CHAPTER 5 #3
Get a grip, Betty. He's your riding instructor, not a romance novel hero.
Though he certainly looked like one.
"Tell me about your morning," he said as we started walking around the arena. "What made the princess lessons so terrible?"
"Where do I start? I eat like a peasant, walk like a lumberjack, and curtsy like I'm having some kind of medical emergency. On the bright side, I made everyone in the kitchen really good lattes, so at least I have one marketable skill."
His laugh was rich and genuine. "You made lattes?"
"Maple cinnamon lattes. My specialty. Three years as a barista, and that's the one thing I can do better than anyone else in this palace."
"I'd like to try one sometime."
"Really?"
"Really. Anyone who can impress Chef Auguste has skills worth experiencing."
"How do you know Chef Auguste was impressed?"
Peter paused for just a fraction of a second. "Palace walls have ears."
"Fair enough. I'll make you one tomorrow. Consider it payment for not letting me fall off a horse."
"Deal."
We moved into a trot, and I experienced the same exhilaration as yesterday. On horseback, I actually felt competent. Graceful, even. It was the only place in this entire palace where I wasn't failing at something.
"You know what your problem is?" Peter called out as I posted smoothly to Celeste's rhythm.
"I have just one problem? That's optimistic."
"You're trying to become someone else instead of figuring out how to be yourself in a royal setting."
I slowed Celeste back to a walk so I could look at him properly. "That's very wise for a riding instructor."
"I've seen a lot of people struggle with similar transitions."
"Similar to having your entire life blown up and being forced to marry a stranger?"
"Similar to having to become something you never planned to be."
There was something in his voice that made me study his face more carefully. "You sound like you're speaking from experience."
"Everyone has to reinvent themselves at some point."
"What did you have to reinvent yourself from?"
He was quiet for a moment, considering the question. "Someone who thought he knew exactly what his life was going to look like."
"And now?"
"Now I'm not sure about anything." He smiled, but there was something complicated behind it. "Except that you're going to be an excellent rider if you stop second-guessing yourself."
"Nice subject change."
"I'm told I'm very smooth."
"By whom?"
"Myself, mostly."
I laughed, and he grinned at me, and for a moment we were just two people enjoying each other's company instead of a princess-in-training and her mysterious riding instructor.
"What do you think about the prince?" I asked as we continued around the arena. "You said you've worked with royal horses throughout Europe. Have you ever met him?"
Peter's expression became unreadable. "I've... encountered him. Yes."
"And? What's he like?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm marrying him in less than a week and I know literally nothing about him except that he's supposedly good with horses and his grandmother thinks he's wonderful, which, let's be honest, grandmothers think everyone is wonderful."
"Not all grandmothers."
"Fine. Most grandmothers. The point is, I'm walking into this completely blind, and any information would be helpful. Is he arrogant? Mean? Does he have weird hobbies? Should I be worried?"
Peter was quiet for a long moment. "He's not what you'd expect."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning he's not the arrogant, entitled prince you're probably imagining. He's... complicated. He's spent his whole life following rules and doing what's expected, and I think sometimes he wonders what it would be like to just be a normal person."
"That sounds like you know him pretty well."
"Horses tell you a lot about their riders. And he's always been good to his horses."
"That's reassuring, I guess. What else can you tell me?"
"Why don't you ask me what you really want to know?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're not really asking about his politics or his hobbies. You're asking if he's going to make your life miserable for the next six months."
He was right, and the fact that he could read me so easily was both comforting and unsettling.
"Is he?"
"I don't think so. But the better question is whether you're going to make each other happy."
"That's not really the point of political marriages, is it?"
"Maybe it should be."
There was something in the way he said it that made me wonder if we were still talking about Prince Archibald or if the conversation had shifted to something more personal.
"We should start the lesson.”
"Is that your way of changing the subject?"
"That's my way of teaching you to ride. The subject-changing is just a bonus."
But his smile suggested he was as aware as I was that our conversations kept veering into territory that had nothing to do with horses.
He explained the mechanics of cantering: how to ask for the gait, how to sit the longer stride, how to maintain balance at the faster pace. Then he moved to the center of the arena and sent us off.
The transition was smoother than I'd expected, and suddenly Celeste and I were flying around the ring in a rhythm that was like dancing. The sensation was incredible: powerful and graceful and completely exhilarating.
"This is amazing," I called out as we swept past him.
"You're a natural," he called back, and the pride in his voice made my heart do something complicated.
We cantered for several minutes before he asked me to come back to a walk. I was breathless and grinning like an idiot as I slowed Celeste down and walked her over to where Peter was standing.
"That was incredible," I said. "I can't believe I was afraid of horses a week ago."
"Fear usually comes from not understanding something. Once you understand horses, they become partners instead of obstacles."
"Is that true for everything?"
"Most things."
He reached up to help me dismount, his hands spanning my waist as I swung my leg over the saddle. For a moment I was suspended between horse and ground, completely dependent on his strength to lower me safely. The position brought us close: closer than we'd been before.
"Steady," he murmured, and I wasn't sure if he was talking about the dismount or something else entirely.
My feet touched the ground, but he didn't immediately let go of my waist. We stood there for a moment, the air between us charged with something that had nothing to do with riding lessons.
"Betty," he said, and my name sounded different in his voice. Less like a student and more like... something else.
I looked up at him. His gaze dropped to my lips before returning to my eyes. The space between us seemed to shrink without either of us moving.
"Peter," I said back, not sure what I was asking but knowing I wanted something.
He leaned closer, and I rose up on my toes to meet him. His hands tightened on my waist, pulling me closer, and I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
"This is..." he started to say.
"I know," I breathed.
Our lips were inches apart when Celeste chose that moment to nudge me hard in the shoulder, nearly knocking me sideways. The interruption broke whatever spell had been weaving between us, and Peter dropped his hands like I'd suddenly caught fire.
"We should," he cleared his throat, "we should cool her down properly."
"Right. Of course. Cooling down. That's... important. Very important. Crucial, even."
We spent the next few minutes walking Celeste around the arena in complete silence, both of us careful not to make eye contact. The tension between us was different now: not just attraction, but the awareness that we'd almost crossed a line that probably shouldn't be crossed.
I was engaged to another man. A man I'd never met, but still. And Peter was... well, I wasn't entirely sure what Peter was, but he was definitely someone I shouldn't be having almost-kissing moments with in palace stables.
"Same time tomorrow?" he asked when we'd finished cooling down the horse.
"I'll be here. With your latte."
"I'm looking forward to it."
The way he said it suggested he wasn't just talking about the coffee.
I walked back to the palace with my head spinning and my pulse racing. Whatever was happening between Peter and me was complicated and probably dangerous and definitely not something I should be pursuing.
But as I replayed the moment when we'd almost kissed, I realized I was already counting the hours until my next riding lesson.
This was either going to be the best part of my time in Valdoria or the thing that destroyed everything.
Possibly both.