The Copper Horse #2 Pride (31 page)

Center stage at
the very end of the garden was a statue of a horse covered in gold
paint, its eyes made of blue crystals. A long horn grew from its
forehead, and the mane and tail alike were sprinkled with
glittering red glass. It was so magnificent that Reuben’s heart
leapt every time he looked at it.

“Why are the
palm trees not here yet?” Erik asked a young, flustered man who
organized the event for him.

“Sir, the
merchants had problems in London. Because of Gregorovich’s
disappearance, the police are on high alert. But they will arrive
on time, I assure you!”

Reuben kneeled
on a pillow by Erik’s armchair, curious to see each new delivery.
He’d never seen things so grand, so magnificent and expensive.
There was fruit he’d never even heard of and cookies in
unimaginable colors.

“This is a
disaster. I need those trees to complete the scene.” Erik exhaled,
and his hand reached to a silver platter in his lap. Reuben’s eyes
immediately followed the movement, and he scooted close, waiting
for his treat. Erik had been feeding him the most gorgeous apple
pie today.

“Sir, I will
not sleep, I will not leave, I will not eat until they arrive. This
party is my priority,” the man vouched, a hand on his heart.

Reuben opened
his mouth, eager for another bite of the pie. Mister Fry was the
master of cookery, a true artist of the stove.

“And I want a
plume on the statue in the center. Silver,” Erik said. He turned to
Reuben with a small smile. “Open up, darling.”

The organizer
stared at them for a moment, as if he’d forgotten how to speak, but
he resumed talking when Reuben looked into his eyes as he chewed
the pie. “How about white though? It would go with the setup. We
could have a mix of ostrich and peacock feathers.”

Erik sighed and
looked at Reuben. “What do you think?”

“I will have a
white
plume, right, Master? It would match mine,” Reuben
said with enthusiasm and a full mouth.

Erik stared at
him for a long moment, and eventually nodded. “My horse is
right. Make it white then.”

Reuben whinnied
and shook his mane with glee. The sides of his head had been shaved
yesterday, so he felt refreshed and as horse like as one could
feel.

“I’ll make
arrangements then,” the man said and quickly walked off. As he
passed them, for a moment he leaned closer, as if he wanted to pet
Reuben’s head on the way but then sped up.

“You like it,
Copper?” Erik gave him one more bite of pie. “It will all come
alive when you appear.”

“Will there be
a competition, Master? Will people like me?” Reuben nuzzled Erik’s
hand, and the cool, slim fingers immediately cupped over his
cheek.

“Of course they
will. No person in their right mind would dislike you. I’m sure
you’ll win.”

Reuben smiled
at him before munching on the pie, but when he turned to have a
look toward the house, he noticed Mister Evans huffing and puffing
on his way toward them.

“Mister Dal,
Mister Dal,” he uttered breathlessly.

Reuben felt
sorry for the elderly gentleman having to exert himself this
way.

Erik frowned,
and his hand moved to the top of Reuben’s head. “What is it? I am
very busy right now.”

“It’s a letter
from your brother, sir. The messenger said it was beyond urgent.”
Mister Evans tried to catch his breath as he extended the
envelope.

Erik’s fingers
twitched and he reached out for the envelope, leaving Reuben’s head
with just the memory of his touch. He ripped the paper and pulled
out a single page.

“Is everything
all right, Master?” Reuben was eager to know and nudged Erik’s
thigh with his nose.

A deep,
guttural sigh left Erik’s mouth, but he smiled at Reuben. “We lost
the honey farm. No more Dal honey for ponies,” he said with an
exaggerated scowl.

“Honeyhill is
lost? Oh, that is terrible, Master! Are we poor now? Do we have to
move out to the street? Do I need to sell my jewelry for us?”
Reuben’s breathing quickened. He’d do that for Erik, he’d do
anything to stay with his master.

Erik stared at
him, but eventually shook his head with a tight smile. “No,
darling. It would take much more than loss of a single farm to
leave us homeless. Do not worry your pretty head.”

Reuben let out
a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. I got so worried. That would be a
horrible thing, Master. And before your birthday, at that.”

Erik leaned
down, and his smooth lips brushed Reuben’s forehead. “I need you to
go back to your stable. Jack will start grooming you for
tomorrow.”

