Page 35 of Bonded

“Tell me more about the human district,” he asks as Dorothy walks to him. She takes several deep sniffs of the air before coming closer, and then waits patiently. “It has taken some time for her to let me in here to aid her in any way. There was a terrible storm about five years ago and she got out into the woods. I searched all night for her and found her trapped, nearly hanging off a steep cliff. I got her back up and since then, she has let me saddle her and feed her.”

“She trusts you because you saved her.” I lean on the stable door.

“I think it is because I didn’t give up on her, even when most might have done. I can be stubborn and this horse is one of the few remaining things my mother loved.” His honest answer is nice. He didn’t give up. Bane gave up on me as soon as he could and other than my family, most people in my life have done the same. For a second, I wonder what it would be like to have someone in my life that never gives up.

“As for the human district — what do you want to know?”

“What’s it like growing up there?” He questions. “My sister — well, you know everything.” He works on the saddle, pulling the straps around. “She seems very guarded and I wanted to know how differently she grew up to what her life would have been here.” Guarded definitely defines his sister.

“Life is hard for anyone in the human district. Orphans particularly so... but Meredith had Tannith. She was her best friend, a sister and one of the best people I knew. The world got darker when she died. I can’t tell you exactly what Merry’s life was like but she is only guarded because she has been taught to be that way.” I watch his hands as he messes with the straps. “At least she found you now and she has family.”

He pauses. “It is good to have people here once more, even if Meredith doesn’t stay for long. It can get lonely here, in the castle. Often I’m told I should just choose someone and marry so that at least I have a family, and eventually children running around.”

“Why don’t you?” I gently ask.

“Because I’ve never met that person. Someone that makes me want to risk that. To have a wife and family would be amazing, but also something that I need the right person for. Someone I can’t take my eyes off.” He’s looking at me very directly as he speaks. “I also have to know that person wanted the risk of being mine. We have many enemies and a messy war on the way.”

“Risk is there for anyone who chooses to have family.” I clear my throat. “I mean, I saw loads of people have families in the human district. Mostly because contraception — ways of stopping pregnancy — just didn’t exist for the poor. So if someone accidentally got pregnant, you just married them. It was considered the right thing to do otherwise the child ended up in an orphanage, and the mother in a bad situation. I was very lucky my father married my mother quite early on, before they’d even had me.”

“I’m glad that I sent people to help free the human district. It does sound like they did not look after their people well. I was brought up to protect the people and as much as I protect them, I want them to have their own freedoms, their own lives. I may not always make the right decisions, but everything I do is to keep them alive.” He offers softly.

He finishes with the saddle and comes out. “Give me a second to get my horse ready.”

My heart is in my chest as Dorothy comes right up to the stall and looks down at me. Despite being a little shorter than Dain’s horse, she really is tall compared to me and I get the feeling I am being judged. Judge away, and see I’m a mess. Her white mane falls over one side and I’m desperate to reach forward and braid it.

“Do you like braids?” I reach up, offering her my hand. She could bite me — I know she might — but I really hope she doesn’t. She sniffs my hand for a second, then leans into it. She feels warm and soft as I stroke her face. “I’m really good at braiding hair. I could do some wicked braids in your mane. If you’re nice to me today, perhaps I’ll come back and do it.”

She huffs, steam pouring from her nostrils into the chilly air. Oh yeah, we are going to be friends.

“All ready,” Dain calls over. I turn, stepping out as he comes over and opens the stable doors as he leads her out and into the middle. The second he is waiting for me to climb on her, nerves sink into my blood. Dain sees it. “Come on. She does not bite girls or women. Me, definitely, but not you. You’re safe with me, I promise.”

“Okay.” Oddly, I do trust him. I shouldn’t trust another man for the rest of my life after Bane but here I am, trusting a king of a foreign land. I walk forward as he explains quickly how to get onto a horse, which involves putting my foot into a very small gap in one of the hanging stirrups. I try to pull myself up, only for Dain’s hands to reach for my waist — and he lifts me effortlessly, like I weigh nothing, and drops me into the saddle. My hips burn where he touched and feel cold now he has let go. Dorothy shifts slightly as he grabs the reins and puts them in my hands.

“Hold on. Let her lead you — she’s a very experienced horse. You don’t need to do any more than turn the reins slightly left or right to guide her. She’ll follow me.” He goes back to his horse. I freeze on top of Dorothy, thinking I really need to learn to say no sometimes. Including no, I’m not getting on a gigantic horse when I’ve never ridden one in my life. But then — does anyone say no to the king? I don’t know. It’s hard to think of him as the king when he acts like this. Normal. Strangely nice.

I watch him climb up onto his horse so easily, throwing his powerful leg over, tapping his heels gently to the horse’s side, leading him out. As he said, my horse simply follows, trotting along nicely and slowly. I clench my thighs around the saddle and hold the reins as loose as possible as we go down a path and straight into a forest trail. I try to admire the forest, how the trees are pretty with dark green leaves and more of the sparkling black flowers that have left a sweet smell in the air.

“Are you alright back there?” Dain asks, looking over his shoulder at me.

“I haven’t fallen off, so I’m good!” I call back, just as my thighs begin to burn.

For a good twenty minutes the ride is peaceful. Normal. Until we turn a corner and something slithers out of a bush — I don’t know what — but Dorothy knows. She begins stamping her hooves, right before she shoots off. I scream, clutching the reins and holding on with everything I have.

“Illyria!”

I hear Dain shout for me but I can’t focus on anything other than holding onto the reins and tightening my thighs around the saddle. Oh goddesses, I’m going to fall! A huge hill comes into view, the tip of it impossible to see over from here and my heart screams in fear. Red strings of light burst into the air around me, and instantly I reach for one. Fire burns up in front of Dorothy, who rears up as she suddenly stops dead, her front legs going straight up in the air, and I go flying backwards with a scream.

I don’t land on the ground. Something almost cool wraps around my body like a warm hug. I look down, my eyes widening, seeing black shadows wrapped around me like snakes, holding me cushioned in the air right above the ground. The shadows swirl around my legs, my arms and dance through my red, wild hair almost lovingly. They pull me through the air and drop me straight into Dain’s arms. He clings me to his chest on top of his horse, pushing more than a few strands of hair from my eyes. “Fuck, are you okay?”

“Yes.” I stare into his eyes as he looks me over, my heart racing. I focus on him as I calm down. What was that? I swear I saw strings of red light and then there was a flash of fire. I must have been seeing things. “I think she saw something like a snake and she got scared.”

He nods, still watching me. “We get a few different breeds in the forest but they don’t often come near the paths.”

“Thank you for saving me.” I whisper, still so breathless that it comes out more husky than I intended. It doesn’t help that we’re so close. His thick arms are wrapped around my thighs and my waist, my hands on his chest. The closest I’ve been to a man outside of Bane and a few one-night stands that didn’t mean much.

“If you get lonely,” I quietly whisper, remembering what he said earlier, “I’m going to be in the castle, and I get lonely too.” My lips twitch. “Maybe not horse riding though.”

A smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. “I can think of other hobbies we can do.” I lean up and kiss his cheek. Just once. Just a thank you. “It’s really good to have met you, Illyria.”