Bastial Steel (10 page)

“I’m sorry, Gerace,” he said to her back.

She gave no reply, not even a look over her shoulder.

After they turned the corner onto another hall, Lisanda said, “You’re saying her name wrong, you know.”

Cleve sighed.

Chapter 7

The horse range, like other outdoor areas within the palace, was reached from the first floor. Cleve was starting to learn the layout of the enormous home to the Takarys and their staff and associates by then. There was actually a system, it seemed.

The entire building was symmetrical, with the nobler residents living on the top floors while the servants and chefs and other workers lived in the basement. The horse range was in the back of the palace where just one last white wall was all that remained between the palace and the northern side of the city—The Nest, a name Cleve still wasn’t used to.

Lisanda took him to the glass doors that opened onto a wide field where horses ranged.

“Don’t act any differently toward Jessend now that we’ve spoken about her,” Lisanda warned him. “If you’re softer on her, she’ll take insult to that. She doesn’t need to be coddled.”

“You don’t need to tell me that,” Cleve said.

Lisanda nodded with a wry smile. “I’m going to go fetch Rek. I’ve been meaning to talk to him as well. I look forward to practicing my Elvish.”

“He doesn’t speak Elvish,” Cleve warned her.

Lisanda’s shoulders gave out. “What?”

“He doesn’t know the language.”

The Princess let out a long breath before turning and dragging her feet away.

There were a few horses nibbling on grass nearby with someone attending to them. Cleve figured there were many more of the massive animals in the large wooden building off against the side wall.

As he started toward it, he found Jessend talking with another young woman. They didn’t seem to notice him coming, and soon Jessend was wrapping her arms under the woman’s rear and hoisting her off the ground.

“Shit!—oops.” The woman covered her mouth right after her accidental swearing, and Jessend burst into laughter, nearly dropping her. “Bastial hell,” the woman said. “You
can
lift me!”

“I told you.” Jessend’s eyes found Cleve. “Finally!” She hopped over and dragged him to the woman. “This is Silvie.”

Cleve held out his hand and gave his name. She shook it hard with a smile. He wondered if Silvie was a nickname, for she had hair so light it was nearly silver.

She was tall, but lean and strong. Her height might’ve matched Reela’s, but Cleve already could tell they were nearly completely opposite. Just by the way she’d shaken his hand, he could feel a competitive edge emanating from her. She had the same physical confidence as Jessend, looking intently at Cleve as if she wanted to wrestle just to prove how strong she was.

Silvie seemed older than Jessend, though, perhaps close to twenty or even a little older.

“Now there’s no way you can lift
him
!” Silvie raised her eyebrow, gesturing her head toward Cleve.

Jessend turned to study him, taking a hand to her chin and humming in thought.

Cleve shook his palm at her and stepped back. “You can’t, and you’re going to hurt yourself if you try.”

Silvie laughed. “Don’t tell her she can’t do something.”

“Maybe later…after some wine,” Jessend said, her tone far too serious for Cleve’s taste. “We have work to do. Silvie, what horse would you recommend for Cleve besides one that’s strong enough to support his weight.”

Silvie smiled at Jessend, taking a blade of grass out of her dark hair. “I bet you’re the only princess in all of Greenedge who regularly gets grass in her hair.”

With a shy grin, Jessend looked down to her feet. Silvie let the blade of grass fall and turned to Cleve. The way her eyes had lingered on Jessend made the shift of focus to him seem reluctant.

“You seem gentle for your size,” she said, going into the stables and waving him in after her. “Perhaps a horse of the same type would suit you well. Come meet Nulya.”

Cleve followed Silvie inside. Jessend ran past him to lock arms with her. Silvie seemed to stiffen from Jessend’s touch. The Princess might’ve sensed it, for she unhooked her arm after just a few steps. They both seemed relieved that Nulya was right there, turning to the horse eagerly.

“She’s generally a quiet horse, until someone gets on her bad side,” Silvie said. “She can be quite the beast when needed.”

“That’s perfect for Cleve.” Jessend reached out a hand to pet the side of the horse’s head.

“They don’t bite?” Cleve asked.

“Not usually,” Silvie answered, opening the gate to let out the massive white horse. “You’re not going to be riding her yet. It’s best for her to learn to trust you first.”

Jessend put her hand on Silvie’s arm. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of time. Cleve has to learn how to ride as soon as possible.”

Silvie’s thin lips twisted. “If it must be done, then fine. But I insist he at least walk her around the range and feed her before getting on her back.”

Silvie waited for Jessend to nod in agreement before handing Cleve the reins. “Lead her around while you talk to her in a friendly manner,” Silvie said. “Make sure to let her know who’s in charge. She might try to veer away from you or get too far into your space, pushing against you with her head. Don’t let her or she might think you’re weak, unfit to ride her. She usually behaves after she’s gotten to know her rider. I’ll get some apples ready for you to feed her when you get back. She’ll trust you more quickly knowing you have access to apples.”

The range was so big it took him ten minutes to get halfway across it. Most of that was from Nulya wanting to stop or change directions every few steps.

Cleve found himself talking to her as he did his best to maintain control. “Why do you let people ride you? You’re huge. Do you like people…is that why?”

It seemed strange that a horse would let someone on its back unless it wanted to. Although she gave no sign of understanding him, he continued.

“Or do you just not know how to get someone off your back? How fast can you run? You must be able to throw people off you. Are you going to throw me off?” The horse whinnied, and it startled Cleve.

He laughed at himself. “You scared me.”

The horse whinnied again, this time softer. Cleve laughed once more, wondering if he really was having a conversation with the animal or if it was just a coincidence.

When he turned around, Jessend was riding toward him. Her horse was going impressively fast, bouncing through the air.

