Chapter Sixty-One #2
Malin gestures for him to come closer, so he becomes a red streak of speed to stand by Malin’s side.
His hazel eyes fill with compassion as he whispers a message of support until Lars’ shoulders relax their tension.
My heart quirks as Lars squeezes Malin’s hand in a fleeting moment of meaningful eye contact, before returning just as quickly to stand guard across from Cirrin, pulling in a deep breath as he settles against the door frame.
“Tasch.” Varic redirects my attention, though I cannot absorb the barrage of words he expels when explaining each of the safety protocols to me.
I nod and pretend to focus on what he’s describing as he gesticulates, his concern for my safety increasingly palpable as he repeats the steps required to both mount and dismount. Then he carries on about how to direct the horse with a mix of work with the reins and various commands.
Stable Master Jan leads a brindle mare from her stall, and my pulse thrums in my ears with excitement.
“This is Filly.” Stable Master Jan introduces the beautiful horse before him.
“Filly? Really?” I ask.
“Yes, we are exceptionally creative with naming our horses here in Annovia.”
“I can tell.”
“She’s our calmest mare. The best choice for a first-time rider.”
“Thank you. She’s a beauty.”
Filly nickers in response to my approach, using the advice Varic gave me in slowly following her lead. My chest swells with pride the moment she lifts her muzzle to sniff my leathers, imbuing me with a natural sense of calm the longer I pet her.
Stable Master Jan leads Filly inside the riding corral, and the clang of the gate locking behind us reverberates within my skull, jaw clenching as I imagine having to sling my leg up and over this tall animal in front of my Guards.
I must recall the new information I have just learned while performing unfamiliar actions in front of an audience with exceptional risk of harm.
Stable Master Jan smiles from beside Filly as I approach slowly and greet her as I had earlier. She nuzzles my open palm as I speak in low, soothing tones, trying to form some sort of bond before I am to clamber on her back where she will be expected to work for me.
“Would you like to lead her around?” Jan asks.
Varic smiles at me with a sense of pride, and something about the glimmer in his eye, or maybe his belief in me, seems to infuse me with enough confidence to try it.
“Sure,” I say, reaching for the lead with a slight tremor.
The leather feels right in my hand, and I pull in a breath before nodding to Filly. I cluck my tongue and step ahead with my pulse pounding in my ears, then relax the tension held in my shoulders once Filly responds by following.
This might be a small thing to anyone with more freedom; however, a sense of accomplishment thrums through me now, feeling lighter as I walk beside this majestic being. One who trusts and respects me enough to follow a command which she easily has the power to refuse.
“Time to practice mounting,” Varic says, stepping in closer to my side as warmth spreads over my chest, thankfully obscured by my riding leathers.
“Oh, this should be good.” Fray leans back on the corral with sketchbook in hand, staring up with his keen eyes as I pull in a breath, unwilling to demand he keep from documenting this.
Varic’s warm spice scent envelops me with help from the light breeze, and I struggle to recall what he’s just said as his hair falls over his forehead. It’s grown so long it can nearly touch the lines deepening on either side of his eyes.
“You’re going to help me?”
“Would you prefer it were someone else?”
“No,” I barely whisper as he rolls his lips inward, apparently picking up Cirrin’s habit.
Then his expression shifts to a satisfied grin as he angles himself so close there is only a sliver of air between us, though what little exists sizzles with tension.
I swallow the noise building in my throat as his eyes blaze a trail down the side of my neck, flushing more intensely as the heat only spreads.
I step into him and force my back flush with his chest as he grabs onto the swell of my hips.
My breath catches when he doesn’t waste a second as he grabs hold of me harder while pressing us forward, stepping with me to better reach the saddle.
The heat from his body blankets my own, and I want nothing more than to let his hands continue their exploration.
Gooseflesh ripples everywhere his breath casts over the nape of my neck, and his fingers dig in before he trails one hand up and into the dip of my waist, rising higher until he changes his trajectory.
My breath halts altogether as his fingers caress their way down my arm, until his palm flattens over the back of my hand and envelops it with how wide his palm is compared to my own.
He lifts my hand up toward the saddle. “Grab the horn.”
