“That’s nae true,” he whispered. “We danced well, didnae we?”
Her gaze dropped to his lips, her own parting slightly as she found herself clinging to his every word. When nothing else came, she was almost… disappointed.
A soft knock at the door broke her from the trance that she was in.
“The horses are ready, me Lady,” a maid announced as she stepped into the study. “Everything is ready for the race. Yer faither begged me to come and fetch ye both.”
Kaden took a half step back from her, motioning with a sweeping gesture to the door. “Shall we?”
8
Perhaps someday, it would feel less foreign to feel the sun on his face, tightening his skin.
The first summer after freeing himself, Kaden had tanned his skin to the point of blistering because he simply couldn’t keep himself inside when there was the option to simply leave a room whenever he chose. The following winter, he had overindulged in that same thing.
It was a mercy that he had slowed himself after that.
“Why are ye doing this?” Peter asked him as they trailed behind Emily out into the yard behind the keep.
The ground seemed level on this side for as far as the eye could see, with plants leading through a clearing just to their left, where Emily seemed to be heading. Marching, really.
Kaden had to suppress a smile as he trailed after her, half-stretching all the while.
“I’m indulging the lass,” he answered, as if it ought to have been obvious.
“And that’s the only reason?” Peter sighed and shook his head. “If she’s been riding for a long time, then ye are likely to have yer arse handed to ye. We both ken that ye only have a few years of riding behind ye.”
Kaden hesitated, almost missing his next step. Peter barely caught himself before barrelling into his back.
“What are ye tryin’ to say? Ye daenae think I’ll win?”
Peter hesitated before answering.
A lot of times, people tried to only tell Kaden what he wanted to hear. They would rarely speak to him about what had happened. It was far more frequent for those nearest to him to pretend that it had simply never happened, that he had never been kidnapped.
Kaden hated that the most. Peter was one of the few people who still chose to think of him as human.
“I just mean that ye cannae be expected to keep up with an experienced—” Peter sighed and waved him off. “Never mind.”
“Have a little bit more faith, eh?” Kaden teased with a flat look.
He tried to ignore the conversation that Emily was having with her parents. He chose to focus instead on trying to make the horse feel comfortable, raising a hand in greeting and attempting to get acquainted with him before he had to mount him. He was almost too big for a horse this size, but he supposed that he would have to make do with it.
“Ye will behave yerself,” Hamish hissed at Emily.
She seemed rather committed to ignoring him entirely.
Kaden watched as her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides before she turned away from her father and grabbed the reins from the lad holding them. She didn’t look at a single one of them as she tied up the side of her skirts in a way that almost made him feel indecent for seeing the knee of her stockings, and up she went.
Kaden’s eyes widened in awe. She moved so easily.
“Are we doing this?” She called over her shoulder without looking at him.
She didn’t even wait for him to mount his own horse before galloping off toward the opening of the forest.
Hamish called out after her, clearly frazzled, judging from the way he glanced over at Kaden to ensure that he wasn’t cross. Butwhat choice did Kaden have but to quickly mount his horse and ride after her?
Emily had the advantage in every possible sense of the word. This was her territory, this was her home, and she had likely grown up riding these trails. She would know where there were fallen branches or sharp twists and turns. She would certainly know what she should not be doing and where the best stretches were to make up speed.
