Melody laughed. “I tried to convince her, but she’s still young, and she really likes you. I wish I had animal empathy like Antoinette. It’d make it easier convincing the babies they really won’t die if I leave them for more than a few hours. After dinner, I must appease all five of my beasts. If you don’t hear from me in the morning, they likely stripped the flesh from my bones as punishment for leaving them.”
The king snorted and sat at the head of the table. “Your cats are spoiled rotten and have been enjoying attention from everybody. They missed you for all of five minutes before they figured out they could rule over everyone with a single meow.”
Somehow, my mother sat near the king, and she looked ready to throw up, something that didn’t surprise me considering her general paranoia. My father, who sat beside her, seemed resigned. My sisters, who I thought of as dark-haired beauties out to take over the world, did excellent impressions of owls.
“We’re seated across from your parents,” Melody announced, and she linked her arm with mine and dragged me over. I cooperated so I wouldn’t drop my kitten. “I would’ve brought him sooner, but my father often gets carried away.”
“I wasn’t getting carried away. I was doing his intake exam,” the king replied, and the older man lifted his chin to stare down his nose at his daughter. “He’s now up to date on his vaccinations, and I have him on a better set of suppressors. If you feel the need to baby someone, you can handle the checkups for the rest of Mr. Alders’s family. I’ll even be generous and allow you to handle their talent evaluations.”
I considered crawling under the table for a nap, but if I did, I’d miss out on the steak and lobster. My family bored holes into me with the power of their glares, and I gave it five minutes before all four of them tore into me. I expected my sisters would lead the charge.
It would take a miracle to get them to forgive me for leaving the Royal States in the first place.
Placing Sparrow on my lap, I petted my kitten and did my best to pretend I hadn’t gotten everyone’s attention. It didn’t work.
Of my sisters, Dahlia rarely felt a need to hold back, which often resulted in tested patience, hurt feelings, and more fights than I cared to think about. She snorted, and in her usual way, informed everyone at the table I was a selfish asshole who needed to learn how to mind my own business.
On one hand, I agreed with her. I’d gone to Europe rather selfishly to pursue my interests rather than their general safety and liberty. However, I couldn’t erase the good I’d done for having been selfish and following my heart rather than appeasing their sense of security.
Lifting my gaze, I looked her in the eyes and replied, “I would be sorry for inconveniencing you if the price of sparing you from those inconveniences wasn’t counted in lives. I even agreed with everyone that I couldn’t pursue my field of choice in Florida for obvious reasons. Your disapproval doesn’t invalidate the work I’ve done or the lives I’ve saved. You could have chosen to stay in Florida, but I will never apologize to you for doing the right thing, and preventing that crude from destroying France’s shores—and much of the surrounding environment—was the right thing to do. While I understand your safety is more important to you than my life ever will be, I’m not going to sit here and allow you to indulge in your tendency to worry only about yourself. Without my talent, the entire French coastline would be covered in toxic crude, crude that would kill the fish and birds of the area and set the entire kingdom back for years on the environmental front. More lives would be put at risk attempting to clean that mess up. If you need an education on the consequences of a large-scale crude spill, I’m sure someone here could oblige you. I’m not sure what the dead-weight capacity of that tanker was, but it was one of the largest ships I’ve ever seen, and it required several other vessels to retrieve its cargo without it polluting the entire Atlantic ocean. If it makes you feel better, I knew exactly what sort of risks I was taking, which is why I chose to notify Maine about our heritage. I expect I’m more aware of the consequences of my actions than you’ll ever be. All you’ve done is hide.”
Any other day, I would have regretted my choice of words, especially when my entire family flinched at my cold delivery.
I was too tired for the usual bickering, which happened every time I contacted any of them. Unlike them, I’d seen just how much crude that ship had carried.
However much I hated to admit it, I’d gotten lucky I’d lived long enough to engage in a verbal battle with my family at all.
“The ship was carrying 350,000 DWT of crude,” the king announced. “It took three tankers, two from New York and one from Iraq, to handle the entire load. It was only good fortune that the sabotaged ship didn’t explode until after the crude had been siphoned from the disabled vessel. Had the sabotaged ship exploded while the crude had still been on board, it would have been an environmental disaster unlike anything seen in decades. The amount of toxic fumes the ship would’ve spewed into the air would’ve put everyone living nearby in danger. I respect the challenges you’re facing, Miss Dahlia, but your brother made a difficult and costly choice for himself—and for his entire family. That does include you, even though you’re angry right now and likely don’t even want to admit he’s part of your family. You don’t have to like the consequences of his choice, but perhaps you should at least acknowledge that he put his life on the line for the sake of many.”
My sister shut her mouth with a click of her teeth, and her cheeks darkened in a blush.
“How about you, Tabatha?” I regarded my youngest sister with a raised brow.
“I’m taking your ass down on the mat for daring to be hurt so badly you needed some damned royal from Maine to save you, and I don’t care if she’s cute.”
While I’d expected a lecture more like Dahlia’s, I could accept Tabatha’s with some grace. “You’ll have to ask the doctors for when you can take my ass down on the mat. I’ll accept my punishment with minimal complaint.”
