Page 26 of Charmed

Eight

“Come on, Fang,” Stone called to his dog as he mounted a horse that King Rhys had offered.

“I should come along with you,” said Rhys. “My strength might come in handy.”

“Nay, Brother, that’s not a good idea.” Darium mounted a horse as well. “There are already too many of us in this traveling party. Your presence as King of Kasculbaugh will only put Sethor on defense. If he sees you, he’ll order an attack before he even knows why we are there. I am not as big of a threat to him as you are. I have also done sin eating for him before, so hopefully he’ll trust me enough to at least let me in the gate and listen to why we are there. So you see, I am the one who needs to go.”

“We’ll tell him he might have a thief hiding inside his walls,” said Aithrod from atop his horse. “Any king would be anxious to catch such a person.”

“Not this one,” said Darium in a low voice. “Knowing King Leofric Sethor, he’d probably side with the thief you are searching for. I wouldn’t doubt your hunted man will be convinced to do the king’s bidding while he is here in Mura.”

Stone saw Persimmon just standing there, doing nothing to prepare for the journey. “Please hurry, Persimmon,” urged Stone. “Mount your steed. We need to leave at once. Time is of the essence.”

Persimmon stood there staring at the horse, not even touching it. Then her body stiffened. “I can’t,” she said from the ground, making Stone believe she had changed her mind about going along with them.

“That’s fine. I understand, if you changed your mind and don’t want to go. It’s all right,” he told her. “You can stay here where you’re safe. It’s better that way.”

“Nay, I do want to come with you. That’s not what I mean at all.”

“Then what is it?” asked Stone. “I don’t understand.”

The girl shifted from foot to foot, seeming very uncomfortable.

“I can’t ride,” she finally mumbled.

“Oh, you want a lady’s saddle?” asked Rhys who was there to see them off. “I can arrange that. My wife likes to ride astride so I’m just used to saddling all the horses that way.” He raised his hand to call over the stable boy, but Persimmon stopped him.

“Nay, please, don’t bother. The saddle won’t help,” she told him. “I have never ridden a horse before and I’m not even sure I can do it.”

“What?” Stone laughed, thinking at first she was jesting. But when he saw the tears in her eyes, he realized she was being serious. “Oh, you really can’t ride,” he said, clearing his throat. He had never heard of anyone who was as old as she who had never been atop a horse before. It seemed ridiculous to him. Then again, he was in a strange land now. He wasn’t sure if sorceresses, or whatever she was, could even do such things.

“You’d better stay here then,” suggested Darium.

“Nay. I need to accompany you. The old couple insisted I go to find their son,” protested Persimmon.

“They insisted?” asked Stone. “How? Through the gazing ball?”

“It doesn’t matter how I know,” she said, her voice cracking. “All I can tell you is that it is very important that I accompany you on this journey.”

Stone could see the turmoil on the girl’s face. He could tell it was really important to her to do as the dying couple wished. Or what she thought they wished, anyway. Stone wasn’t sure he was buying any of this about the girl being able to see the future or talk to dying people through that damned ball. Then again, if not, he wasn’t sure why Persimmon would make up something like this that could actually get her killed. However, joining them on the trip to Macada Castle didn’t seem to terrify her half as much as the thought of getting on a horse.

“She can ride with me,” he told the others, reaching down for the girl. “Grab on, and I’ll pull you up.”

“I’m not sure,” she said, being hesitant to take his hand. Stone didn’t give her a chance to object. He grabbed on to her and lifted her up in front of him atop the horse, wrapping his arms around her waist, still holding the reins. Fang barked and ran in circles below them. “We’re ready,” he told the others with a nod. “Let’s go catch our thieves.”

If Persimmon wasn’t already nervous enough being atop a horse, now she was feeling even more uncomfortable sitting with her back pressed up against the handsome stranger’s chest. Stone also had his arms around her waist. Never before had she been so close to a man that they were actually touching. She could feel his body heat against her back. His scent of leather, the outdoors, and woodsmoke filled her senses, oddly bringing her to life. Persimmon had led a very sheltered life living at the convent, and never before had she been as intimate with a man as she was at this very moment.

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you,” came his voice in her ear. His cheek was pressed up against the side of her head. When he spoke she could feel the vibration of his deep voice rumbling in his chest. His breath whisked past her ear, causing a delicious shiver to spiral through her.

“I am relaxed,” she told him, not wanting him to know how affected she was by just being in his presence.

“Your back is as straight as a rod and even your words are stiff and forced,” he replied. “What is it about me that makes you so nervous?”

The man was very observant, she’d give him that. She supposed it was part of his training to be observant, being a bounty hunter. “It’s not you making me nervous,” she told him, even though he made her knees quake. “You see, when I was a young girl I was thrown from a horse and almost died. I haven’t been riding since.” This was the truth. She had been just a child at the time. It had happened right before her mother sent her to live at the convent. Since the nuns didn’t ride horses, she never had the opportunity to get atop a horse again, only making her fearful memories stronger.

“Didn’t your mother make you get right back on the horse?” he asked.

“Nay. My mother didn’t spend a lot of time with me when I was growing up.”