† Harrington †
It took a little over an hour to get to Keaton and, by that time, Harrington was eager to see the small town. Camryn had spoken of it with such affection that he longed to get there just so that he could discover every inch of it.
As soon as the carriage stopped and Reagan opened the door and told them where he would park the carriage, Harrington grabbed Carmyn's hand. "You must show me all of the places you visited as a child. The nicest views, the most exciting shops, the places that mean something to you," he insisted.
Camryn chuckled and tightened his grip on Harrington's hand until they were comfortably locked tight, their fingers intertwined. "I shall do that, Harrington. But you must not show your excitement. The people of Keaton will try to convince you to buy everything in sight, if they know you are too eager. They do not get many tourists," he warned, the smile playing on his lips letting Harrington know that he saw no fault with his excitement.
"Very well. I shall pretend to be completely indifferent to everything I see on the outside, while remaining giddy and charmed on the inside," he promised cheekily.
When it drew another laugh from Camryn, Harrington counted himself lucky. If their time together could always remain so happy and they could already remain comfortable with each other, then he saw no risk of danger to his heart in the future. How could they share anything but love when they were so happy together?
Looking around at the area where Reagan had dropped them off, he was surprised to see that their driver had left with the carriage and he had not even noticed. He must apologise to Reagan for that. It was so rude to forget the man was there.
"Where shall we venture first?" Camryn asked softly. "We have perhaps two hours before the man I must see will open his shop, so I thought that would be our last stop before I have to return you home to your family," he explained, a hint of teasing in his words that Harrington heard so rarely.
"I really want to kiss you at this moment," he confessed, clasping his strong arm with his free hand, to keep himself from doing so. He knew that Camryn insisted on waiting a little longer, but it was so hard to stop himself when his heart told him to show Camryn just how strong his affection was.
It was worth it to see the guard's smile turn shy and embarrassed, before he cleared his throat and looked away.
Taking pity on him, Harrington gave the answer he had been hoping for. "Perhaps we can visit one or two shops, first, then stop for something to eat. I hear that Keaton has an impressive confectionery and I would never be able to show my face at the King's house again if I did not bring back something for Jaycob and his father."
Camryn laughed and nodded his agreement. "Yes. I would not want to see you come to harm, just because we had not stopped at the correct store," he teased, stepping away to lead them in the direction of the shops. "We shall keep you safe and visit the confectionery first, then there is a store that I think we must visit before returning. Though it will require some thought as to how suitable it may be, in the long term," he explained, walking comfortably by Harrington's side as he led them past the few houses that slowly turned into stores.
"Now you have my interest," he admitted, intrigued to discover what this other store might be.
He might not be rich and he was not Jaycob or his father; he did not have a passion for shopping or books or music. Harrington's interests could never be confined to a store, so he was more curious about this surprise shop that he was about anything else in the world.
***
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.
A hand caressed his arm, soothing his worry easily. He managed a genuine smile and clasped Camryn's hand across the table. "Thank you for caring," he said, knowing that others might have scoffed at his dreams. It was, after all, not considered a real profession to take care of animals. It was a natural instinct for very few people, who considered cats and dogs to be vermin.
In a world where poverty was rife and sickness passed on by animals more than humans, it was perhaps understandable that they would not harbour good feelings for animals, but Harrington could not help himself. He longed for nothing more than to be surrounded by animals at every minute of the day.
Camryn spoke of the veterinary clinic fondly as they enjoyed a snack; a bowl of stew for Harrington and a tankard of fortifying blood for his guard. He seemed most interested in what Harrington would do with the animals who had no home to return to, after being treated.
"Well, I suppose that Easton will keep them in the shelter," he theorised, though he was not entirely sure what happened to some of them. The clinic was Davian and Easton's idea, something they worked very hard to achieve and improve with each growing year. But the shelter attached to the clinic was still new; he supposed that, eventually, they may run out of room to house all the lost and abandoned animals.
