Tyler won by about half a second and Xavier stomped his foot like a three-year-old who had just been told he couldn’t have any candy.
“I was just telling Sofia that we can make up a room for her and Tyler along in the royal quarters,” Darcy said as we all silently agreed not to discuss the racing. “There’s one going spare since…” She glanced at Xavier then over to Catalina and cleared her throat uncomfortably.
“You mean since Catalina started sneaking into Hamish’s room every night instead of sleeping in her own?” I asked, making Xavier wrinkle his nose.
“She thinks me and Darius haven’t figured that out,” he muttered, glancing over at his mom who was helping Hamish hand clothes out to the rest of the herd since he’d arrived. “And I don’t think she will admit it if you asked her, so maybe they’ll just have to get a room in the new tunnels.” His gaze moved to Sofia and I could tell he didn’t really want her to be that far away - The Burrows were getting so damn big now and there were so many refugees here that the latest sections of them were literally a couple of miles away beneath the ground. There were additional bathhouses and kitchens which were being run by the people who lived in those areas too, and if they ended up down there, we weren’t likely to see a whole lot of them.
“I’ll deal with Catalina. You guys show them around and I’ll catch you up once it’s sorted.”
Xavier gave me a look which said he seriously doubted that would work and I just offered a cocky grin in reply before heading over to talk to his mom who was just finishing up with the last of the herd.
“Beautifully done, Kitty,” Hamish murmured, his hand brushing against the small of her back as she turned a bright smile on him, and I swear I could feel the happiness pouring off of her.
“Sorry to interrupt,” I said, moving closer so that they spotted me and they flinched apart like I might not have noticed that whole exchange.
“Oh gooseberries on a gander bush, you gave me quite the heebee jeebies there, My Queen,” Hamish breathed, pressing a hand to his chest as I smiled at him.
“Because you thought you were being all subtle with your sweet nothings as you whispered them to each other?” I teased and Hamish honest to shit blushed while Catalina’s full lips popped open.
She really was a beautiful woman, and that was so much more apparent now that she was here, dressed in simple dresses which flattered her figure without flaunting it, her long, dark hair free of its perfectly polished up-dos and instead threaded with tiny flowers which she’d placed there with her earth magic. She still had her illusion in place, but Orion had taught us to see through simple ones like hers last week. And because I already knew the illusion was there, it didn’t take much effort on my part to see the real her.
Her smiles were no longer plastic but shone with actual happiness and she was finally able to spend time with her sons and shower them with the love they’d been missing from her for so long. She even extended that maternal love to me and Darcy whenever the opportunity for it arose, as well as Lance and even Geraldine too. It was like she’d been bursting with a love that had been all trapped and tied up inside her for so long that now that it was free, she couldn’t help but dole it out to everyone as often as she could. And though I found it hard to express, I freaking loved her playing mom with me. She’d even styled my hair for me a couple of times and it had made my heart feel all light and fluttery even though I hadn’t known how to tell her that. But I kinda got the feeling she knew, because she’d been missing that kind of affection for so long herself that she just recognised it easily in others.
“Do the boys know?” she asked, glancing around for them but Darius was long gone and Xavier was pretending not to have even noticed us talking.
“Everyone knows,” I deadpanned and Hamish threw a hand to his forehead.
“Oh by the love of the stars, I have tarnished your good name, my lady,” he gasped.
“I’m pretty sure Lionel tarnished my name a long time ago when he started lending me to his friends for political advantages,” she muttered bitterly and I frowned at the thought of that.
“Well Lionel is currently still learning to jerk off with his left hand, so let’s hope he can’t even satisfy himself these days,” I growled and Hamish gasped again.
“Oh my!”
Catalina breathed a laugh though, so I just owned it. I had made it clear on plenty of occasions that I really wasn’t princess material anyway and my blunt tongue was the least of it.