Fantasyland 04 Broken Dove (9 page)

Further, the day before, after my fittings, the maids had excitedly given me a newspaper that was in English. It was dated, but it shared the joyous news that the beloved Black Prince Noctorno of Hawkvale and ruler of Bellebryn, and his bride, Cora, the Gracious (kickass nickname) had successfully delivered upon “the Vale” another heir to the throne, Prince Hayden.

Good news for the Vale, as the birth of a child always was, but an heir to the throne meant a whole country got to celebrate (and they did, with festivities planned for a week).

And last, I was having my second horseback riding lesson, and although not doing well with it, it was fun.

I knew I should pull back on the reins and call “whoa,” but I just couldn’t. It didn’t feel good on my ribs but that didn’t mean it didn’t feel
good.

So instead, I held on, endured the pain, bent forward over the horse’s back, allowed the beauty all around me to fly by and let my mind go.

That was, I did this until I heard the beat of horse’s hooves behind me.

I turned to look and saw one of Apollo’s men racing after me.

In the last two days I’d seen all of Apollo’s men, though I hadn’t spoken a word to one of them (still, not to be rude, if they caught my eye, I smiled and they usually smiled back). I did this on purpose and took great pains in doing it. I was building happy mojo and a reminder of the other Ilsa, and mostly Apollo, might be a blow to that effort.

I wasn’t ready. We’d be “away” sometime probably soon, and since I’d be traveling with them, I’d have no choice but to do it then.

So I’d do it then.

But this one (dark hair and features that told me he could very well be related to Apollo) clearly thought I was in trouble and was coming to my rescue.

That was nice and all but the only thing I could think was,
Crap
.

I pulled back on the reins. The horse slowed but not fast enough. I knew this because suddenly the dude chasing me was right beside me.

I gasped aloud when he wasn’t beside me but
on my horse with me.

Somehow, in the blink of an eye, he was seated behind me, his arm snaking across my belly to hold me to him. He pulled the reins from my hand and yanked back. I also felt his thighs squeeze the horse and it slowed to a stop.

Without delay, he swung off and once he had his feet on the ground, he reached up to me. His hands spanned my waist and he pulled me down with him. He was gentle but that didn’t mean I didn’t hit the ground with a thud that sent pain through my midsection, enough to make me wince.

I heard incoming hooves beating but I couldn’t turn to look because he was addressing me.

“Are you all right?”

I looked up at him.

A strong brow, much like Apollo’s and his hair was exactly the same as Apollo’s, though cut shorter (however, it was not short).

But his eyes were a rich chocolate brown.

Pol had a big family, this I knew, though I’d never met a one of them. They didn’t like drug dealers either, apparently. Then again, Pol had shown signs of going to the dark side early on in life. I knew this because, in a rare moment of honesty, he’d shared he had a juvie record and by the time I’d met him he’d long since been disowned.

This made our wedding a lonely affair that I’d lied to myself was just fine. I had him and he was all I needed (that was a lie too, then and more so much later).

Looking into the kind, intelligent eyes of the man with me, I wished I’d met some of Pol’s family.

They might have warned me.

Then again, I wouldn’t have listened.

“Fine. I just got my ribs jarred a little,” I answered, his head cocked and I quickly went on. “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

“My apologies, madam. I was too rough pulling you from the steed,” he replied. “You’d lost control and I didn’t want you on him by yourself with me on the ground. When a horse senses it has control, it can take advantage.”

I shook my head. “It wasn’t you who hurt me. It’s…before I got here, to this world, I mean, I…” I trailed off when his eyes dropped to the fading bruise on my cheekbone.

I heard some “whoas” around me and knew we were being joined by several someones but again he spoke so I couldn’t look.

“Of course, Apollo had told us.”

Great.

“It’s okay,” I assured him as I felt others joining us.

“It is not. And it’s also not a good idea for you to be on the back of a horse in your state. Especially if you don’t know how to ride, precisely due to what just happened. You could have been injured worse.”

“You need to use your legs.”

This was another voice and I looked to my left to see burnished-haired hot romance novel guy who spoke with the prostitute and the boy I’d noticed around the last couple of days. Though, he wasn’t exactly a boy, more like a boy-man. I was guessing he was sixteen or seventeen years old. He had dark blond hair and dark blue eyes and I knew he’d grow up to be a looker because he already was one.

“And your mouth,” the voice went on, that voice coming from the boy-man.

“My mouth?” I asked.

One side of his lips twitched up. “To say, ‘whoa,’” he instructed then continued. “It’d also be a good idea to use your reins.”

I pressed my lips together but didn’t succeed in suppressing my smile before I replied, “I’ll remember that next time.”

“Her ribs are injured,” the man who saved me informed the burnished-haired man.

“Then why is she on a horse?” the burnished-haired man asked him then his annoyed gaze slid to me. “Especially if she doesn’t know how to ride one.”

Jeez.

“This is a good question,” the man who saved me noted and I looked to him.

“I’ve never ridden a horse. Never even been around one, really, until yesterday,” I explained and his eyes widened in immediate shock.

“You jest,” the burnished-haired man drew my attention and he, too, looked shocked.

“We don’t have horses where I’m from. I mean, we do,” I said the last quickly because their shock had turned to what appeared to be alarmed astonishment. “But only rich people have them. Or, if you love horses enough, you sacrifice other things so you can keep them or pay to ride them.”

“The poor walk?” the boy-man asked in disgusted disbelief.

“Well, no,” I answered. “Pretty much everyone has cars.”

The boy-man blinked. The other two narrowed their gazes on me in puzzlement.