Reuben nodded
as Erik helped him get up, and after one more bite of pie, he was
sent off to the house with Mister Evans holding the reins. The last
thing he heard from the garden was a high-pitched screech: “The
palms have arrived!”

Reuben relaxed
against the sloped edge of his bathtub. One of the lesser servants
poured in hot water, and he was feeling mellow and pleased at the
sweet-smelling mixture of milk and spices that were meant to soften
his skin.

“It will be the
greatest party Bylondon has ever seen,” he said, repeating what
he’d heard from the organizer. Jack was just getting the tools
necessary to tend to his hooves. Reuben’s whole body was freshly
shaved, smooth and sensitive, and there was milk with strawberries
waiting for him at the side table. There was no place better than
Erik’s house.

“So I’ve
heard,” said Jack, pulling out Reuben’s foot at the other end of
the tub. He started gently working on his nails, completely focused
on the task at hand. “Are you very nervous?”

“I’d say I’m
more curious than anything else.” Reuben looked to Jack’s pale
face. The boy needed to get out more. “Master Erik said there will
be many guests with all sorts of pets.”

Jack nodded,
biting on his lip as he pushed back the skin around Reuben’s nails.
“It is quite a lavish affair. Maybe too lavish for the times.”

“Huh? How
come?” Reuben ate another strawberry.

Jack raised his
eyes at him. “It will draw attention to our master. With
Gregorovich gone and Humanists on the move, it’s not safe.”

Reuben waved
his hand dismissively. “Master Erik has the respect of everyone in
Bylondon, and the protection of the Dal family.”

“Things like
that don’t always last forever, Reuben.” Jack reached for the nail
clipper.

“Why would you
say that? Everything is going wonderful. I think Master Erik really
wants to keep me for a long time.” Reuben smiled at the memory of
Erik fucking him in the stable just yesterday. It was before the
shaving, and Erik had scolded him for being such a dirty, unkept
pony, but it was all good fun. Reuben had had his head in the hay
when Erik fucked him from behind. Then his master had come all over
Reuben’s back and rubbed it in, claiming it would make Reuben
cleaner.

“I’m sure he
does.” The sound of the clip snipping through the nail sounded
strangely final. “It’s his future I am concerned about. The people
are afraid of what’s gonna happen.”

“I don’t
understand.” Reuben frowned, focusing on Jack’s eyes. There was
something off about his groom today.

There was a
prolonged silence looming over the sweet-smelling water like a
stormy cloud waiting to unleash the lightning. Jack clipped all the
toenails and started massaging the foot.  “I... there’s unrest
all over the city, and now that Gregorovich has escaped, he is a
threat to the Dals. No one knows what’s gonna happen.”

“I’ve heard one
of the Dal farms has been taken over. The one with honey.” Reuben
pouted.

Jack shook his
head. “I tell you, Reuben, be prepared to make a run for it if
things get out of hand.”

“A run for it?
But what about the master?” Reuben swallowed, and the water
suddenly felt cold.

Jack looked at
him over the still surface of the water. “If something happens,
there will be nothing any of us can do. If Hans can protect him,
they will flee, leaving everyone else behind.”

Reuben felt
uneasy at that notion. “Wouldn’t he need his pony?” he
whispered.

Jack put the
foot back under water. “I... I’m sure he’d love to take you with
him
if
that happens, but you need to make plans, too. Just
in case.”

“What plans can
I possibly make? I have nowhere to go.” Reuben didn’t like how that
sounded.

“You have
precious jewelry. It could work out.” Jack swallowed, staring at
Reuben across the tub. “Maybe you could even reunite with Erik. If
you wanted to, that is.”

“Jack, I don’t
know how to do much more than what I do here. When I’m his pony, I
feel like I’m worth something,” Reuben said, looking down to the
water and playing with his fingertips. His body seemed washed out
and blurred in the tinted water. “Like I’m important, valuable. I’m
just scum like anyone else out there in London.”

“You could find
someone else to take care of you.”

“I can’t be
anyone else’s.” Reuben swallowed and changed his position in the
water to be closer to Jack. He grabbed his top lip and lifted it to
show Jack the tattoo. “I belong to him.”

Jack
 stared at him for the longest moment and eventually shook his
head. “Sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have said all that.”

