The Contessa

Coryanna walked to the barren crest of the path. The dusty dawn kissed her chocolate curls. She sighed with polite jealousy at the distant view of the Queen's Riders who trained below here feet, beyond the hill. Another satin step on the path brought Coryanna to the stable the Nobles made use of. Her horse, a blue roan named Berry, would be happy to see her, if no one else in Corus was.

The youngest daughter of the Countess of Whitehorn searched the stable with cautious olive eyes, hoping not to be seen. If her mother knew where she was she would think it quite unbecoming. Luckily, the Countess was more concerned about finding proper husbands for her older daughters than about the whereabouts of her youngest.

The Contessa breathed in the sweet scent of hay and manure, a scent that reminded her of her father, the late Count of Whitehorn. She froze for the briefest moment, catching her emotions and forcing them away from her. Emotion would only lead to trouble. It always had and always would.

Coryanna found Berry's stall and ran her fingertips across the mare's velvet flanks in greeting. Her horse snuffed in response to the touch and the Contessa searched for a brush. She was thorough in caring for her horse and returned the brush to its proper place. Her hand paused to caress Berry's tack. The leather was cool, inviting. Instead of handling the tack, Coryanna pulled a few sugar cubes from her pocket and offered them to Berry.

"I'll make friends with some of the nobles," Coryanna promised in a whisper as Berry lipped the cubes. "then we can go riding with them. You can stretch your legs a bit, you'd like that wouldn't you?" Berry turned to let her big brown eye stare at the girl. "You can't judge me harshly, Berry," she said, "I've only just come out. Two weeks isn't that long, I hope you know!"

Berry snuffed at her, and Coryanna pulled out an apple that she had tucked in her bag. The horse took it gingerly and chomped it to mush with eloquence. The girl murmured soft praises to Berry.

"She's a beautiful thing isn't she?" asked a bubbly voice. Coryanna's back tensed, she smiled at her mistake. The stable's silence had tricked her into believing she was the only person around.

"She is at that," Coryanna responded. She turned to face the deep blue eyes of Princess Kalasin. A heavy midnight braid hung over the princess' thin shoulder. She wore britches and a soft cotton shirt that matched her eyes. Coryanna curtsied in shock.

"Your Highness, I-"

"Oh, Kali, you shouldn't frighten people so early in the morning," said a new voice with a laugh. Coryanna saw a short girl with strawberry blond hair and hazel eyes peering at her. Coryanna blinked, she didn't know this girl, although she had seen her with Kalasin many times before.

"I'm not startled," Coryanna said quickly, "I'm sorry, I can go."

"Oh," Kalasin said, "don't let us chase you away."

"Your Highness," Coryanna said, regaining her polished manners, "it is no trouble at all. I have done all I needed to." Berry tossed her head restlessly.

"Would you like to come riding with us?" Kalasin asked. "Roald and Thom are saddling their mounts now. And it's such a wonderful morning for a ride."

"I'd- I'd-," Coryanna stuttered, Berry butted her shoulder lightly and the red headed girl giggled, Coryanna smiled and said, "Berry would love it, as would I, your Highness." It would be poor manners to deny the princess wouldn't it?

"We have a condition," the other girl said seriously, steeping forward with an extended hand, "if you call her 'Highness' and 'Princess' the whole time I'll get annoyed. She prefers Kali. I'm Ali."

Coryanna's eyes widened at calling the princess by her nickname. She glanced at Kalasin with shock, the princess looked amused.

"You're the only one to scare anyone, Ali," Kali told her. Ali stuck her tongue out at her while she firmly shook Coryanna's sagging hand. "Your name is Coryanna, right?"

"Yes," she replied with a smile.

"There you are," said another voice, smoky brown curls covered the head of a pretty young woman that smiled carefully at the girls. "The boys are saddled up and waiting. And I fixed Star's ankle for you Ali."

"Thanks, Aunt Daine," Ali said.

"Of course."

"Aunt Daine, this is Coryanna, she's riding with us today," Kali said with a smile.

"A pleasure to meet you," Coryanna said.

Daine extended a hand, which Coryanna took more firmly than she had before. "Good to meet you, too." Blue-grey eyes pierced through her, Daine smiled cautiously, Coryanna returned the smile. "Enjoy the ride."

"We will," Ali said with a smirk. "Saddle up, I'll meet you two outside, shall I?"

Coryanna saddled up quickly, not wanting to keep them waiting, but then hurried over a double check of her tack. How embarrassing would it be to fall off her horse due to her tack?

Her speed resulted in finishing first and meeting the men outside, she paused nervously, but continued as she spied Daine chatting with the three of them. Daine and Coryanna shared a smiled.

"Roald, Alan, Thom, this is Coryanna, Ali and Kali invited her along,"

"We needed to even the numbers," Ali called from the stable, leading her mount with KalI behind her. "There were far too many men about."

