18. The Honeymoon Phase
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE HONEYMOON PHASE
The day after the party, life resumed as though nothing had changed. Riel fetched me from my room as he had most days before last week’s hiccup. He didn’t greet me with a kiss or sling his arm around me or try to grab my butt… but that was a good thing, since I doubted that would go over well with his family. I tried to ignore the foreign feeling of my new piercings against my bra, and also not to grin like a fool whenever Riel looked my way.
He walked a little closer than usual as we headed into the courtyard to find Oyanni. We passed by a couple of castle employees working on the little garden plots, and they surprised me by acknowledging our presence with smiles and nods. I perked up and returned the smile, adding in a cheerful wave for good measure.
“Is the silent treatment over?” I asked Riel under my breath.
“Some of the staff have been curious about you since your arrival.” Riel nodded his head in greeting as well. “Seeing you at our celebration likely amplified their interest. Not speaking to you was not a formal order, so I expect some may try to approach you.”
“They won’t get in trouble if they do, will they?” I bit my bottom lip.
“I doubt it. They do have free will, as much as my mother likes to exert her authority without reason.”
“Is she really that mean?” I asked sheepishly. “I mean, obviously, you’d know her better than me, but she didn’t seem that bad at the ball. I don’t know, the way you talk about her, you’d think she’s an evil stepmother or something.”
“Unfortunately, there is no doubt that she is my mother by birth,” Riel responded as he scanned the herd of grazing avida . He made a clicking sound that echoed across the grass, and a lavender head perked up. As the mare made her way to us, her sleek summer coat glinted in the morning sun. “Evil may be too strong a word,” Riel continued. “It’s complicated. She is practical, and she does care about our people. But she is also self-centered and easily angered. She was not a good mother.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured, and I meant it. My thoughts drifted to my own mother. She hadn’t been that great, but I didn’t have many complaints either. I had several fond memories from my childhood. They were mostly vacations or birthday parties, but some were little random things, like the time I held a baby chick at a petting zoo or when I lost one boot in deep snow and my mother had to carry me back into the house. A pang of longing shot through me. I briefly entertained the thought that maybe we could work toward having a better relationship again, before I started thinking about the logistics and had to dismiss that dream.
Oyanni stopped before us with an excited huff, and Riel beckoned for me. “It’s not worth dwelling on,” he said as he lifted me up onto her back. “Nothing will change.”
“Well, sure,” I agreed, settling into place. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t still complain about it. Complaining is a beloved human pastime, you know. I do it all the time. Sometimes it can be a good thing to just vent your frustrations to someone else. ”
Riel swung up behind me. Maybe it was my imagination given the activities of the night before, but it felt like he wasn’t as careful with space as he seated himself against my behind. I wondered if he’d always been tense before, trying not to be all up in my business in case I would be bothered by that. My little internal “Affection for Riel” meter hit critical heights.
“What is this? My eseri having a rare moment of wisdom?” he teased.
“Excuse me?” I scoffed, hiding a smile. “I’ll have you know my moments of wisdom are not rare at all. Maybe it’s time you got your hearing checked, old man. Or your memory.”
Riel chuckled. As we made our way out of the courtyard, he surprised me by nuzzling into my neck. “Watch it,” he murmured just below my ear. “This old man bites.” He punctuated his words with a sharp nip that had me smothering an indignant squeal.
“Riel!” I hissed his name and went to bat his head away, glancing wide-eyed behind us to make sure no one saw. He dodged my hand easily, laughing with abandon, and kicked the animal beneath us into gear. We took off down the main road at an exhilarating gallop.
Rather than taking the usual path, we continued along the main road for some time. The city appeared in the distance, and we kept going until we reached an open plain covered in long grass. Then, Riel slowed his avida , giving us all a chance to catch our breaths.
“Doth mine eyes deceive me, or is this not our usual haunt?” I asked.
“Most of the time, I’m quite proud of my grasp of English,” Riel mused from behind me, “But there are other times when I could swear that you just insert a random word into a sentence, regardless of its meaning.”
“Sorry.” I flashed him a grin in apology. “I meant this doesn’t look like the pool.”
“I thought we’d do something a bit different today. ”
Riel brought us to a stop in the middle of the field and dismounted. I didn’t see anything of note in the immediate area. Puzzled, I reached for him as usual. But instead of helping me down, he stepped aside to put space between us.
“What are you doing?” I asked, frowning.
“I think it’s time you learned to ride on your own,” he said with an impish grin. All the warm, fuzzy feelings from a moment before fled me, and I tensed up and made a wild grab for the handhold despite the fact that Oyanni stood still.
“Now?” I sputtered, clinging on as if she would take off at any moment. “Without any warning or anything? And without so much as a training saddle?”
“You’ll be fine,” Riel assured me, stepping farther away. “Eyes up. Back straight. Loosen your legs and relax. Heels down. That’s it, well done. How do you feel?”
