AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She rolls her eyes before amblingthrough the stable, occasionally stopping by a horse's stall for a quick pat.
The animals observe her, unmoving and silent, their attentionenraptured. I've never seen them this docile and mindful of a person. My entire stable is full of rare prizes, the kind of horses men chase to the end of the world, and all have their own arrogant, stubborn minds. They don't respect anyone other than me—and some don't even acknowledge my authority.
She stops by Tornea, a silvery white mare, a warhorse too proud to be carried since the days of my grandfather. She's certainly one of those who don't take any orders. Tornea's only here because she wishes to be. She does like being fed, brushed when she allows—or demands—it, and she wouldn't leave her children for the world. Occasionally, she wanders away to roam the wilderness as she pleases.
Rhea inclines her head, appropriately impressed. She has good taste, but if she believes she can ride her, she's more foolish than I thought.
I'm stunned to watch the horse return the greeting and neigh with a toss of her head.Good to know she can charm horses as well as men.
Rheachuckles before scratching the majestic head, and then moves along.
She pauses by the next stall, one of Tornea's sons, almost as large as the warhorse—my horse. She doesn't hesitate to open the pen.
Naturally, she'd pick my horse. He's never let anyone else so much as touch him before, but he doesn't protest when she approaches, her hand out. Shoal just nuzzles it happily.
Vess narrows his eyes. "How did she—"
"Succubus," I remind him.
Such is her power. She'll be loved whenever she wishes it. Her strength is all the more likely to expand now that she's getting properly fed regularly. I grin, vividlyrememberinghow I fed her this morning.
Rhea's very strong. I don't have much to compare her to, but I researched her kind in my youth, and I understand their ability is in great part dependent on their lineage, and secondly, on how well they replenish their energy. Two days ago, the girl with the dagger was a weakling, a twig anyone could have snapped. She's shaped herself into something else so fast.
Shoal never accepts a saddle, yet he's letting her set him up without any protest.
"I guess I'm riding Folia," I chuckle, heading for another one of Tornea's children: a white mare.
Lesstemperamentalthan Shoal, she's alsoslightlyslower——nevertheless, she’s faster than any other beast in my stables.
My horse's speed matters little. I'll have to stay with our party in any case.
IfEnja's information is correct, the king's guards are marching north as we speak. It will take them ten days to reach their destination from the capital, on the southernmost shore, and they left at least five days ago. We'll reach our southern borders around the same time.
If the Kind King follows his usual method, they'll likely attack close to the camp where the bulk of my armies are settled, in order to be able to blame me for their actions.
We have to arrive first this time. Wehaveto.
"Dispensing with the carriage has no real impact on how fast we'll be." Alrion frowns as he joins me at the head of the party. "Riding at full speed means that we'll have to let the horses rest frequently."
As the crow flies, we're a thousand miles away from the borders. We'll need to ride at full speed eight to ten hours a day to make it.
I nod. Shoal and Folia can handle it, but the others won't be able to keep up without frequent rest. They can always change horses if necessary, but I'd rather avoid halting in any village, city, or worse yet, castle. They'd delay me, eager to show their hospitality to the king.
Astride Shoal, who's being disturbingly, positively well behaved, Rhea joins our small party, remaining at the back, between Lark and Vess. Silver closes the march.
"How are you dealing?" I ask, tilting my head toward the beauty shooting daggers at his back.
When Alrion appeared to warn me against the spies, the first thing he said was that I shouldn't kill them.The bulk of our enemies aren't evil, just misguided and manipulated.
Alrion demandedSorsha Woods's safety. He didn't ask, he didn't make any point, he merely said no one was to touch a hair on her head. The guards were ordered to do what they could to restrain her, but never hurt her.
For Rhea, he cautioned restraint. "I like her. She's cold, she's guarded, she doesn't give a single shit about most people—but if you're one of her friends? She'll kill for you. Gladly. She wouldn't even blink. She's good people."
She had been his friend, and he hates the void between them.
"I expected nothing else," he admitted. "I told you she could be cold. I forgot to mention she's also vengeful. She has very strong ideas about what is right and wrong. To her, I've wronged her, and none of the reasons matter. Basically, she's a horse with blinders, sometimes." He says all of that fondly, a smile tugging at his lips.
"You're hoping that once she sees the truth, she'll forgive you," I guess. "Once she understands Allea's behind the massacre."
