AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Casimir’s chuckle expands into a full laugh. Something in his gaze feels more thoughtful than usual as he considers me. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you’d feel that way. Have you gotten to spend much time around horses before?”
An honest answer tumbles out of me before I can think better of it. “My family had a mare. She was better company than my parents most of the time too.”
Casimir nods as if he can hear all the things I haven’t said. “I’m fond of them myself. They’re spirited but straightforward animals. So many different personalities within that. And they don’t ask for much. I’d spend more time out here if it wouldn’t leave all my clothes smelling like horse.”
The affection is obvious in his voice despite that last remark. He follows it up with a wink. “I don’t mind, but it doesn’t go over well with most patrons.”
A pang passes through my gut at the thought of the people who are already enjoying Casimir’s various talents, even though it’s not as if I had any plans to do so myself.
He’s never shown a sign that he’s anything other than pleased to make his living by pleasing others. Why should it bother me?
It’s a little thrilling to discover there’s at least one thing he cares about just for himself, though.
I shoot him a grin in return. “Those patrons don’t know what they’re missing.”
Then I glance at the stalls around me. “Since you’ve gotten to know all the different personalities, maybe you can help me pick out a good ride for a trip through the city. I’d rather not test my truce with Toast that far just yet.”
“Hmm. Well, you can’t have Pepper, because she’s my best pal.” He pauses to stroke the forehead of a dapple gray mare who’s poked her head from her stall with a whicker.
Casimir offers her a beaming smile and considers the rest of the row. “Scout is a steady one, very stalwart but still knows his own mind. I think he’d be a good fit for you.”
I follow his gesture to a sorrel gelding who peers at me with curious eyes.
“You want to get out there and stretch those legs?” I ask the horse, who snorts eagerly.
I go to get a bridle and saddle. Toast makes a vague grumbling sound as I pass him by.
“Be nicer to me next ride, and I’ll pick you more often,” I call over to the stallion, and Casimir lets out another laugh.
Scout proves to be everything I could ask for in a steed, waiting for my commands and leaping to follow them without any dithering. I let Casimir leave a few minutes ahead of me to give the illusion that we’re on separate errands, but it’s only a matter of minutes before I’m trotting through the streets of the inner wards to our chosen meet-up spot by the old wall.
As I draw up beside the courtesan, we pass through the ruined gate and into the middle wards. Looking over at him, I can’t help noticing how relaxed he looks astride the mare.
Casimir rarely comes across as anything less than content, but there’s a sense of deeper serenity to his stance as he sways with the horse’s strides that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before. It lights a happy glow in my chest that I can’t quite bear to squash.
They don’t ask for much, he said before about the horses. Maybe the demands of his work get to him more than he normally reveals.
“Is riding part of the companionship curriculum too?” I ask.
Casimir adjusts his grip on the reins. “A small part, and only for those who aren’t tied to a very specialized area of focus like bardery or painting. We’d need to be able to keep up if a patron is in the mood to go for a jaunt on horseback, of course.”
“So you only go out if someone you’re attending to wants to?”
He shoots me a wry smile. “That’s essentially the job description. I can’t say I wouldn’t mind taking a ride through the woods more often, but I have plenty of other activities to occupy myself with.”
I don’t hear any complaint in his tone, but my gut twists. “It seems to me that you should have some time in there to think about whatyouwant, to make yourself happy, you know. Don’t you deserve it as much as anyone who’d come to you as a patron?”
Gods above, from everything I’ve seen of him, he deserves true contentment more than the rest of those elite pricks.
Casimir blinks at me as if I’ve said something absurd. “Knowing I’ve brought some kind of joy into another person’s life does make me happy. I wouldn’t have gone into the profession otherwise.”
“I know. I only meant…”
I shake my head, not sure how to put the ache inside me into words. It isn’t really my place to meddle anyway. “Never mind. I obviously don’t know the ins and outs of it.”
I shift my attention to the streets we’re passing through. “You’re sure the Riverside Institute of Child Wellness isn’tinRiverside?” That ward lies not far beyond the old walls, in the middle-class zone where I’d imagine a man like Ster. Torstem would feel more comfortable than the fringes we’re headed toward.
“It is on the side of the river,” Casimir says. “I’d imagine Ster. Torstem picked the name knowing people would assume it referred to the neighborhood, so they wouldn’t realize and be surprised he’d invest in a facility in the outer wards. But I can’t imagine there are two organizations with the same name, and Alek confirmed it’s in Siltston.”
