth turned up. “He stretches forward with each stride, like he aches to cover more ground than is physically possible. He has speed in him, but he hasn’t learned how to tap into it yet, based on the way he’s holding up his head and flicking his ears in annoyance. He knows it’s there, and I think…he doesn’t like running in circles.”
After I finished, no one spoke as the horse completed another loop. Then, a slow clap began behind me. As I spun, my eyes landed on the trainer as he applauded.
He walked forward, raising a hand to slow the animal. With a snap of his fingers, the horse stopped suddenly and snorted. Javier patted the horse’s neck. “You speak with confidence. How do you know you are correct about Tinieblas, here?”
When it came to racehorses, speculation was everything. A fast dam didn’t mean a fast foal, but it might. And a pedigree was important, but there were diamonds in the rough too. What my father had made plain to me was that a horse would tell you what you needed to know. One had to make confident assertions in the world of racing in order to have any luck at all.
“He told me,” I said plainly.
Javier’s quick eyes found mine, and they blazed with curiosity and approval. Something about him seemed older, though there were no visible signs of aging on his perfect fae skin. Unlike most of the attractive young men in Leor, he didn’t have that air about him of wanting to be noticed. He held my gaze a moment longer, the faintest smile touching the corner of his lips.
“Mortals do not have the ability to speak to animals,” he said, turning back to Tinieblas, aptly named for his jet-black coat.
“Fae do?” I blurted.
He snickered. “Some. Our powers vary greatly. Tinieblas here has told me many things, including that he did not speak to you at all.”
I gaped at the horse. “You can talk?”
The horse tossed his head.
I might have been over-excited about training the world’s fastest horses on my immortal husband’s enormous estate, but I thought I heard a strange voice say, Only to those who listen.
Blinking at the horse, I thought of my father. I’d seen Papá test the stable hands on their first day of work over the years. Perhaps this was merely a test. I tilted my head and stared at the dark yearling. “I understand him plainly enough.”
Javier’s shoulders lifted in a quiet chuckle. “You are right, mortal. But I am not certain you grasp the full extent of your own statement.” His face dropped once more into hard lines and searching eyes. “For the one with whom you share all things has complete authority over these animals.” Something about his words, paired with his sweeping gaze as it brushed over my shoulder in the direction of the other barn, suggested he meant more than the horses. “Compromise that, and we shall have a right nasty disaster on our hands.”
With that comforting thought, he dismissed me, saying he needed to track down a mare way out in the back pasture. As I stepped through the tall grasses, I glanced at the large barn in the distance, wondering what sort of creatures lived there and how Rafael maintained his authority over these animals.
Despite the heat, a shiver coursed down my spine. Javier had been clear: the vows I’d taken really did grant me a share of all that was Rafael’s. Even his magic.