Tabatha turned to our sister and stuck her tongue out. “That’s how you deal with him. Just beat him up. We’re his little sisters, and he won’t fight back because Daddy raised him to be stupid.”
My father lifted his hand, rubbed his temple, and sighed. “I’d send you to your room, but you haven’t listened to a damned thing I’ve said since you turned eighteen, so do what you want because that’s what you’re going to do anyway, Jack.”
I lifted my kitten off my lap and held her up for my father to see. “A French princess gave me a kitten, and her name is Sparrow. I’m keeping her.”
I suspected cats could speak English, as Sparrow purred and nuzzled me, further entrenching herself in my life.
I didn’t typically consider violence as a viable method of handling a problem, but if anyone touched my kitten, there would be hell to pay, and it would be a bloody, violent affair.
“You’re not five anymore, and attempting to distract me or your mother with the latest animal you’ve rescued isn’t going to work.”
Unlike when I’d been a child, I was not giving up Sparrow, and I returned her to my lap and gave her the pettings she was owed. “I did have a little problem with bringing home rescues as a child.”
My mother’s gusty sigh drew everyone’s attention. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and Jack was born incapable of ignoring those in need of rescue. It’s entirely our fault we encouraged him to be a kind-hearted man. At least he is wise enough to take responsibility for his actions. Also, Dahlia, if you’re that nasty to your brother again, I’ll be taking you out onto the mat for a few lessons. We raised you better than that. However much I’m displeased we ultimately were brought into this, he did his due diligence for us. I would rather have a compassionate son than one who would turn his back on those in need, even if that compassion creates trouble for us.”
My sister gulped. “Sorry.”
I glanced at the king. “Did you prescribe her anxiety medications?”
“Jack,” my mother warn
ed.
“There wasn’t a need to,” Melody’s father replied with a slight smile. “I’ve found your parents to be rather understanding and sensible individuals when presented with facts. While on the surface, this situation may feel like a disaster to you and your family, I do believe it will open many more doors than it closes. And while you’re without a kingdom to rule, Jack’s talent validates your rightful place as a royal family. While training your talents would be a difficult job at best, it’s apparent your line’s abilities are alive and well. It’s your choice if you want to pursue your talents to their full strength. We have all of the equipment required for evaluations, and while we’re thought of as a medical talent line, our talent is a mutated waveweaving talent. We can test if you have the aptitude for medical arts.”
Tabatha’s eyes widened. “I could become a doctor?”
“If you’ve the intellect and aptitude, you can be whatever you want. Maine would be happy to enroll you into classes if that’s what you want. I don’t know your education levels or background, but if you don’t have the appropriate training, you can be trained. How old are you? Sixteen?”
I couldn’t tell if the king wasn’t sure how old my sister was or was using her age as a conversation starter. Either way, the fastest way to rile my little sister up was to act like she was still a child despite having successfully survived to legal adulthood.
“Eighteen,” Tabatha replied, lifting her chin. “I did okay at school, but it wasn’t a very good school. I could do better. I don’t care if I have to start higher education later because I need to catch up. If Jack can do the doctor thing, so can I!”
“I’m not exactly a doctor, Tabby,” I muttered.
“You jump out of helicopters and put people back together when they’re broken. How is that not a doctor?”
“I don’t have a doctorate in medicine.”
“But you put broken people back together. That should count.”
Melody laughed. “He’s the equivalent of a paramedic here, roughly. First responders are equally valuable to doctors; without first responders, doctors would lose a lot more patients. While I believe Jack could easily become a doctor if he wanted, I think he would prefer jumping out of helicopters and patching broken people back together long enough for us doctors to finish what he started. He won’t be jumping out of any helicopters in the near future, however. He has at least a month of physical therapy ahead of him.”
Dahlia’s brows furrowed, and she looked me over. “Why a month of physical therapy? He doesn’t look sick.”
“His talent cannibalized his muscle mass. That means he’s very weak, and he needs to have his muscles rebuilt from the ground up. He wouldn’t be able to handle the physical requirements of his job right now,” Melody explained, and I marveled how she avoided sounding condescending. “He’ll eat a large dinner, and he won’t last ten minutes after he’s finished eating before he’s ready for bed. Jack, I’ve already got your suite ready for you, so as soon as you finish dinner, I’ll take care of the evening checkup and show you where everything is.”
The king sighed. “He’s not your patient, Melody.”
“I don’t care. I’m doing the checkup tonight. I’m concerned you broke him delaying dinner for several hours for the intake exam. It could have waited!”
“It really couldn’t wait, and I’ll be up half the night going over test results to see where we’re at for tomorrow morning. Stop complaining I’ve stolen your patient. You can show him to bed, but you’re not doing any checkups. He doesn’t need a checkup. He just had a full exam. Why don’t you show him to his suite after dinner and introduce him to your cats? At this point in time, playing with your cats is better for his health than an unnecessary checkup.”
“You’re impossible. Where are Mom and the others?”
