AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But Declan had already turned away—a graceful exit only slightly spoiled when he stumbled over a cat. Or perhaps the cat had tried to trip him on purpose?
It could be hard to tell with a cat like Leo.
Ainsley shuddered, relaxing her shoulders as soon as the young lord had turned his back. “That man. He used to be friends with my brother.” She said the words like that act alone should be enough to condemn him. Ainsley seemed to have gotten along well with her brother when he was alive, but did she not like her brother’s friends?
Archie tried to put the scattered pieces together—all the words that had been said and all the words that hadn’t been. “And your brother . . . He is the one who holds the current hunting record at the castle?”
“Yes, exactly.” Her voice was soft and mournful again. “My brother had a lot of friends like that.” She gestured to the lord’s retreating back. “They imitated or fawned over him one minute and then used him as a stepping-stool or even double-crossed him the next. Like the only thing they ever saw or cared about was his crown. I noticed it more and more after he died—after they didn’t have to put on the act anymore. And then I also noticed . . . Well, a lot of my ladies can be like that too.”
Archie frowned. Ainsley had said she was lonely, but it was only now that he understood the whole of it. Ainsley was a princess! Even if she weren’t as bright and beautiful as a springtime rose (which she was), she didn’t have to be alone. One snap of her royal fingers, and she would have her pick of companions. Ladies. Lords. Certainly more than a guard or two.
But at some point, Ainsley had chosen to distance herself from her former companions, and now she was holding his hand instead.
The princess quickly banished the dreariness from her countenance with a laugh that only felt a little forced. “Perhaps I should have started talking to millers’ sons a lot sooner, but then, I never imagined we would have so much in common.”
She wouldn’t have had anything in common with most millers’ sons. His elder brothers never had much use for anything outside their own small corner of the kingdom. They learned to read as a proper tribute to their mother, but they only used the words and letters necessary to aid them in their business dealings. Anything else they deemed too trivial or womanly to bother with.
He imagined most of the skilled tradesmen of their class and gender were the same.
A nobleman or a more scholarly trade might have need for more words without it being seen as a blight on his character, but Archie’s interest was always a source of conflict and embarrassment to the other males in his family.
The same conflict that had ironically led him to build up his muscles to defend himself.
Archie shook his head, and since their hands were already joined, he dared to nudge the princess with his shoulder. “So you don’t like him, then?” The words were so obvious they could only be said with a hint of playful irony, but for Archie, they encompassed so many mind-crushing revelations that he couldn’t hold them back.
Ainsley tittered and rolled her eyes. “Of course not. I much prefer spending time with you. And I don’t mean to put any pressure on you, Archie. But if you or even your lucky hunting cat could manage to bring down a stag before he does, I would be most appreciative.”
* * *
At the time of Leo’s disappearance and apparent transformation, Ainsley had only just turned thirteen. Gangly limbs and a few youthful blemishes on her face. As such, Leo never gave much thought to the type of man he might want her to marry.
But it didn’t take long for him to decide there was a certain type of man he didn’t want.
And of all the men riding with the king, Declan was the worst—another young lordling who fancied himself a huntsman with a row of trophies on his wall.
A man who liked to own, to conquer, and had looked at Ainsley more than once.
So, of course, when the first deer made its appearance and several hunters loosed their bows at once, Declan was the one to pierce its heart. Leo had run ahead, and he could tell the man’s arrow by the color and shape of the fletching. The cat shuddered at the sight. Declan had been tolerable enough as a mostly friendly rival, someone to test blades and pretty insults with, but Leo did not want him as a brother-in-law.
For her part, Ainsley had been too wrapped up with Archie to notice, and him with her. He might utter one word for every twelve she spoke, the miller boy as simple and wholesome as the bread he was always baking, but he savored her every syllable, watching her with a guileless and unguarded rapture that could not be faked. And Ainsley could shoot. She could ride. But she had no concept of the more practical skills of traveling rough. She couldn’t pitch a tent, dig a trench, or clean her own rabbit. Archie had taken care of that for her, too smitten to notice she was leaning on his help and practical guidance just as much as he leaned on hers.
Leo shook his head. If his sister had truly tired of her former companions and their court smiles, perhaps it shouldn’t be so surprising she found Archie more to her liking. They might be better suited for each other than the cat would have ever guessed.
And Leo certainly couldn’t imagine the soft-hearted oaf ever hurting her.
He looked back at the buck, and he knew it wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. But a cat couldn’t properly sit on a throne, and unless he found a way to return to his human form, he would much rather leave his sister and his kingdom to an upstart miller’s son than a man like Declan.
So, for now, it seemed as though nothing had changed. Leo was going to keep pulling tricks in Archie’s favor. He dug the arrow out of the deer and replaced it with the one he preferred.
* * *
Archie and the other young archers rounded an oak to find the fallen deer, and Archie’s arrow pierced its heart. Declan huffed his annoyance and walked away without a word, but Archie couldn’t help but form his own frown when he saw the cat sitting by the fallen creature’s corpse.
He had never thought Leo could help him take down something as large as a deer, but he should have known better. Anything was possible with Leo the magic cat.
But maybe that wasn’t always a good thing?
“What’s the matter, boy?” Sir Callum asked after some silence. “You shot the deer. Your princess is going to love this. Her father too. And I get to take all the credit for ‘training’ you.” His voice remained dry, but he ended the words with a hearty wink.