I lifted my hands and curled my fingers around a non-existent steering wheel, shifting them side-to-side like I was steering. “Automobiles. With four wheels and an engine. It goes on its own power. It doesn’t need a horse.”

The three of them watched my hands then they lifted their eyes to stare at me.

“You have to see it to understand it,” I muttered, dropping my hands.

The dark-haired one turned to the burnished-haired one and announced, “We cannot be away if madam has injured ribs and doesn’t know how to ride a horse.”

Uh-oh.

This wasn’t good. I was thinking Apollo wouldn’t like that.

So I cried quickly, “Oh no!” I took a step deeper into our huddle and lifted a hand. “Don’t let me delay our departure.”

The dark-haired guy looked down at me. “You winced solely being pulled off the back of a horse,” he reminded me.

I shook my head but said, “Yeah, I did. But I’m good. Really. It’s okay.”

“It is not,” he returned.

“Our progress would be slowed if she rides injured, especially if she can’t handle her own steed,” the burnished-haired guy said and I looked to him.

“I’ll keep up,” I promised.

His blue eyes moved to me. “And break your neck?”

“I’ll try to keep up without doing that,” I offered.

He stared at me a moment then looked at his comrade. “I’ll speak with Derrik. She’ll need lessons and time for her injury to heal. We’ll send word to Apollo we’ll be delayed for two weeks.”

Oh boy.

“Really,” I stated hurriedly. “I’m fine. I can practice horse riding while on our, um…journey.”

This gained me the dark-haired man’s eyes. “On day one, after our ride you’ll be nothing but aches and pains. The next morning, your body will protest at your simplest movement. You cannot take that while injured.”

“How about I give it a try,” I suggested, not wanting to delay because I really didn’t think Apollo would like it. Sure, he wouldn’t get word we’d be late for two months but then he’d have two whole weeks to stew on it and that probably wasn’t a good thing.

I came out of these thoughts when I noticed no one was speaking. They were all staring at me again.

Finally, the dark-haired man offered his big, calloused hand. “I’m Achilles of the House of Ulfr. Cousin to Apollo.”

Yep. I was right. Family.

I took his hand and murmured, “Achilles.”

“I am Draven of the House of Sinclair,” the burnished-haired guy said and I let Achilles go to take Draven’s hand.

“Hey,” I said and his eyes lit with humor.

“I’m Aleksander, of the House of Lazarus,” the boy-man said, grinning at me and offering his hand. I took it and he finished, “Alek.”

“Nice to meet you, Alek,” I said on a squeeze and let him go.

“You’ll walk back, not ride,” Achilles decreed and my gaze went back to him. “We’ll talk tomorrow to see how you feel. And when you’re well enough, Hans will instruct you on riding. He’s our most talented horseman.”

“Really, that’s not—” I started but he moved closer to me. Not by a lot, it wasn’t an aggressive move, it was one designed to get my attention.

And it got my attention.

But the serious look in his eye, a look accompanied by not a small amount of kindness was what
really
got my attention.

“I have known those who life has taught to keep themselves isolated,” he stated quietly. “It is always folly and never ends well. No matter what experiences we have, we must keep ourselves open to having more. Don’t you agree?”

I pulled in a breath and nodded, because he was right.

“The men are anxious to meet you and it would serve you well to meet them,” he informed me. “We act as your guard as a duty and we very much understand duty. But we do that duty out of allegiance to Apollo and the House of Ulfr.” He held my eyes but dipped his face an inch closer to me and his voice got lower when he concluded, “If the men were to meet you, madam, and you were to allow them to get to know you, I have no doubt they would act as your guard for much different reasons.”

“The Ilsa of your world,” I whispered, totally getting him.

“No, the madam who puts herself on the back of a horse while injured, determined to learn something new to her world. And the woman who takes a hand in greeting while looking steadfastly in your eyes, hers hesitant but unwavering. And last, the woman who would do her best to embrace a new world very foreign to her even when circumstances are not in her favor. I know all of this having officially met you moments ago and watching but for two days. What I want to know is what more there is to know.”

Okay, maybe I didn’t totally get him.

And when he was done speaking, I was holding my breath and doing this because tears were stinging my eyes seeing as all he said was so nice.

Since he’d shut up and no one was saying anything, I realized it was up to me to break the silence.

“I was having a pity party,” I shared. “I thought I’d gotten over it but maybe I was hanging onto some of it.”

While I was talking, he’d moved slightly back and his brows had drawn together.

When I stopped talking, he asked, “A pity what?”

“A pity party,” I replied. “I was feeling sorry for myself and being self-indulgent. It’s a weakness.”

“It’s my experience that a weakness understood is no weakness,” Draven put in at this point and I looked to him. “If you know you have it, even if you can’t control it, you can make allowances for it. It is those who ignore or don’t understand their weaknesses who are wasted by them.”

I blinked.

Then I blurted, “Are you all philosopher soldiers, or what?”

This got me a smile from Achilles, a chuckle from Draven and a burst of laughter from Alek and I had to admit, all three felt good.

“Come,” Achilles said, offering me his arm even as he tipped his head toward our horses, his eyes on Alek. “I’ll accompany you to the house.”

I caught his eyes when he looked back at me, took his arm and whispered, “I’d like that.”

He lifted his chin.

Alek jogged around us to the horses.

Draven grinned at me before he turned to his mount.

And Achilles tucked me close to his side and guided us forward.

* * * * *

“It grows late, madam, we must get you in your carriage in order to be back at the country house for dinner.”

My heart plummeted, I turned, grabbed Derrik’s arm and leaned toward him, catching his eyes and begging, “No. Please? Can’t we stay in Benies for dinner?”