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"Who else but the d.a.m.ned St. Veras butler," Mary told him as she wrote at her tiny desk. "Don"t worry, I gave back better than I got. He"s nursing a split lip and a broken tooth." She pointed out the door. "Master Novar is in the stables. He needed quality time with his favorite stallion, Brave."

"He named it Brave?" Jules asked, trying for being calm, but the urge to go and dust his fans on Cardiff was strong, very strong.

"It"s a bloodline name," Mary said. "G.o.d only knows the whole, ridiculous t.i.tle it must have. Ask him, and he"ll happily tell you."

Jules went and got his cloak, which he usually left hanging in the kitchen. He did this for two reasons. One, it would always be warm, because the cook fires never went out. Random servants made sure of that. Two, the smell of spices disguised his scent a little bit. Cinnamon was a powerful scent that blocked a lot of other ones.

He left out the back door and into the cold, winter air. Jules hurried toward the stables. Many people were wandering back and forth between their cabins, carrying firewood or covered pots. Jules smelled various kinds of stews in the breeze. Bacon cooking in iron skillets. Laundry soap. Hearth fires.

Tales-Vier smelled like home, now. The manor itself always smelled clean, but the estate and these servant"s cabins, produced honest, domestic scents that made Jules think of his mother. Learning how to sew while sitting beside the fireplace, food cooking nearby. Helping her wash Lucy"s clothes. The way she smiled when she gave him his first doll, and how he felt when holding it.

Jules stopped walking. He stood very still, eyes shut, pushing back the bittersweet ache in his chest. He couldn"t go into the stables smelling like sadness. Hal had enough on his mind. Jules wouldn"t stress him with omega loss.

Controlling one"s scent is difficult, but he could do it. He just hadn"t had to once getting to Tales-Vier. He forced himself to think of something happy and clean. The memory of Fong giving him his jinbaori.
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In control of himself once more, Jules closed the final distance to the stables. He could hear Hal"s low, rumbling voice very soon.

"Felix"s already given me fair warning about townie trouble," Hal said to someone. "I sent a very expensively posted letter to my mother, asking her to bring a contingent with her. I promise not to go into town alone anymore, Sam."

"I know you can take care of yourself," Sam was saying as Jules touched the stable door. "h.e.l.l, you can take care of six people at once. I just don"t want you to get dead, is all. I like it here, and I like you. Sir."

"I like you too, Sam," Halian told him.

Jules opened the door. Neither alpha jerked as if guilty. They just turned their heads to see who was coming in. This told Jules that Halian fully intended to talk to him about the new danger, at some point. Isla had warned Jules that Halian didn"t exist in the same place as everyone else, so, doubtless, he"d just been thinking about other things.

"h.e.l.lo, Jules," Halian greeted, smiling.

"Hey, Hal," Jules said back, suddenly shy. So sporadic, this shyness around his kind-hearted alpha. Jules wondered about it. Really, Hal put him on shaky ground sometimes.

Sam nodded to them both and vacated quickly, going outside.

Jules sat on a hay bale close to Halian. "Which one is Brave?"

"This one," Halian said, reaching out to stroke a horse"s head. "Do they all look alike to you?"

"Yeah. If they"re the same color, I can"t tell one from another," he admitted. "I came out to ask you about something."

"I"m all attention." Halian sat beside of him, and turned so they could look at each other better.

Hal smelled good.

Jules drew out the bag. "This is what your father sent me. He wrote that I should ask you about it."

Halian carefully opened the bag. The necklace kind of slithered out to pool in his palm. "Oh," he said softly. "He gave you the family distinction. Jules, you have won his complete approval. This would have gone to me, but, instead, he gave it to you. That was so you could pa.s.s it to the child of your choice."

"Oh," Jules echoed. "Shouldn"t that be ???? choice, Hal? You"re the alpha."

Halian carefully put the necklace back into the bag. "This is my father"s way of showing you he believes ??? are more valuable. And, he"s right. You are. Our family will not go on without you."

Jules held the bag, feeling the weight of the necklace and comparing it to the weight of the ring on his right hand. Both objects showed that Isla and Adrian fully invested the future of the Novar line into Jules. Both were lovely, and nearly incalculable in value when considering what they represented. He wouldn"t feel worthy, if not for caring about Hal so much.

Halian"s parents wanted him to bear children.

Jules wanted children.

Hal would wait for him to decide when to have them.

"I won"t lose this," Jules vowed. "I won"t lose Halcyna"s ring, either."

"I would never believe that you could be careless with items given to you out of love and approval," Halian said solemnly. "You"ve read my mother"s letter over and over, even though you have a perfect memory. That tells me how precious honest feelings are to you." Halian slid his hand underneath Jules"s chin, and gently turned his head upward. "The depth of your appreciation for people, Jules, is vast and beautiful. It makes ??? beautiful."

"Hal..." Jules whispered. "Hal... the things that come out of your mouth..."

Halian smiled tenderly at him. "It"s just the truth. I never bother to lie, if possible. I"m terrible at it."

Humor swelled up in Jules, blending with the awe he had for Hal, and, the depth of his words. Hal made him feel like the most treasured thing in the whole world, but not because of what he could do for the manor, or because he could do useful things. Hal liked him ??????. That was so much bigger than liking his face or his a.s.s, or for carrying on the family name.

"I could watch your eyes every minute of every day, and never get enough," Hal said, still holding him gently under the chin. "You"re made of love and intelligence, and ?????????, and those shine in you every second. I"ve never seen ?????? like you. In some moments, I can"t believe you"re even real."

Jules felt himself smiling though the enormity of the compliment being paid. "I"m just me, Hal."

"I know, but your "just me" is so far above others that my standards are going up," Halian told him, also smiling. "That means trouble for everyone but you, by the way."

Jules heard a throat being cleared.

Hal and Jules pulled upright as Mary approached. "Sir," she said quietly. "There"s someone here to see you." She looked at Jules as she handed a small, white card to Halian. "Jules, I"m so sorry for what you"re about to go through."

Halian read the card, and gave a nearly sub-audible growl.

Jules reeled at the scent of ????? that shot from Halian. He flinched back, and Halian instantly reined in his feelings, the rage dampening down to a hot simmer instead of boiling over.

"Jules," Hal said carefully. "You don"t have to endure this. ?? ?? ????? do you have to see him." He handed Jules the card. "I will honor whatever you tell me to do."

Jules"s heart thudded to a halt before restarting, the blood in his veins turning to ice. On that thickly made card of paper, a name stood out black and horrible.

Charles Remington.