The Royal Series 0 - A Royal Archive

Chapter 3

***

The sweets at the confectionery were unlike any other he had ever tasted. Harrington bought an assortment for himself, for Jaycob and another for Spencer. Though Camryn laughed at him in a good-natured way, he also bought a much larger selection for himself.

"So that we may have lots of treats to indulge in on the carriage ride home and on our evenings together," he claimed, making Harrington's heart flutter ridiculously. "And I may begin to keep a secret stash in my home."

Those last words had him floating on feelings of love and amazement, even as they ventured into a book store, where he found an excellent book of music sheets for Jaycob's birthday, and Camryn bought him a small volume that, when he placed into his hands after purchasing, almost made his heart stop.

"Despite your friendship with Jaycob, I know that there will be a lot about the life mate bond that you do not know yet," he began, smiling so softly at him. "Though I do hope you can come to me with any questions you have, perhaps this will answer a few more that you are not yet able to vocalise? It has many stories of life mates throughout the years and, I believe, even includes a foreword by Yalena," he revealed.

Harrington held the book to his chest and grinned at his ever-thoughtful guard. "I will read it and treasure it. Not because of what it might tell me, but because you care enough about my part in the life mate bond to give it to me." He averted his gaze in shame and confessed quietly. "There are many questions I have about the life mate bond, but few that I am able to clearly phrase, in a way that will not be misunderstood. But I promise to ask you my questions when I am able to make sense of them," he swore, peeking up through his eyelashes to find Camryn smiling to himself.

As he guided them towards the small cafe he had chosen for their brief stop for a snack, Camryn said; "I believe it also details the traditions and laws surrounding vampire/human life mates, so it may help you understand why I am so stuck in my ways."

"That almost sounds like teasing," he remarked cheekily, glad to see that Camryn could relax and be himself around him. In the first few letters, Harrington had been afraid that he would only ever see the straight forward, duty bound guard that Camryn had been to him before their bond made itself known.

Now, he could not imagine why he had never noticed the softer side of his guard, before. It had been so obvious, especially when he was around the people he called family.

Any thought of teasing Camryn further ended as they approached the cafe and he spotted a cat winding around an empty chair. Harrington spotted a slight limp and could not stop himself from approaching the cat, releasing Camryn's hand to stroke the curved back.

"Are you alright, kitty?" he asked, dropping to a crouch to run his hands over the front leg which seemed to be causing the problem. The cat seemed to not care that it was being inspected, as it quickly turned its attention to Camryn's outstretched hand and began licking cream from his finger. He was about to ask where he found cream when he noticed his bag of sweets was open and he had broken a chocolate in half to reveal the cream.

Who knew that Camryn could be a soft touch with animals as well as Harrington?

Smiling to himself, he finally found the cause of the cat's pain and removed a rose thorn from its paw. "There, kitty. All better," he said, slowly letting the paw to the ground. It was sweet to see the tentative way it stepped on the paw and then trotted closer to Camryn's hand, the moment it realised there was no more pain.

"A simple fix, then?" Camryn guessed with approval.

Rising to take a seat at the table, Harrington nodded and sighed. "If only all such cases were so simple," he lamented, thinking back on the poor stray dog that Easton had found in the forest just the other week. He suspected it had been attacked by a wild animal and was not long for the world. The poor thing was dying, not from the wounds or from a fight for its life, but because of an infection. It was such a shame.