A Wild Ride

Her POV

People were dogging left and right as my beast hurdled through them. I grasped the knob on the saddle with white knuckles, screaming despite myself. I had never been on a horse and we were moving fast. I could feel myself swaying as we ran and I was praying the beast would tire before I fell off.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a white flash. I wanted to look to see what it was, but my fear had my eyes fixed just above the horse’s head. My mind was screaming at me to watch where we were going, even though I couldn’t make much out in the dark. I could hear hoof beats next to me and knew someone was keeping pace. If I had a voice, I would have screamed for them to help me, to do anything. I could feel my eyes watering at the desperation of my situation.

“Pull back on the reigns!” I heard him screaming but all I could do was clutch the saddle knob and shake my head. There was no way I was letting go of the only thing keeping me upright.

He pushed his horse ahead of mine and tried to cut us off. My horse would not be discouraged and turned, continuing its race to my death. The rider was beside me again and tried reaching for my reigns but we were moving too fast. He couldn’t keep his horse steady and reach out to mine.

“You have to pull back!” I could hear the frustration in his voice but his frustration was nothing compared to my panic. “Can you at least move them to my side?”

I tried to take a deep breath but it came out more like a silent sob. I glanced down at the reigns quickly. They were flush with the horse’s neck and bunched to the opposite side as the rider. I clutched my knob even tighter with my right hand and tried to reach out with my left. As I did so, the horse stumbled and my reflexes had me gripping the saddle again.

“You were close try again! Hurry, there is a gorge coming up!”

My options were bad or worse, so with a trembling hand I reached out for the reigns again. I made contact and pulled them as hard as I could. Before I knew what was happening I was flying through the air. I remember hearing the word “fuck” before my body slammed the ground.

“We should tie her up. First she tries to kill you and then she flees as soon as you give her a horse.” I could faintly hear a voice.

“She wasn’t fleeing Patrick, she was terrified.” I think I recognized that voice…

“She does not seem like a peasant, but what kind of noble cannot ride a horse?” That was Rupert, I could feel myself relax at the sound of his voice.

“If she couldn’t ride, she should have said something! I don’t trust her!” So Patrick doesn’t like me, noted.

I winced in pain as I tried to open my eyes and take in my surroundings.

“Whoa there. Nothing’s broken, but my guess is you have one hell of headache?” This was a fourth man.

“Language O’Brien.” That voice again…

“Oh please, you can’t really scold me when we heard you yell ‘Fuck’ a mile away.” I glanced up at the man kneeling over me and when he noticed, he turned pink and said, “Hello beautiful, welcome back.”

I blinked a few times and tried to respond. Ugh, I still didn’t have a voice.

“What was that?” O’Brien was looking at me expectantly.

While sitting up, I decided to try and speak again, but all I did was move air. I pointed at my mouth and shook my head.

“Damn, she must have hit her head pretty hard. I think she lost her voice.” O’Brien informed the rest of the group.

“Well isn’t that convenient?” Patrick’s eye roll was so dramatic, I could hear it from the ground.

“Let’s just get her up and back to camp. I’d rather sort out this mess there than out here in the open.” I scanned around looking for the voice, but I couldn’t make out the speaker in the dark.

“Miss?” O’Brien, even more pink, held out his had to me.

O’Brien helped me to my feet, and held me steady when I wobbled a little. I looked around and noticed there were two men on the ground with me, O’Brien and another holding three horses by the reigns. O’Brien started leading me back to the horses, but I halted and adamantly shook my head “no”.

Laughing, Rupert said, “Based on that reaction Patrick, I would definitely say she can’t ride.”

“I still think she should have said something before.” The man holding the reigns scoffed.

Rupert moved his horse closer to where O’Brien and I stood. “How about you ride with me? Just don’t stab me in the back. I would hate to see Patrick proven right about you.”

I nodded tentatively and O’Brien helped me mount behind Rupert. I shamelessly squeezed him around the waist as the monster under us moved back to the group.  

***

We arrived at their camp as the sun was coming up. I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open. The only thing keeping me awake at this point was how bad my ass hurt from sharing this saddle.

“I had Liam ride ahead and have a tent prepared for you. There should be food and fresh clothing, but I can’t guarantee they will fit well. Feel free to get some sleep, you’ll be safe in the camp. I’ll come and find you for dinner.” I squeezed Rupert a little tighter, hoping he would understand I was saying thank you.

The horses had been funneled into a single line and everyone who passed through the entrance was inspected briefly. There were at least six guards and I noticed more stationed every so often along the trenches. I doubt that Rupert’s camp could have been easily ambushed like Sir Duggar’s had been.

More men were out and about and I could hear swords clanging somewhere in the distance. Men were sharpening weapons, cleaning armor, and running drills everywhere I looked. The Bravousians were not messing around, they were real soldiers. Even in my exhausted state I was eager to learn more about their ranks and training.

“This one is going to be you.” Rupert’s voice brought me back from my gawking. A man walked over and helped me dismount. Rupert was quick to follow.

My breath caught as I saw him in the light for the first time. My first impression of Rupert did not do him justice. He must have been at least six feet and all slender muscle. He had thick, light brown hair streaked with auburn and grey eyes. In my world, he would have easily been a model. His chin was sharp without being pointed and his jaw was square and defined. After riding all night, he had just the beginnings of an auburn beard.    

I must not have been shy about my observations because Rupert burst out laughing.

“Why does every woman look at him that way?”

“Uh, he’s a prince and bred to make them react that way.”

I recognized the first voice as Sean, but I didn’t know the second man. I turned to look at him and was met with a beaming smile.

“Owen, Sean, is everything set?” Rupert had a huge smirk on his face while I was blushing like an idiot.

“Yes sir, Liam made sure she would have everything she would need.”

“Alright miss, we will leave you to it. If you need anything my tent is the green one with the boar on the door.”

I nodded to say thank you and ventured into my tent.