The Copper Horse #2 Pride Read Free

to
Erik’s so that they wouldn’t have to yell.
    Erik gently ran
his crop over Reuben’s side as he and the servant aligned the
carts. “They won’t keep it up. The Dals won’t allow it.”
    “Ooh!” Dermot
seemed interested in fresh gossip. “Will you try to hunt down
Humanist activity in our Bylondon?”
    “I’m going to
do whatever it takes to keep my life as it is.”
    Dermot snorted.
“Gregorovich is not keen on sodomites, you think?”
    “I think he’s
not keen on any kind of pleasure,” said Erik. “All he wants is go
to war, and I won’t let anyone recruit my stallion.”
    Reuben smiled
behind his mask, surprised by that kind of answer. He hadn't
thought Erik took things like that, like him, into consideration in
such serious matters.
    “The problem is
his new accomplice.” Dermot’s voice became serious. “Have you read
the latest papers?”
    Reuben listened
on, but then a poster on the wall caught all his attention and he
stopped walking. It advertized a new play with Percy Preston,
Reuben’s favorite actor. His gaze locked on the blue eyes in the
picture. Reuben would recognize the face anywhere, but the long
waves of ginger hair surrounding the actor’s handsome features
baffled him.
    Erik cleared
his throat. “Ah, yes, he’s gotten famous. A superior mind. It is a
shame he decided to side with a man like Gregorovich instead of
someone who would make better use of him.”
    “Gregorovich
recently declared that Deverell is on the brink of finding a cure
for the Plague. Can you even imagine how much that could play in
his favor?”
    “I am sure
there will be someone to help Deverell come to his senses.” Erik’s
voice was calm, cool like water under a layer of ice that could
crack at any moment.
    Reuben kept
staring at the poster, completely mesmerized. ‘The Mad Doctor, the
Whores, and Monkeys’ was the title of the play, and Reuben had no
idea what it could be about.
    “Like Frey,
maybe? Though I did hear your brother’s methods are more of the...
less genteel sort,” Dermot said with a chuckle.
    “I honestly
don’t care about his methods as long as they get the result I
want.” Erik snorted. “I think I’m going to see that play. I believe
it could get me some necessary insight about the man.”
    Reuben
instantly turned his head to his master. God, how he wished he
could go! Then it hit him—obviously the ‘mad doctor’ Percy Preston
was playing had to be a parody of this Deverell person. After all,
Ollie had said that Percy fled London because of persecution for a
play that mocked Gregorovich. He wouldn’t just quit after moving to
Bylondon. What a brave man he was!
    “Yep, taking
your ‘insight’ from a farce." Dermot laughed. "Not the best way to
go around it.”
    “Valuable
information can be found in the most obscure places,” answered
Erik, and after a brief conversation, he bid farewell to his friend
and urged Reuben to trot home.
    The chat had
given Reuben a moment to relax, so he was ready to show just how
much strength he had on their way back. Instead of being tired, his
muscles enjoyed the strain, a different kind of exercise than
working at the treadmill. He couldn’t wait to hear that he'd done
well. Being useful was surprisingly fulfilling, especially when the
person he was working for showed him so much appreciation. Before
Erik had taken him in, it seemed like all Reuben’s efforts to
impress others were doomed. Even his own father had nothing but
foul words for him.
    Jack let them
into the cart room, but Erik sent him away, keen to take care of
Reuben himself. The servant complied, exiting the room with
Hans.
    Reuben watched
his master take off his own mask, his handsome face flushed and
shiny, hair in a bit of a mess. It felt comfortable not to say
anything and just hide behind the mask, free to admire his master’s
beauty. But Erik was also a keen observer.
    “So... why did
you stop by that poster?” Erik put the mask into a box and