Reuben leaned
back against the tub. “I will be alert.”

“All right
then, let’s get you properly groomed. We need to make the master
proud, don’t we?” Jack asked with small smile.

Reuben slowly
nodded. “I need to win and be his champion tomorrow. I can’t bring
him shame.”

Jack reached
into the water, fishing out Reuben’s other foot. “Let’s work
then.”

Reuben woke up,
startled by a thud and some rustling behind the wall of his stall.
He realized he’d fallen asleep waiting for Erik. It was odd,
because no matter how busy Erik was, he always found a moment to
say goodnight. Was it him out there? If so, Reuben needed to look
presentable.

He lay on his
back, letting the blanket fall from his naked shoulder, but it
wasn’t Erik’s voice he heard. It was Jack’s.

“Another two
fled the house yesterday, like rats escaping a sinking ship. It’s
so hard to pretend everything is fine.”

“You need to
live in the moment, Jack.”

Reuben blinked,
recognizing the slightly raspy voice of Mister Fry, the cook.

There was a
moment of silence before Jack spoke. “I’m not like you. All my life
I’ve been in someone’s care. I have no idea what I’d do if it all
fell apart.”

“Oh, come on,
boy. I wouldn’t leave ya hangin’, would I?” Mister Fry laughed, and
there was another rustle of clothes.

Jack let out a
gasp. “I know, it’s just so overwhelming.”

“Just don’t
stray too far away from me, boy. Who knows? Maybe it’ll all blow
over.”

Jack took a
shaky breath, and something soft fell to the floor. “I’d never
stray away from you.”

Reuben pulled
up his blanket, feeling like an intruder into Jack’s intimacy, but
then again it was
his
stable. He just didn’t expect Jack and
Mister Fry to be so close. Suddenly, he wasn’t all that
comfortable. The hay was too hard, the blanket too thin, and he
felt out of place.

“That’s what I
wanted to hear,” said Mister Fry, and what followed was surely the
sound of kissing.

“I need you so
much,” Jack whispered in the darkness.

A muffled moan
made Reuben pull the blanket over his head.

Reuben leaned down for
Jack to strap the horn onto his forehead. It was made of metal but
hollow inside and covered with gold paint to complete the unicorn
gear Reuben was wearing. It was all custom made for Erik’s
birthday, and with each new item pulled from the boxes, Reuben
whinnied and snorted in amazement. Jack was almost done with
putting it all on him, and even though the whole outfit was a
dazzling work of craftsmanship, all white leather and golden
buckles, it didn’t leave much to the imagination. The straps were
strategically designed to sit over Reuben’s chest, winding over his
thighs and arms, and under his buttocks.

When Jack buckled up
the gorgeous hoof mittens, Reuben’s eyes widened with admiration at
the golden color on the wood. He wasn’t just Copper the Horse
anymore—he was the Prince of Ponies.

Made especially for
the occasion, his new hoof boots were identical to his usual pair,
but made with white leather, the hooves covered with gold paint.
The dressing began with a long process of covering Reuben’s whole
body with white paste, and then accenting his nails and pubic hair
with a dusting of golden powder. Jack spent almost half an hour
perfecting Reuben’s face, and much longer on his red mane, which he
curled with hot irons into wide locks before also sprinkling them
with a bit of gold dust. Jack was just about done when the door
opened, and Reuben’s breath stopped at the magnificent sight that
was his master.

Erik wore a costume
that matched Reuben’s. It was a riding outfit, with breeches and a
short tailored jacket, but made of exquisite white leather, leaving
bits of skin exposed, and a velvet shawl knotted around his neck.
His boots shined as if someone had polished them with champagne,
but what struck Reuben most was his master’s face—lightly powdered
to match the color of the outfit, but under his eyes were bright
golden lines that were bound to draw in anyone’s gaze.

“Master, this is the
softest leather that I have ever touched,” Reuben said with
enthusiasm, moving his front hooves in the air and smiling
widely.

Erik’s eyes softened
as he walked up to Reuben, his breath coming in shallow gasps. “You
deserve the best. So beautiful. I can hardly control myself now
that I actually see you,” he whispered, clenching his fingers over
Reuben’s hips. He came so close the hooves bumped into his
chest.