“Your mother and your brothers are weak and couldn’t stand to have dinner delayed, so they already ate. Your sisters decided to go have a sleepover party with one of their friends, as they don’t want to watch you make a fool out of yourself around, in their words, ‘some European man.’ I tried to tell them Jack’s actually from Florida, but they refused to listen to me as usual. Your uncle went home early, as he didn’t want to wait around for hours for me to become available for his latest issues.”
Ah-ha. The intake exam and its wretched length made a lot more sense upon hearing the king’s brother had been underfoot but had left when forced to wait for an excessive period of time. “I probably do count as European at this point. My passport certainly thinks so.”
“Your passport is a modern marvel,” the king admitted, shaking his head and laughing. “I got yelled at by my RPS agents for giving them a challenge, as we had to verify every single stamp in the damned thing. A Maine passport will be ready for you tomorrow, and I made certain to request sufficient pages so you can travel at your whim. Half of those stamps were you traveling from pleasure, were they not?”
“They were,” I confessed. “I like seeing the world.”
“Melody, I put in a request for your passport to be replaced, and I had extra pages requested in yours, too. You are worse than a puppy, and I expect you’ll run away from home to follow him where he wanders. I expect you’ll use the ‘check on his health’ excuse most frequently.”
Melody spluttered. “Dad! I would not.”
According to the king’s expression, his daughter had told a blatant lie and he wasn’t buying it.
My parents had used that same expression on me often.
“You would. How do I know this? I did this to your mother, and you’re a chip off my block as much as you are a chip off your mother’s block. You should be grateful I took him as my patient. You can pursue any of your nefarious schemes without me breathing down your neck about doctor-patient relationships. I’m even going to be generous and let you take my tickets to the Maine vs. Texas baseball game tomorrow night so you can attempt to convince him he likes sports.”
Melody sucked in a breath, and her eyes widened. “You’ll give me your tickets?”
“I’m going to be busy going over Jack’s health files, so I’m not going to realistically be able to go. Your mother has decided she wants to be lazy and sleep in. Your brothers were told if they took my tickets, you might never forgive them. As such, you’re just going to have to go, and you’ll have to take Jack with you.”
“But Dad, those are your playoff opener tickets! I was going to take him to the minor league end-of-season games.”
“I’m aware. It’ll be a good game, so if you’re going to convince him baseball is interesting, it may as well be for a good game. Texas is sending two of their younger brats over for the game, and I have enough children at home, so you can deal with hyperactive hooligans for a while. If you’re lucky, they might even stay in their own box for a change. Texas’s heir and his consort might show, too, but they’ll be in a different box. We might get overrun by Texans at this rate.”
According to Melody’s expression, Christmas had come early, I’d be attending a baseball game if I valued my life, and her father had become her favorite person in the world.
“No squealing at the dinner table,” the king warned, wagging his finger at his daughter. “If you’re lucky, I’ll send you to Montana at the end of the week for the next game in the series, and you’ll once again pry my tickets out of my selfish, greedy hands.”
The king obviously had no idea what the words selfish and greedy meant—either that, or he really loved his daughter as much as he wanted to make me suffer through sporting events.
I could see either being possible.
“Seriously?”
“Your mother was not happy with me for giving you our tickets to the Montana game. She wanted to go ride horses. You’re stuck on the Oregon vs. California game, though. The words ‘over her dead body’ came out of her mouth, so I’m going to that game with her, as I value your life as much as I value mine. She’ll consider giving you the ticket for the second Maine vs. Texa
s game, however, if you can go to Texas without turning the entire kingdom upside down.”
“Since when have I turned any kingdom upside down?”
“I’m convinced it’s only a matter of when.”
Melody sighed. “Dad, you’re being impossible.”
“I’m so nice I’ve put in an inquiry for a post-season race in Indianapolis for you. If baseball doesn’t work, perhaps you can entice him with fast cars. The race is happening the day before the Oregon vs. California game.”
My sisters raised their hands in unison, and I somehow swallowed my laughter.
“Yes, ladies?” the king asked, his tone amused.
“I will do just about anything you ask of me for an entire year if I can see a race in Indianapolis,” Dahlia said with zero evidence of shame.
“I’m up for general enslavement if I can go, too,” Tabatha admitted.
“I see you two are racing fans.” The king laughed. “It’ll be an excellent way to get you to meet elite and royal families without drawing too much attention to yourselves.” His attention turned to my parents. “Would you like to see some races, too?”
They nodded, their eyes wide.
“I’m not above appealing to the racing fans in you to make your transition easier. I’ll call Illinois and inquire about tickets and see what races I can get you there for. They’re also accustomed to the challenges of integrating a new royal, as Her Royal Highness was in a situation unfortunately similar to yours.”
My entire family stared at the king, and I wasn’t the only one puzzled by his comment. “What do you mean?” I asked.
“King Jacques’s sister and her family attempted to coerce his niece into an unwanted marriage. His niece is now Illinois’s future queen. She’s had some trouble adapting, although she’s settling nicely now that she’s safely married. She’s a good person for your family to talk to. She understands what it’s like to be a target, and she also understands what it’s like to start fresh. Just be aware she won’t accept any excuses she views as lame or cowardly.”
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