Page 25 of The Most Unsuitable Prince (Another Arranged Marriage #8)

Is that for me? “Rupert, dear, come in,” Winter said with a smile, holding out his hand and tilting up his face so Rupert could air-kiss on either side of it.

Rupert’s lips had been getting suggestively close to his skin in the past two days, but Winter didn’t mind.

In fact, it gave him a quiet thrill, as the brush of Rupert’s lips on his left cheek grazed barely for a second before Rupert stood straight again.

“Come in, come in, we are quite alone, at least until the meal is served. The food will be coming at the next bell,” Winter said. “That gives us plenty of time to enjoy a drink together first. Come and take a seat.”

“I bought you a gift.” Rupert didn’t make any move toward the chair that Winter indicated.

He was looking down at the box in his hands.

“As you know, I’m really not very good at this, but I wanted you to know how much I value you and how high you are in my esteem.

I do hope it hasn’t…that it isn’t inappropriate.

Unfortunately, I had nobody to advise me on this so. ..”

“You are so kind, Rupert. Thank you.” Winter took the box, delighting in the gold and silver packaging that seemed to sparkle in the light of the fire. “This is very beautifully done, whatever it is.”

“You should open it,” Rupert said, still looking at the box now in Winter’s hand. “Please, if it’s not the right thing, or if I have overstepped in any way, you have to tell me. Be blunt about it. I’m not going to learn if you don’t tell me.”

“Ooh, does that mean you are planning more gifts for me in the future?” Winter smiled, showing he was teasing, as he gently eased the top of the box off the bottom layer.

He gasped as he saw what was inside. It was a beautiful brooch in the shape of a magical bird, with long tail strands and wide wing feathers.

There was even a gorgeously ornate crown sitting atop the bird’s tiny head.

The artist had captured the movement of a bird in flight, and it was truly beautifully crafted.

What was even more special, in Winter’s opinion, was the entire range of gems that had been used to cover the entire body and wings.

Minute, tiny little gems of virtually every color Winter had ever seen, very reminiscent of the robe Rupert’s father had gifted him to get married in.

It was truly gorgeous, very gaudy, and probably not something Rupert would have typically bought for anybody before.

But he bought this for me. Quickly taking it out of its box and putting the box on the nearest surface, Winter smiled up at his husband.

“Would you put it on for me, please? Right here, I think.” He tapped the patch of his shirt just over his heart.

“Please pin it to my shirt for me, if you don’t mind. ”

“You want to actually wear it?” Rupert’s surprise reminded Winter that his husband’s gifts had typically been refused before. Rupert’s fingers seemed to fumble as he took the delicate brooch and very carefully held Winter’s shirt away from his skin so he could attach the brooch to the material.

“I just saw it and I thought of you.” Rupert patted the bird to make sure it was secure and then stepped back. “It reminded me of the day we exchanged our vows.”

“That’s what makes this the perfect gift,” Winter said, his smile widening.

“When you look at something and it reminds you of the person you are buying for, then you know that gift was meant for the recipient. This is truly beautiful.” He stroked his hand across the little gems. “Stunning. Perfect. I absolutely adore it, and I am thrilled that something so beautiful would remind you of me. Thank you so much for your kindness.”

“I just wanted you to know how much you were appreciated.” Rupert ducked his head. If Winter didn’t know better, he would have thought that Rupert was shy.

Taking Rupert’s hand, Winter led them over to the chairs, making sure Rupert was comfortable with a drink in hand, before he sat on the other side of the fire, holding a glass of his own.

“Rupert dear, I have a question to ask you, and all I ask is that you answer me honestly. Don’t question the validity of the question, just give me a serious answer, if you please. ”

“I would do that with you anyway. Of course, I would.” Rupert looked up and perhaps realized that Winter was serious. “Is this about...” He glanced down, looking at Winter’s now covered torso.

Winter nodded. “It’s time for me to keep my promise. But before I tell you anything, I want to ask, what do you know about the apparently mythical creatures that live across the vast lands of our known world?”

Rupert clearly wasn’t expecting the question.