My core twinges with the hoarse tone of his voice as he guides me with tingling sparking in my fingertips.
“Now, lift this leg into the stirrup.” He releases my hand to hold my hips again, halting my breath as he dips down, coursing his fingers along the sides of my thighs to cradle the ankle of the foot he meant.
He helps me place the toe of my boot in the stirrup.
Shivers undulate in the wake of his fingers as he trails them up my calf and thighs before taking hold of my waist. His fingers flex as he braces me with a strength I wish he’d increase despite our gawking audience.
“You’re going to pull yourself up with the hand grasping the horn and lift with this leg.” He pats the upper thigh he means. “Then swing this one around,” he adds, tracing his fingertips from hip to thigh where he taps.
I swallow and nod as he leans in to press his forehead to my temple, with his lips hovering over the shell of my ear as my shoulder rises in response to the tickle.
“Are you going to make me hold on to you all morning, or would you like to try to mount the horse?”
My eyes widen as I scoff, unsure of how long we’ve been standing like this with every one of my Guards staring in our direction.
I clear my throat and pull on the horn with what little strength my arm contains at the same time as I brace and push up with the leg held in the stirrup, rising much easier than I had expected after all of Varic’s careful instruction.
I swing my free leg around to hook smoothly into the stirrup on the opposite side before settling to sit on the saddle, amazed by the height I’ve just ascended.
Varic smiles up at me with pride while playfully patting the underside of my thigh. “How does it feel?”
I press my lips into a line to hide the quiver building as tears appear and cloud my vision.
Because it should be such an insignificant thing for a witch as powerful as I have been to learn a simple skill like this.
Yet, the way he’s looking at me—the way he beams with pride at having been the one to teach me this—sends a swarm of heartfelt emotions, overwhelming me in their wholesomeness.
Something to which I have mostly been a vicarious witness until this moment.
Stable Master Jan steps closer to take the lead in hand and explains how he is going to lead Filly around the corral, as well as how to hold my posture. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to the motion in time.”
I nod in understanding, and he clicks his tongue for us to begin, when my heart launches against my ribs as the gate clangs closed, and I turn to see the Prince leading a white horse, closely followed by his two guards.
Varic’s force-shield casts up and over my skin, helping to steady my heart as I track the royal who so casually leads his horse in a wide arc around the corral.
“Good morning,” Prince Auden calls, though we only just saw each other at breakfast, where he claimed to regret having other engagements until our ride.
“Morning.” The word comes out more derisive than intended, yet the Prince carries on, seemingly unaware of my being anything other than cordial toward him.
Stars invade my vision as my pulse slows with a blanket of calm casting over my being.
I send Varic a look of warning, wishing I could telepathically command him to stop meddling as he siphons my anxiety and imbues me with too much peace—which could spell disaster were he to inadvertently cause me to lose consciousness while sitting on top of this horse.
He seems to understand as he halts all influence and expands his shield to catch me should I fall.
“It has been a while since my last ride,” Prince Auden says, pulling himself up on the saddle, while his own guards move to stand on either side of Lars and Malin. “I decided I could use some practice, rather than make a fool of myself in front of you this afternoon.”
“Which you would apparently prefer to do now, mid-morning.”
The Prince smiles at my jest. “Precisely. Are you certain we have not met?”
“Quite certain, Your Royal Highness.”
“Hmm.” He narrows his eyes as he rides directly across from me so that we circle each other. “You know me too well for us to have only just become acquainted.”
Varic scoffs, while I shrug and offer the most convincingly demure smile I can conjure.
Prince Auden’s hazel eyes flash with something just before Stable Master Jan asks if I am ready to take over the reins.
He instructs me on how to best direct Filly on my own, while Varic steps closer to nod every time he agrees with the Stable Master.
I acquiesce and swallow my pride as all eyes remain fixed on me while I give the commands to continue.
“How is it you have never ridden a horse?” Prince Auden asks. “I saw the absolute behemoths your traveling party arrived with. Though I am not certain those beasts would ever allow anyone to ride on their backs.”
“There has never been an occasion which required me to ride, Your Royal Highness.”