“Try harder.” Tor’en huffed and grumbled, turning to face the endless road as they bounced over the rutted path.
“Mind your own temper, old man,” Er’it said, a growl edging his words in torrid violence as he came alongside the cart.
“It is cold, and we have been traveling for many hours, Your Majesty,” Maruk said, placating hands splayed in the cramped space before him. “We are not hardened warriors accustomed to such arrangements.”
“Pah! Speak for yourself,” Tor’en muttered, though he huddled deeper into his thick cloak.
“Come here,kou’va,” Er’it said in low tones, stretching out his hand to Aida.
“I am fine where I am, thank you,” Aida murmured. Try as she might to blame the stinging heat in her cheeks on the chill wind, she knew she blushed at the amber fire glittering in the depths of his gaze. It would not be the first time Er’it seated her before him on Kal to head far up the trail where he could touch her away from prying eyes.
“I wish to show you something.”
Er’it gave her no time to deny him again. Kal turned, rushing along the back of the cart to come along the other side where Er’it tipped sideways to snatch Aida from her pocket of warmth. With an indignant squawk, she found herself not across Er’it’s knees but astride Kal’s back. Thankful for the thick breeches Er’it gave her to wear every morning beneath the useless skirts of her wardrobe, she still scrambled to pull the flowing material down from where it had bunched at her knees.
Er’it pressed his knees against Kal’s sides, sending the Phylix into a breakneck gallop. Aida’s short scream echoed against the mountains and well into the dark forest as she fisted Kal’s silken mane to keep her seat despite Er’it’s strong arms holding her in place.
The sound of his husky laughter worked its way down her spine, prickling her flesh as the scenery swept past. Strangely enough, she found a smile on her lips, one as exalted and reckless as the man behind her. She didn’t concentrate on the weary agony of the blighted trees or the crushing presence of the steep cliffs. Aida opened her mouth, catching the stinging bits of snow upon her tongue as they raced through the stillness.
“Just like this,kou’va,” Er’it said in a teasing growl against her ear as another nudge sent Kal flying across a pristine field.
Great hooves churning through the snow, the Phylix flung the powdery stuff in a spray of glittering white behind them. As if whatever insanity infected Er’it translated to his creature, the Phylix performed slinking maneuvers that such a massive body should be incapable of executing. Dipping low and turning only to rear up and paw at the air, he gave a triumphant bellow at the icy drifts before falling back to the ground. Aida shrieked and gasped at Kal’s antics, holding on as tight as she could with legs and arms as the great beast cavorted around the field.
Breathless with her laughter when Kal came to a panting halt, Aida didn’t startle when Er’it slid his hands down her arms, but a line formed between her brows when he tucked the thick leather reins into her hands.
“Hold them loose,” Er’it said against her cheek, peering over her shoulder to adjust her tight grip on the worn leather. “He is not a dumb beast to be jerked about, but a gentle hand will guide him where you wish to go.”
Aida stammered half-formed sounds that despaired of ever becoming true words as she tried to voice some sort of denial. Before she could make sense of any of it, Er’it cupped her knees in his palms and pushed them into Kal’s sides, a careful squeeze that urged the Phylix into a slow walk.
“Relax, Aida,” Er’it admonished, rubbing his chest against her stiff back. He dipped his head down, nipping along the chilled line of her neck to place a heavy kiss at her shoulder. Finding the mark beneath her heavy layers without fail, his breath warmed her right through.
“What are you doing?”
“Trust him. He will not throw you or spook at some imagined danger.”
“It is not Kal that I question,” Aida muttered, clenching her fists over the reins to the point Kal twitched his head in annoyance at the uneven pull to his head.
“It is I, then? So be it.” Er’it clicked his tongue at Kal, bringing the Phylix to a quick stop. He slid from Kal’s back, crunching into the deep snow and peering up at Aida with a strange glint in his topaz gaze.
Aida gave a long-suffering sigh and dropped the reins to hold her arms out to the perturbing male. Her forehead wrinkled as he splayed a palm on her belly to push her back on the saddle until she sat in the warmed leather cradle he’d abandoned. She gasped when he tucked her foot into the stirrup, staring at him aghast as he slogged through the thick snow to do the same to her other booted heel.
“You may speak the commands if it is easier, but try to use your legs. It’s best not to warn your enemy of your next move,” Er’it said as he put the reins back into Aida’s hands. “Don’t jerk his head about. He’ll bite the thing clean off if you annoy him enough, and we don’t have another harness for him with us.”
“Er’it, what are you—”
“Go on, give him a nudge or tell him to walk on.”
“I will do no such thing! Get me down right now.”
“You are in control,kou’vera.” She felt the heat from his palm beneath the skirt she wore as he slid a hand up her leg, gripping high up on her thigh before he extricated it to give Kal’s rump a resounding smack. “Show her what you can do, my friend.”
“Er’it—” Aida screeched when Kal lunged forward, the panicked wail turning into a disbelieving whoop as the Phylix kicked his back legs out to smother Er’it in a wave of frosty snow. Somehow, Aida kept her seat through the whole thing as Kal raced off, tossing his head and braying in victory as Er’it yelled after them, though she heard nothing of his words.
Wind screaming in her ears as Kal galloped through the field, Aida had a mere impression of their panting breaths and the crunch of snow. Heart racing, it pounded in her ears, a rapid drumming that obscured all else as the field and trees blurred into swaths of color. White, green, reds, and browns—the indescribable sensation left her breathless. Hair and cloak becoming a snapping pennant behind her, she held on tight to Kal’s reins and squeezed him with her thighs.
It did not slow Kal one bit. He, instead, brayed at the oncoming wall of trees, turning at what seemed to Aida the last possible moment to race parallel to the dark forest. Tucking his head low, he drew Aida down tight against his neck by her trembling grip on his reins. In the new position, Aida could better feel his sides heaving, her lungs somehow matching his breaths. Body beginning to move at one with his, she no longer held herself so stiffly on his back. The rolling muscle beneath the silken hide were beyond powerful, but it wasn’t his physical presence that made her tremble.
Beneath her hands, Kal’s fur began to glow. The faint light, a mere hint that brightened the world around them, made the snow look purer somehow. It tasted of moonlight and something Aida couldn’t describe as she breathed it in along with the icy wind. Tendrils wrapped around her hands and arms, winding its way up her legs. Surrounded by the soft incandescence, she could do little more than gasp at the simple beauty of it.