Winter couldn’t blame him. Despite the existence of dragons, most other creatures that authors wrote children’s stories about were considered fictional.

Rupert’s eyes darted from one side to the other, and then he said, “My mother used to read to me children’s stories about mythical creatures when I was young.

At least I’m fairly sure she did. Does that count? Is that what you’re referring to?”

Clasping his glass in both hands, Winter leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“Rupert, dear, what would you think if I told you that many of those creatures are real?

So real in fact, that the business that the Martingale royal family has been doing for multiple generations is concerned with the creatures most people think are fairy tales.

“We, that is, my family and I, are contracted to a special department at the World Council. Our mission is to safely capture these beings and return them to the World Council to be relocated.”

The words fell like stones between them. Rupert was clearly stunned. “Capture?” Rupert said at last. “You mean you hunt them?”

Rupert’s eyes immediately went to Winter’s torso again, and Winter could almost hear what he was thinking.

“I was relocating a gryphon the morning that I got injured,” he explained quietly.

“Gryphons are notorious for preferring not to be captured in any way. However, these creatures are not meant to be here in Simigile. They usually only live around the Dragon Mountains. Another thing they are known for is stealing valuable dragon eggs, which is why they need to be controlled.”

“You actually hunt things?” Rupert said. “For all you said back in Middlethorp, you’re a hunter? I thought you didn’t like it.”

“I don’t like having to hunt any creature, Rupert dear,” Winter said. “I stand by what I said at Middlethorp. Most creatures, just like people, should have the freedom to live, mate, and breed – living their lives the way their kind has done for centuries. I’m extremely passionate about that creed.

“Despite gryphons being dangerous, I didn’t kill the one that hurt me.

I never hunt to kill. None of my family does.

There are just some instances where animals need to be removed from where they are.

They could be too close to a human population, or they might have strayed out of the territory they’d lived in for decades for whatever reason.

“At the moment, Simigile has a stray gryphon problem, which is unusual,” Winter added.

“This country is a long way, even when flying, from the Dragon Mountains. But they were here. I was the closest Martingale to the area, so it was my job to deal with it. Not my most efficient work.” Winter chuckled.

“Unfortunately, in this instance, I got injured, but that was my mistake. The gryphon was determined to kill me. I was the one who didn’t think I’d get hurt. ”

“What happened when you got hurt? How did you get away?” The concern in Rupert’s tone was similar to when he’d breached Winter’s bedchamber two nights before.

“I completed my mission,” Winter said simply. “I would not kill the gryphon. The youngster was following his instincts. I managed to capture him by magical means, which is how that is typically done. A dragon rider came to the castle later that day to transport the package to the World Council.

“There is the other side of things, of course. It’s not all chase and capture.

When I’m not hunting creatures, I’m a social butterfly, gathering information for another branch of the World Council, ensuring that the order they fight to keep among the various countries remains intact.

That’s my secret, Rupert. That’s what I do.

That’s what the Martingale royal family has been doing for generations. ”

Rupert seemed stunned. Understandably. It wasn’t every day that someone was told the creatures they believed were myths were actually real.

The party side of things was probably what Rupert might have expected, but the creature hunting was clearly not.

But as a long silence drew out between them, it was Winter that was stunned when Rupert finally responded.

“My mother used to read me tales of men who would go off and fight fantastical creatures,” he said quietly. “I always longed to be one of those people – to do something truly necessary in life. To have a purpose that meant something.”

“You’re a crown prince, Rupert dear. You will rule this country one day which is a very noble and necessary purpose.”

“I understand that – I know what I have to do and when the time comes… Well, I hope now we’re married I won’t have to rule alone.

But this…what you do…that’s a life with a real purpose.

” Rupert looked up. “Would you train me so I can help you? I can hunt, but clearly these creatures have skills that I’m unaware of, and capturing a beast rather than simply shooting a creature with an arrow from twenty yards away is a totally different form of hunting from what I’ve been used to.

But would you do it? Surely our marriage means I’m part of the Martingale family now, too.

Would you help me train so I can help you do what you do? ”

By the goddess of steam and magic, he’s serious. Winter had not expected that.