"How do you like it outside?" I say.

Emilio glances at me over his shoulder, then pulls at the reins, forcing his horse away from the edge of the cliff from which he's been observing the view. Behind him lies endless blue sky, and a few gulls fly in circles, crying shrilly. Yet I'm more interested in looking at him rather than at the scenery, noticing the color that's finally showing on his cheeks, his excited eyes, his unruly hair ruffled by the breeze.

"I like it," he says, simply. "Thank you for dragging me here."

His horse snorts and shakes its head, unaware of its role as a tool to finally lure him out of the palace. Apparently, Manilla has become connected in his mind with the traumatic events of the day he rode it last, so that he wouldn't hear of coming near it again. Yet the new brown horse with its thick black mane and smart eyes has won his heart the moment I've presented it to him this morning. He has spent a good half an hour riding around the courtyard until I offered to accompany him outside, and, to my surprise, he agreed.

"So," I say, "what are you going to call it?"

He shrugs, allowing his horse to trot towards me and the two guards who wait for us at a respectful distance.

"I don't know." He looks up thoughtfully. "Never gave names to horses. What do you usually call them—Wind, Blaze, that kind of things?"

"The way you're riding it, you should call it Turtle."

He chuckles. "I can ride fast when I want to."

"You hide it well."

"Excuse me?" He raises an eyebrow. "I haven't been in a saddle in more than a month. It's only reasonable I take it slow."

"That's a slim excuse, you know."

He grins, seeing through my game but clearly willing to play along.

"Fine," he says. "Till the main gates?"

I look back at the stony road that leads down the cliff before disappearing behind the trees of the oil-garden that stretches all the way till the main road. Around the garden and up the main road until the palace's gates—it would take us fifteen minutes at his slow pace; I wonder if I can make it in two. His horse if fine but it's no match to my Thunder.

"Fine," I say, turning Thunder around. "On the count of three?"

"Three!" Emilio cries, kicking his horse, and the next moment I find myself gaping at his retreating shape as he canters past the confused guards and down the slope.

"You..." I swallow the curse word and grab the reins. This trick won't help him. I know this road too well.

I gallop past the guards while they are still turning their horses to follow Emilio.

His head start gives him little advantage. As we reach the main road, I surpass him and shoot ahead. He gradually falls further behind as Thunder gains even more speed. The rare pedestrians jump to the sides of the road or take shelter behind their carts as we pass them by. I can hear his hooves behind me, but by the time we reach the hill, they're getting fainter, as his horse is tiring while mine still goes strong.

Hooves drumming on the cobblestones, I enter the gates, sending the servant scattering. I turn Thunder around and stop in the middle of the courtyard, waiting, patting him approvingly on the neck.

Emilio appears about half a minute later, the guards following him suit. It looks like he's not making much of an effort, knowing he has lost; as he notices me, he makes the horse go even slower. Visibly trying to look nonchalant, he trots in through the gates at pretty much the same relaxed pace he has exited them an hour ago.

"So," I say as he comes closer. "Turtle it is."

"Well..." He throws his hear back in an exaggeratedly imperious gesture. "I'm sure you understand I have most obviously allowed you to win."

"Have you?"

"Of course." He shrugs. "Am I a fool to beat a king in a race? You could throw me back into the harem as a punishment."

"You make it sound like it's a prison."

"It felt like one."

I chuckle, then lean over and kiss him on the lips before his horse backs away, taking him out of my reach. I'm pleased to see that he seems slightly disappointed and pulls on the reins to make it stop.

"I won't throw you there," I say. "You're a sore loser, but that's no crime."

He smiles and is about to say something when Sagaristio comes over, calling my name.

"Kissing in public, huh?" He stops, catching Thunder's reins. "Kind of you to provide entertainment for the servants, but I hope you remember kings have other duties as well."

"It's afternoon," I say, dismounting. "I'm done with my duties for today."

"Not so fast. There's someone I think you should meet."

I wince, seeing that the quiet afternoon with Emilio I have been anticipating is about to be indefinitely delayed by some new business. Sagaristio never rests, and perhaps I should be thankful for that, but right now, I'm just annoyed that he's interfering with my plans.

Yet as he said, I do have duties.

"Wait for me in my room," I tell Emilio who seems as disappointed as I am with Sagaristio's intervention. "I'll be back in a minute."

"So," I say when Emilio leaves, leading his horse towards the stables along with the servant who's taking Thunder there. "What's the urgent business?"

"Come with me." Sagaristio gestures towards the entrance to the great hall.

I follow him in through the tall open doors. The large hall that's usually packed with people during the morning court proceedings is empty now. Our footsteps echo off the walls. As we move further, I notice a lone figure standing before the throne. It's a middle-aged woman in a simple gray dress, a kerchief on her head. She gapes at me; then she remembers herself and drops to the floor.

"Your majesty," she cries.

"Get up," Sagaristio says impatiently. "Tell him." He glances at me. "I thought you should hear this."

"Your majesty?" She looks up, her eyes round on her equally round face. I nod approvingly and she stands back up, fumbling nervously with her apron. "Your majesty...I was...it's probably nothing to you, but he's my husband, you see, and he means the world to me...we have three children, you see, and he's our sole provider...I mean, I used to work, too, growing and selling cucumbers, but my back is so bad nowadays..."

"Oh, come on." Sagaristio rolls his eyes and turns to me. "She's a fisherman's wife. Her husband headed in his boat to Kartas two days ago, and hasn't returned. His uncle sailed there yesterday to look for him, and he hasn't returned, either."

"Kartas?" I say, remembering the small uninhabited island to the west from Heladien.

"Yes, plenty of mullet fishes there, your majesty," the woman supplies. "Not so much here, sadly, and Marcos has a family to feed, you see—three boys, as I said."

I blink, processing this, but the main question that the story raises is what does it have to do with me. I look at Sagaristio questioningly.

"Doesn't this strike you as strange?" he prompts.

"What's strange about it?" I frown. "Maybe they got caught in a storm."

"Storm?" He glowers at me, then gestures at a tall window through which the perfectly blue sky is showing. "Where do you see a storm?"

"So, it was something else—it's a goddamn sea, you know?" I snap back, annoyed by him speaking to me like this, and in front of a lowborn. "Unexpected things happen in the sea. Why bother me about two fishermen?"

"Because two fishermen disappearing in the span of two days is strange, and a king should know when strange things happen in his vicinity! Apart from that that, they're your subjects, so maybe you should care a little?"

"Send someone to look for them, then—do you need my advice on every little thing? I have other things to do."

"Like what, reading children's books?" He's almost yelling at me now, and the woman looks at him with horror. "You're so damn wrapped up in your pretty boy you barely notice anything!"

"That's not true!" I yell back. "I perform my duties just fine!"

We glare at each other for a long moment. Then, slowly, like hot air leaving a balloon, the anger begins to slip out of us, and we both stand a little straighter, and look guiltily away from each other.

"Forgive me, your majesty," he mutters. "I spoke out of line."

"It's fine." I reach out and squeeze his shoulder. "You were right, this needs to be checked. Send a boat to look for them." He looks up and I force a smile. "It's fine, Sagaristio. Someone must speak the truth in my face every now and then. It's not pleasant, but it has to be done."

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