She stopped it right beside Cleve and the horse reared up, letting out a loud whinny. “How’s Nulya?”

“Um.” Cleve couldn’t tell if her question was serious or not. “She’s a horse.”

Jessend giggled. “Obviously. How do you like her?”

“I think I like her.”

Jessend hopped off her horse to walk beside Cleve, dragging her mount along her other side. “Isn’t Silvie cute?” She shot a look back at the stables.

Cleve shrugged. “I guess.”

“She’s really good with the horses. Her father was the stable master, but he passed away recently from an illness. She didn’t take it well, but she’s even better at hiding it than we are. Sometimes I wonder if she’s incapable of crying.”

“I thought I might have been that way,” Cleve said. “But now I don’t believe anyone is.”

After about an hour of Silvie and Jessend coaching him, Cleve was able to trot around the range on his own, his commands to Nulya becoming well understood.

He even thought he was making quick progress until Lisanda came with Rek and the Elf was doing things with his horse that apparently neither Takary sister nor Silvie had ever seen before.

Rek chose his own horse against Silvie’s wishes. It was ugly, Cleve thought, gray and white with streaks of brown down its neck and under its belly. Its mouth and knees were black, dark black, darker than Jessend’s hair. From afar, the animal looked filthy.

Rek chose him because he was “the smartest,” the Elf claimed.

Silvie tried to argue that the horse was wild, but Rek didn’t care. He led the horse out of the stables without even holding the reins, guiding the animal with a wave of his hand. Then he pushed out his palm and told the horse to lie down. Silvie and the Takary sisters each gasped as the homely horse obeyed, folding down on all fours to let Rek climb on top.

“Up,” the Elf commanded, and the horse rose.

Rek fiddled with his hands, trying to find a place to hold onto. When he grabbed the horse’s mane, Silvie started to object, but Rek quickly petted the animal and took the reins instead.

“I can feel what he doesn’t like,” Rek explained. “I realized as soon as I did it that he didn’t want me grabbing him there.”

In no time, the Elf was galloping around the range, his horse leaping over low fences and whinnying in joy. Cleve couldn’t help but feel somewhat discouraged, especially when he asked Silvie how long it would take for him to control his horse like Rek.

“Could be years before your horse is jumping over anything,” Silvie explained.

Soon, Rek was leading his mount back into the stables.

“Done already?” Cleve asked.

“My ass hurts,” Rek answered. “And I don’t think I really need practice with this sort of thing.”

Now more eager than ever, after seeing what Rek could do with his horse, Cleve asked, “Can you get my horse to trust me any better?”

Rek shrugged. “I can try.”

Rek followed Cleve as he trotted around and gave commands to Nulya. The Elf used psyche to help the horse understand what Cleve was commanding.

“What does Nulya think of me?” Cleve asked after the better part of an hour.

Rek walked up to place his pale hand on the top of Nulya’s head. “Nothing really, at least not that I can sense.”

Disappointed, Cleve let out a loud breath. He’d never been one for pets, but Nulya was no pet. She was strong and beautiful, able to carry him many more miles than he could walk in a day. He wanted to take her back to Kyrro. He wanted them to be friends.

Friends…right.
The thought was silly.

Or is it? I suppose I don’t know enough about horses to tell whether or not we could be friends.

A loud giggle from Jessend stole his attention, reminding him of something he needed to tell Rek. “Jessend is going to speak to her father about letting us leave,” Cleve said. “She believes if we help them in a battle or some task, then the King will provide us with a ship and a crew.”

Rek turned to investigate her, showing no sign of excitement. In a low voice, he asked, “Is she one to lie?”

“I don’t believe so.”

“Silvie has strong feelings for her,” Rek mumbled.

“What?” Cleve blurted. “You mean Silvie cares for her like a good friend?”

Rek shook his head with a pressed grin. “More than that. There’s a strong attraction there. I’m not going to mention it to them, but it was the first thing I noticed. It’s emanating from Silvie like heat from a fire.”

“What about Jessend?”

“She’s a bundle of passion. Without a few direct questions, I won’t know which of her emotions are associated with Silvie.”

“Could it be confusion you’re sensing from her? Lisanda told me her sister’s been confused.”

Rek nodded. “That could be it.” The Elf put his hand on Cleve’s shoulder. “I’m sensing a much stronger connection toward her from you. You’re not losing interest in my sister, I hope?”

“No, I care for Reela just as deeply as when we left. But I worry for Jessend. I think we owe it to her to help with whatever we can, which is something I’ve been meaning to speak to you about.”

Rek lifted an eyebrow as Cleve showed him a serious glance.

Cleve asked, “How do you feel about helping me prove someone is evil?”

Rek’s long Elven eyes brightened. “I’m listening.

Chapter 8

After divulging his plan to Rek, Cleve was on his way to visit Micah Vail. Getting lost only once, he managed to find the right room through Rek’s instructions.

He knocked. The door slowly opened to show Micah already walking back to his seat at a table after giving the knob a pull. Cleve caught the door and shut it behind him, waiting for Micah to greet him before speaking.

Upon second sight, Cleve figured he was right that the King’s adviser seemed to be in his late twenties—about Rek’s age—but with black hair that hung over his forehead instead of the Elf’s dark brown.

“Just a moment,” he told Cleve as he finished writing.

Cleve looked around to busy his eyes. There was a set of glass doors letting in the afternoon sun, but in each corner of the room were locked chests remaining in the shadows.

“I’m glad you came to visit me, Cleve.” Micah stood and held out his hand. “Thank you for keeping my secret. I understand Rek explained to you how important it is that others not know?”

Cleve nodded, shaking the man’s hand and realizing that Micah’s ears were covered by his hair.