And then I never rode again for a decade.
“I don’t think I want to be stuck inside the walls of a carriage on such a nice day. At least for right now?”
He nods like he completely understands that. “Then we’ll ride.”
“I’m not sure if Digby should be on a horse…”
My guard hears me, tossing back a brusque, “I’m fine.”
When I look to Slade, he just shrugs. “You know he’s too stubborn to stay behind.”
I let out a sigh. “Yeah.”
In no time at all, Slade’s staff has brought out two more saddled horses. Slade’s monster of a stallion looks both statuesque and a bit mean, with a shiny black coat and probably a good eighteen hands high.
Meanwhile, I get a pretty buckskin horse with golden skin and a black mane, who looks far more agreeable. I walk over to get a better look at her. “A bit of a mix of our colors, don’t you think?” I ask Slade.
He smirks as he comes over to help me mount. “Her name’s Honey. She’s a sweetheart, though she’s been known to have a temper.”
I stroke a hand down her neck. “Then we’ll get along just fine.” I continue to pet her for a second, running my hands over her dark mane, but when my smile slips, Slade notices.
“What’s wrong?”
“There was a horse that I rode out of Highbell. Crisp. I don’t know what happened to him after the Red Raids, but he was a good horse.”
Of course, when I think of Crisp, I think of Sail, and when I think of him…
“I don’t know if I’ve ever really processed what happened that night. I thought you were the bigger monster,” I admit with a humorless laugh. “I was a fool. If only I’d learned to use my magic after dark back then. I’d never have let the captain…”
“Let the captain what?”
My eyes spring to Slade’s face. “Nothing.”
His gaze goes dark, and he takes a step forward, giving us more privacy from the staff and the others mounting their horses. “Did he hurt you that night?”
There’s a threat of dark promise in his tone. “Not me. Rissa. I helped her too late. By the time the sun came up…” I trail off, shaking my head. “He’s a golden statue somewhere in the middle of the Barrens, hopefully piled over with mountains of snow by now.”
The muscle in Slade’s jaw jumps, his posture gone stiff.
“I’m sorry for bringing that up,” I say with a shake of my head. “I don’t know why I did. Let’s just…move on? I want to enjoy the day and not think about that.”
He seems to gather himself, burying the anger in his eyes. “Alright. But I want a list, Auren.”
“A list?”
“Of everyone who’s ever hurt you.”
My eyebrows jump up. “Why?”
“I think you know,” he tells me, his sharp gaze cutting right through me. “And we are going to talk about all of this very soon.” I swallow hard, but I can’t deny the thrill that shoots down my back, because I’ve never had this before him—this fierce protector.
I’ve had a false one. If only I’d known what a true one looked like, I probably never would’ve been fooled in the first place.
Clearing my throat, I try to wave him off, try to lighten the mood again. “Well. We have a lot of things to still talk about. Like why everyone here wears such tight pants,” I say as I look around at all the guards. “Not that I’m complaining.”
Slade cocks a brow, but the last of the anger seems to edge out from his eyes. “The only ass I want you checking out is mine.”
I give off a lazy shrug. “I can’t make any promises,” I say breezily before I nock my foot into the stirrup and start to mount the horse. As I swing my other leg over, there’s a sharp pinch on my butt. I sit down in surprise, jolting the horse a little as I shoot Slade an incredulous look over my shoulder. “Ow!”
He gives me a shrug as he walks to his stallion. “We’ll discuss that more later as well.”
I smirk as I gather the reins.
As soon as we’re all situated, the five of us plus a few guards at our back begin to make our way across the bridge ahead.
Digby stays faithfully at my right and slightly behind me, while Slade rides just beside me at my left. Judd and Lu lead the way, while guards trail behind us. Even with this many of us, our party is small compared to what a normal royal enclave would be. I don’t think Midas ever traveled without a host of guards, though perhaps that’s because everything he owned was gilded, and he had no real power of his own to protect his stolen wealth.