“Uh, ridiculous?” I approached hysterics. “Your faith in me is misplaced, and this is a terrible idea. Also, if I don’t fall off and break my neck, I’m going to kill you.”
“Nonsense,” Riel cooed, clearly unbothered by my threat. “You’re a natural. Besides, Oyanni knows to go easy on new riders. Back straight, heels down.”
He made a clicking sound and his avida began to walk. My knees squeezed together as I hung on for dear life. Without Riel’s presence at my back, I felt exposed and wobbly, but I had to admit that it was also thrilling. Riel stayed put as we made a circle around him, his avida requiring minimal direction. Only a few minutes of that passed before he got to the point.
“How is your training coming along, the grounding exercises? Have you made any progress toward connecting to the flow of mana ?” he asked casually.
“What is this, an intervention?” I grumbled, trying to focus on maintaining my posture. “Trust me, when there’s a big breakthrough, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Mm. You’ve been doing the exercises I taught you?”
“Every chance I get.” It was the first outright lie I told him. Perhaps my response came too quickly in my eagerness to reassure him, because Riel raised an eyebrow like he knew. Then he said something that made my conscience prickle with guilt.
“In their latest letters, your leaders have expressed some concern about the rate of your recovery,” he said. “We’ve assured them that these things can take time, but they’re becoming rather impatient. I don’t think Luenki will be able to hold them off much longer.”
I couldn’t hide my grimace.
“Can we worry about one thing at a time, please?” I begged. “I know that should be my top priority, but I can’t force it. It’s just not happening. At least this I have some control over.” I gestured to indicate the current situation. “And look, I’m doing it!”
Riel gave me a sweet smile before making another clicking noise. I couldn’t tell the difference between the sounds he made, but Oyanni apparently could, as she picked up the pace. I seized the strap with both hands, trying to mitigate the bouncing.
“How the heck are you supposed to drive this thing?” I wailed.
“That’s next,” Riel assured me. “Heels down, eseri . Avida are sensitive creatures. All you need to guide them is your body. You start with your eyes, by looking where you want to go. Follow through with your head, shoulders, hips, and legs. Not yet.”
I’d begun going through the motions but relaxed again with a huff. As Riel put a hand out, Oyanni turned inward and stopped just in front of him, pressing her nose against his hand. He ran it down her neck and glanced up at me.
“When you’re ready, you’ll turn your body in the direction you want to go and rotate your hips to apply pressure. You may have to exaggerate the motion at first, but as you get attuned to how she feels and she gets used to your cues, you’ll be able to do more with less. We’ll try it at a walk until it feels natural. Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” I gripped the handhold once more, determined.
“Give her a light squeeze,” Riel ordered. I tentatively reached forward to wrap my arms around the beast’s thick neck, wondering what exactly that accomplished.
“With your legs, eseri .”
Flushing with embarrassment, I let go of her neck, corrected my posture, and engaged my legs. I was almost grunting with effort before Oyanni ambled forward. I went through the checklist of things Riel told me in my head. Raising my gaze to the grassy plain before us, I straightened my back and tilted my toes up.
“Now turn back toward me,” Riel called. I looked back over my shoulder and angled my body his way, but it didn’t make any difference in our trajectory.
“With more intention!” Riel’s voice grew distant.
“I’m intending,” I hissed between clenched teeth, pushing my body harder.
Riel caught up to us with ease, his sudden appearance making me jump.
“Put your hips into it,” he said, patting my thigh. Without being fully conscious of my actions, I relaxed into my seat and adjusted my body toward him. This time, Oyanni followed the movement underneath me. Although I couldn’t tell if she responded to my request or her master’s presence, excitement and pride charged through me.
“I’m doing it!” I exclaimed, beaming with joy.
“You are. Well done.” Riel walked beside us. “How does it feel?”
“Good! It’s still kind of terrifying to be all the way up here by myself, but it’s also empowering. I imagine this is how it’d feel like to walk normally if I was a centaur.”
That got me a bemused look from Riel .
“That’s a half-human, half-horse person. Oh, horses are our version of avida .”
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t seem inclined to press me for more details. Adjusting my grip on the handhold, I raised my gaze once more to admire the landscape. The plains went on for a while into the distance before giving way to foothills. After living in a big city for most of my life, the countryside was something else. I’d probably never get tired of the views.
“Let’s do another turn.”
Riel’s suggestion broke me out of my daydreaming. I sighed and went through the motions of turning my body toward him, starting with my head. This time, I found it a little easier to direct the animal underneath me. After making a ninety-degree turn, we set off in the new direction, still at a meandering walk. I nodded to myself, happy.
“Does everyone here know how to ride?” I asked.
