Chapter 8

Callum

Every moment I’m free, I ignore everyone else and wait for the text from Flora.

On Wednesday evening, I’m out for my nightly run around the base with my mates and Sigurd when Dad calls.

“It’s not Sunday, what’s wrong?” I ask, teasing him about his unbendable routines.

“Been to the doctor,” he says.

Alarmed, I stop walking, letting other enlistees pass me by. Sigurd stays, noticing the look on my face.

“You never go to the doctor. Did you step in a bear trap?”

Dad chuckles. “No, just aches and pains of old age. I’ve been managing it fine, but I slipped and let the house manager see me fall one day. He got on me about it.”

This is not good. “You fell?”

“He fell?” Sigurd bellows. I hold up my hand to indicate he needs to stay calm so I can hear what the old man is saying.

“Just a little lightheadedness. The king had some friends from the continent visiting and they had me organize a hunt. It’s been unseasonably warm and I hadn’t had my tea,” Dad says.

This makes me feel slightly better. “What did the doctor say?”

He laughs it off. “She said to have my son come home sooner rather than later to share in the workload, is what she said.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Dad, you need to ask Rolf to hire extra help. We talked about this.”

“I don’t need any help.”

Dad is a proud man who doesn’t want anyone messing with what he’s built. He wants to pass the gamekeeper job down to me and me alone. I don’t blame him but he needs to be realistic.

I remind him he needs to focus on his health first but he doesn’t listen.

After we say our goodbyes, I repeat everything to Sigurd. He scrubs his face with one meaty hand, then pulls out his phone.

“I’m calling Flora,” he says.

This moment is not about me; it’s about helping my dad. I know this. And yet, hearing Sigurd on the phone with his sister is a punch in the gut.

It should be me asking the princess to help make sure Dad is eating, resting, and getting enough sleep. It should be her and I strategizing ways to get him extra help without hurting his pride.

In my mind, Flora is his future daughter-in-law. We should be a team. Sigurd deserves to know the truth. It would be a massive load off my shoulders if I could tell him I’m planning to marry his sister, then the three of us could get on with our lives.

But Sigurd is still a prince.

I could grow to be the best damn ranger that Gravenland has ever seen and it won’t make me noble enough to marry a princess.