The boys gave greetings as Coryanna curtsied, and blushed at the informal introduction she was just given. The girls mounted up and Coryanna followed suit, thanking the Gods that she had decided on wearing riding skirts today. Her companions all wore breeches which she eyed with envy.

They road off on the path into the forest, and Coryanna studied the others. Roald and Kali she knew, of course, were the blue eyed and black haired children of King Jonathan and Queen Thayet. She knew Roald had recently won his shield. Coryanna could remember very little about Kali, except that it was rumored that she was to marry the Emperor of Carthak in the fall.

The other three looked related although she wasn't positive about that, they all shared the same hazel eyes. The two youngest were twins, Ali and Alan, they shared the same round faces and the same strawberry blonde hair. The older red head was Thom, the name rang in her mind slightly, was he the oldest son of the Lioness?

Coryanna forced herself to stop thinking and started listening to the conversation, someone, possibly Roald, had asked Alan how his training was going.

"Put it this way," Alan replied, "I'm glad to be off for the summer."

"We all are," Thom added with a smirk.

"Don't tell me your bored, Master Mage?" Ali asked.

"Never," Thom said, "But it's nice to a landscape again. Not to mention you guys, my annoying little sister, I could take or leave."

Ali stuck her tongue out at her oldest brother and urged her horse forward, closing the gap between herself and Kali. Coryanna laughed lightly and Thom slowed his mount to pace her, asking, "Do you have troublesome siblings, Coryanna?"

"Two of them," Coryanna replied, happy to find her voice bright and colored with amusement.

Thom grinned. "More trouble than their worth."

Alan glanced back at his brother and called, "A pain through my heart, brother, dear!"

"Maybe I should clarify, troublesome sisters. I have no quarrel with my brother who should have been a Player."

"I have a problem with the two of you," Ali complained. "Maybe its brothers that are no good. What do you think, Kali?"

"That might be true," Kali said, with a small smile to her brother.

"I think it is brothers," Roald said quietly, "we are a rather noisy lot."

"Traitor," Thom teased. The lot of them laughed gayly.

Coryanna sighed in contentment, it was pleasant to relax her guard for a change. She kept her emotions, her facial expressions and everything in check. But today the sun warmed her skin, laughter filled her ears and her courtly persona slid down.

There was a sudden break in the smooth conversation. Kali asked Ali a question that she didn't respond to. She stopped her mount, the rest of the company a few beats behind.

"What is it?" Alan breathed.

"I'm not sure," Ali murmured. "Get ready."

"For what?" Coryanna asked, frightened, her feelings in complete disarray. In response to her tone Kali and Thom positioned themselves around her protectively. Alan and Roald drew swords, Ali pulled a knife from her belt.

"Spidrens," Roald hissed pointing out some thick webbing, partially hidden behind large, velvety leaves. Chills ran up Coryanna's spine. She had met with spidrens before. It had not ended well.

Coryanna was perceiving the deepness of the forest now, the sky could have been dark behind the expanse of trees, a preternatural glow was all that her eyes could see with. The horses sensed the danger and shuffled nervously. A noise that could have been the wind in the trees made the group turn. Coryanna saw a large furred body plunge from a tree on top of the prince. A mix between a gasp and a scream escaped her lips. Roald fell from his horse.

A dozen more furred bodies appeared from the trees. Coryanna saw the distorted faces that gnashed their teeth menacingly at the heels of the humans and horses. Fierce delight apparent on their gruesome faces.

Kali raced to her brothers' side. The limp body of a spidren rested a few feet from the prince, but Roald clutched his arm where a large gash had formed, soaking his shirt with blood. Ali was fighting with the grace of a cat, keeping any of the immortals away from the two of them. Alan watched her back. Watching them was like watching an intricate dance, equal and opposite, as if they could read each others minds.

Thom guarded her from attack as well as he could, throwing complex magic nets that strangled the monsters that nipped at their feet. Somehow Coryanna had managed to stay on her horse, like Thom, the rest of the party wrestled on the ground, outnumbered and trapped. The contessa froze as a yelp of pain broke into her consciousness.

Ali was down, and Alan was overwhelmed by the swarm. One of the monsters had gotten face to face with Kalasin while she attempted to heal her brother, Roald moved in front of her, shielding her with his bad arm, and raising his sword with a grimace. Thom was focused on his siblings, who were also drowning in the furred bodies.

Fear burst from Coryanna's chest, a fear that was more than fear, something that had not happened to Coryanna in nearly ten years. A sound like the crack of a whip echoed across the trees and bodies. The contessa's eyes swam in darkness and she swayed in her saddle, listening to the roaring in her head. She fought, and slowly she regained her sight. There was silence for a long moment, the spidrens had all convulsed and collapsed to the sodden ground.