“Most everyone learns to ride. Some bond with an avida early on, in their teen years. Not everyone has room to keep companion animals, though. There are other methods of transportation for those that live in the city.”
One word caught my attention. “Bond?”
“ Avida tend to form a close relationship with their main rider. That’s not to say that they won’t listen to another, but they have their preferences. And over the years, the rider begins to form their own preferences as well.” Riel gave Oyanni’s side a tender pat.
“Ah, gotcha. So, do you have the same one your whole life? How long do they live?”
“Not your whole life, but if you’re lucky, most of it. Seventy or eighty years or so.”
“And how old is Oyanni?” I asked, leaning over to scratch her neck.
Riel cocked his head as he considered my question. “She was born late summer during my thirteenth year. So, I suppose that makes her… not quite thirty-four. ”
“Damn!”
If I could whistle, I would have. Grinning down at my mount, I told her, “That makes you older than me.” She responded with a huff as if to say “Duh, that’s how math works.” “That’s really nice. The whole bonding thing. The whole concept of companion animals, really.”
“Is it not common for humans?” Riel directed us to perform another ninety-degree turn. “Besides horses, I have been told of dogs, cats, and pet birds during my visits across The Rift.”
“Oh, it’s very common. My family had a cat when I was growing up. But I never had one of my own, you know? It would have been nice to have something like that—a little animal that’s always there, happy to see me and excited to hang out every day. It would have made things less lonely at the White House.”
“Someone kept you from getting one?” Riel guessed.
“I never asked,” I confessed. “But I figured it wouldn’t be allowed. They did their best to keep me happy, especially after… well, especially in recent years. But I also didn’t know if I could handle the responsibility, and I didn’t want to get a dog just for someone else to end up taking care of it. It just wasn’t meant to be for me, I think.”
“Perhaps you could choose an avida someday,” Riel said, staring into the distance. “Ah…” Embarrassment pinkened the tips of his ears. “That is, if you were here enough to need one of your own.”
I perked up. “Really? That would be awesome!”
Riel seemed pleased by my reaction. “I’ll see what I can do. Once we figure out your magic, and things settle down.”
That thought was sobering. Neither of us knew what was going to happen once I recovered the use of my magic. I’d probably be hustled back to the White House and never allowed to leave again. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more that seemed likely. Being in a relationship with Riel didn’t change anything, not really .
“Do you think… do you think I’ll be able to come back?” My voice was small, the undercurrent of anxiety washing away all joy from the moment.
“Absolutely,” Riel replied with conviction. Perhaps noticing the way the mood shifted, he reached up to take my hand and squeezed. “You should have the freedom to go where you like. If your leaders disagree, we can talk to them together. If I request your presence here personally, it would be difficult for them to say no, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah.” I found it difficult to keep worrying in the face of his confidence. It was like he always knew what I needed to hear. I rubbed absently at the ache in my chest as I digested this revelation. Having his self-assured attitude around gave me something I was missing in my life, like a long-lost puzzle piece slipping back where it belonged.
“Come,” Riel suggested. “I have an idea, something that might help set your mind at ease. Let’s practice a little longer, and then we’ll head back.”
I shook off my train of thought and turned my attention back to the task at hand before I started getting emotional. At his direction, we continued walking up and down the plain while performing a turn every so often. It became easier with each repetition, until we tried it again at a trot. I found it impossible to hold on and steer at the same time and began to grow frustrated.
“That’s all right,” Riel said eventually. “I think it’s time to call it a day. You’ve made a lot of progress in a short amount of time, though. Good work.”
“Thank you.” His praise warmed me.
I scooted forward to make room and Riel leapt effortlessly onto Oyanni’s back. He didn’t reach around me to take the rein strap right away; instead, he let his hands settle on my hips and leaned in to nuzzle my cheek. I couldn’t resist turning my head to seek out his lips and was rewarded with a kiss that had my scalp tingling and my toes curling in my sneakers .
“Maybe we could hang out a little while longer and do some more of this,” I murmured as we parted, not wanting to let him go just yet.
“Tempting.” Riel pressed another kiss to my shoulder. “But alas, duty calls.”
Releasing an exaggerated sigh, I sat back against him and grumbled my displeasure. Riel chuckled as he eased Oyanni into a trot.
After a routine ride back to the castle, we pulled up to the steps and dismounted, letting Oyanni return to the grazing herd. As we headed up the steps, Riel broke the silence.
“So, regarding learning to use your magic properly… it does normally take time, but considering the timeframe we’re working with, it may be worthwhile to explore other options.”
“Excuse me?” I paused between steps to fix Riel with an incredulous stare. “There are other options? And you didn’t think to mention this sooner?”
Riel shrugged. “There’s doing things the right way, and doing things the fast way. Trust me when I say that I have your best interests at heart. However, it won’t hurt to get some advice. We’ll get something to eat first, and then I’m taking you to meet Neyes.”