Free The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison

shall be with him immediately.” George sighed. He had hoped that his father was done talking to him about the dangers of dealing with Sarrey and the possibilities of a marriage to a young woman within the kingdom of Kendel.
    Apparently not.
    George had tried to tell his father again and again that he was perfectly willing to serve Kendel in this and that he had no attachments to other ladies he had already met. There were times when speaking changed nothing and only made duty more difficult.
    Gritting his teeth, George put on his best tunic and went to face his king.
    At the door at the top of the stairs George was met by four-fingered Jack, one of his father’s servants. Years before, Jack had lost the fifth finger of his right hand at the king’s command, as a thief. Out of mercy afterward King Davit had offered the man a position in the castle. Sir Stephen had been appalled.
    “He will not steal from me again.” King Davit had been certain.
    When Sir Stephen had asked how he could be sure, King Davit answered simply, “I shall give him whatever he asks me for.”
    Four-fingered Jack tested the king’s resolve once, asking for a golden goblet that had been passed on to the king from his father’s father.
    “Take it, and gladly,” King Davit had said. “What else?”
    Four-fingered Jack had been ashamed and tried to give the goblet back, but the king would have none of it.
    “It’s yours now. As is whatever else you wish for. Is that understood?”
    Jack had nodded his head like a boy caught in a fight, and the king never spoke of that time again.
    After that, George had watched Jack become the most trustworthy and devoted of King Davit’s servants, even through the recent illness. Seeing him now made George feel small again, for he knew he could never fill his father’s throne in Jack’s eyes.
    Four-fingered Jack opened the thickly carved door. When George had stepped inside, Jack closed the door behind him.
    “Good morning, Father,” George said.
    In his bed the king started, then opened his eyes. His face was pale with spots of color high on his cheeks. He was not any better this morning than he had beenyesterday, when George had seen him last. Apparently the treatments of the new castle physician, Dr. Gharn, were not helping the king much at all.
    “George,” said his father, then put out a shaking hand.
    George met it with his own.
    “You are sure of this?” his father asked.
    George stifled his impatience. “Father, I am as sure as I have been from the first. And there is no time left now to change my mind.”
    The king was silent for a time. When he spoke, it was sudden enough to catch George by surprise. “My son, do you never think about love?”
    George stiffened. Love was irrelevant. It was far better that he marry someone he did not love. Then emotion would not cloud his judgment, nor would he have to live through the pain of losing a loved one as he, and his father, already had.
    But then the king spoke on in a rather unexpected way. “Do you not think you deserve to be loved as you are?”
    George stared at his father. Since the judgment day debacle George had dealt with his animal magic his way and let the king ignore it. George intended that it would never interfere with the running of the kingdom again. It was his own private problem.
    “Father—” said George, unsure.
    But he felt his wrist encircled by his father’s largehand. “George, listen to me. Will you?”
    “Of course, Father.” That was his duty, always. And far easier than speaking himself.
    “No, listen to me truly. With your heart, not your head.” King Davit pointed to George’s chest.
    George took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I shall try.”
    King Davit nodded, coughed, then began. “The day before we were to be married, your mother came to me. She told me that she had changed her mind, that she had decided not to marry me. She gave me back the ring that I had given her, the huge diamond and ruby.