"Perhaps you would start a second shelter?" Camryn suggested, a hint of something in his voice that said he was doing more than asking an innocent question.
Harrington hummed and thought about it. "Perhaps," he said, wondering if he would ever have a home large enough to keep them. He would need to have land, for the animals to roam safely. "But it will be years before I am able to afford such a thing. I have not even left school or home, yet." He shrugged, because there was not much to be done, at the moment. It would all have to wait a few more years.
"At least you know that Easton will take care of the animals, until then," Camryn agreed in his own way, keeping his positive attitude even when Harrington had lost his.
All he could do was smile and enjoy their trip, despite the conversation. It had been so sweet of Camryn to invite him along, even when he was only meant to travel to Keaton to pick up whatever new contraption Spencer had commissioned for the hospital. He was sure the metal worker had never praised a day more than the one when Spencer discovered his skill and begun shopping exclusively at his forge for every metal implement the hospital owned.
In a way, it was nice that he had sought the most skilled labourer to make the products for the hospital, knowing how vital it was that they withstand a lot of use and that he only wanted the best for his patients. But it was also nice that he had still sought a way to benefit the local community.
After nearly ten minutes of pleasant conversation and a most enjoyable snack, Camryn urged Harrington back to his feet for their last stop, before finally visiting the forge to collect what he had come all this way for.
So intrigued was he to find out what this surprise shop might be that he never questioned it, even as they wound through streets, past shops with interesting wares, around corners and finally stopped outside a nondescript house that appeared set back from the main street quite a way.
When Camryn knocked on the door, Harrington almost enquired as to why they had stopped by a store that was clearly closed. But then the door opened and a young woman appeared.
"Good evening." She bobbed into a curtsey before stepping back from the door and letting Camryn enter. "Everything is prepared, as you requested," she explained, holding onto the edges of her apron, as though she was afraid he would disapprove of whatever had been arranged.
Camryn turned to flash an excited smile Harrington's way before leading him into the house and past two open doors. It was only as they emerged out the back door of the house that it occurred to him just why this house was so out of the way.
"Camryn!" He gasped and clamped his hand over his mouth, as he looked around the large area and saw a half dozen kittens running around inside a closed off pen.
"Choose whichever one you like, Harrington. They were unexpected and the owner wants them to go to good homes," he explained, leading him closer to the pen so that he could see the kittens properly.
And, though it swelled his heart with love to see them, Harrington had to shake his head. "Camryn, I would love to, but my father would never allow it. I have no home for them to go to," he objected, hating that he had to say the words. But, the truth of it was clear; his father would never allow him to bring a pet into the home that would need to be cared for and fed. He had not even left school yet, so could not claim full responsibility for the animal. It would only become another burden for his already overworked mother.
"You do, Harrington. With me."
For a moment, Camryn's words made no sense. Then he looked up and found those blue eyes so focused on his, so warm and welcoming, so full of love that he knew what Camryn meant without having to ask.
"You would care for the kitten until I can?" he asked, too scared to believe it was possible without asking. "You would keep it at your home? Feed and care for it until I can? All...for me?"
"Yes." Camryn said it as though it was so simple that no other answer could be contemplated. "I know what you will say. That you could ask Jaycob and he would be more than willing to harbour your pet, until you can take full care of it. But you do not have to. I hope that we will be a family, soon. That, when you are of age, we will commit our lives to each other, forever. So it will not be just your kitten, Harrington. It will be ours," he said, reasoning it all so easily that there was not a single pause of doubt.
Harrington wanted to cry, the words were so beautiful. Instead, all he could do was nod and sink forward to rest his forehead against Camryn's chest. This was the furthest thing to what he had expected, when he spoke of a secret shop, but he could not have been happier. This was exactly what he had hoped for; not only a pet of his own, but an unspoken declaration of 'forever' from Camryn. Something that was theirs. Together.