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Relief surged through Gabriel, loosening the knotted muscles in his neck and shoulders. He broke out of the trees to see his cousin sitting on a rock, staring at the vista while his horse grazed nearby. “Thank God!”
“Gabri?” Raul jerked around. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Your father sent me. He didn’t want to create an uproar.”
“He could have just texted me,” Raul said.
“Your phone was found stashed under your bed.” Gabriel swung off his horse and dropped the reins on the ground. “Which scared the hell out of Tío Luis.”
Raul stuck his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, coming up empty. “Joder! It must have fallen out of my pocket when I changed my shoes.” His mouth pulled into a grim line. “Pater is going to be pissed. I don’t need that right now.”
“I’ll run interference,” Gabriel said, hoping he could soften his uncle’s reaction. He pulled out his phone to text his uncle.
Located Raul in good health. He did not intend to leave his phone behind. He just needed space.
Gabriel smiled to himself as he typed. Uncle Luis liked to be right.
The response came back almost immediately. Muchas gracias, sobrino. I will give him his space as long as you are with him. Gabriel could practically feel his uncle’s relief through the phone.
De nada, tío.
He meant it in the literal sense. He had done nothing to earn the king’s gratitude.
“I told him you didn’t intend to ditch your phone, so hopefully that will reduce his fury somewhat,” Gabriel said. “But you know he’s more relieved than angry.”
Raul gave a mirthless smile. “Yeah, I know.”
Gabriel folded himself onto a rock near Raul. “So why did you dump your bodyguard?”
“It was an accident. When I realized I’d lost him, I just kept going and ended up at the stable. Fresh air seemed like a good idea. And I figured they could track my cell phone, so no one would worry much.” Raul’s shoulders sagged, and he skimmed his palm over his face.
The king had kept Raul on a tight leash ever since the abduction. No wonder his cousin chafed at the constraints.
“There was a dragon here when I rode up,” Raul said. “A big, bright green guy, maybe three feet long, sunning himself on the rock where you’re sitting. His frill must have been at least eighteen inches across.”
“Now you have the luck of el dragón for the day. Congratulations,” Gabriel said, quoting the old folklore.
Once, the large lizards had been common in the mountains, but their vibrant colors and spectacular neck frills had made them targets for trophy hunters and exotic-animal collectors. Now they were protected, but their population had been slow to increase.
“Interesting that no one specifies if it’s good luck or bad luck when you see a dragon,” Raul said. “Being a dragon certainly wasn’t lucky in the old days.”
“Are you referring to the lizard or the family?” The first King of Caleva had taken Dragón as the royal surname.
Raul snorted. The mountain breeze set the evergreen needles whispering against each other while a clink of metal buckles and the creak of a saddle signaled that one of the horses had shifted. “I understand that I owe you another debt of gratitude.”
“For what?” Gabriel asked.
“Taking on the thankless task of meeting with the lily-grubbing delegation. That was going to be my job before you laid your head on the chopping block of civic duty. What the hell possessed you?”
“I asked to be assigned a job,” Gabriel said. “To ease into my civic duty. But you are welcome to it.”
Raul eyed him like a strange specimen of Calevan fauna before guilt flashed across his face. “You’re doing this because you’ve given up your guitars.”
“I’m doing this because it’s time I took up my responsibilities as a royal duke. I’ve pushed them onto other people’s shoulders for too long.”
“You had good reasons.” Raul picked up the water bottle sitting on the rock beside him and twisted it in his hands before he said, “I was there that night too. I saw the kidnappers. I heard them. I might remember something you don’t. Or I might have seen someone from an angle you didn’t.”
Gabriel nodded.
