"La météo aujourd'hui est très agréable." My French tutor said
"Monsieur, il a plu toute la journée. La météo a été horrible." I responded grumpily
"La pluie apporte, fleurs apportent du printemps et au printemps apporte la vie nouvelle, Caroline."
Ughh, I was so tired of going over conversational French and discussing the weather, which had been abysmal all morning, and the coming flowers. And after French I still had two hours of mathematics to endure. Why had I been looking forward to getting back to these? My back ached from the straight line I had kept my spine in for the last two hours, away from the back of the comfortable padded chair. I looked at the clock and quickly informed my tutor Monsieur Goullete that the lesson was at an end for the day, in perfect French I might add.
As he was collecting his materials I rose from my chair and made my way over to the door. I called for a footman to see the Monsieur comfortably to the door and into his waiting carriage. A quick nod to me and he was finally gone. I chose a more comfortable seat next to the fire and slumped into it, pulling my feet under my lap and reaching under the cushion to retrieve the book I had hidden away. I quickly found my page and immersed myself in the culture of the Asian people, getting lost in the beautiful descriptions until it came time, a quarter of an hour later, for my mathematical figures lesson to begin.
I had been sitting in wait for over ten minutes when there was a knock on the library door.
"Come in" I called. Elijah's face came into view as he swung the door open.
"Good morning Mistress Forbes," he began, "Your father sent me to inform you that your mathematics instructor will not be coming today"
"Oh," I responded. It was quite odd for him to cancel a lesson. "I do hope all is well with him, he has never canceled a lesson before" I looked at Elijah questioningly.
"Miss Forbes, your father gave me the impression that he will not be returning" Elijah said a bit uncomfortably, still in the doorway.
"What do you mean? He has given me up as a student?" I asked, distressed.
"I do believe this was your parent's decision" Elijah supplied with a murmur.
And then it all made sense. What man would want a wife that was better at finances and budgets than he was? What man would want a woman more classically learned than him? My face reddened in anger as I stood from the table and stalked out of the room past Elijah. I could sense him following me.
"Wherever you are planning on going it is probably not a good idea" he said quietly from right behind me
"I need to get out of this stifling house!" I huffed angrily. He remained silent and simply continued following me. I stomped my way through the front door and across the lawns all the way to the stables. Upon entering I was immediately calmed by the smell of fresh hay and horses. I walked over to my beautiful beige Mare, Hope. All I needed was to feel her powerful muscles under my hands, to hear her powerful breath, to be reminded of true beauty and power. This strong animal could easily throw me off of her and make her way to freedom, but she stayed, out of love and loyalty. I picked up a nearby brush and began the slowly brush all along her sides and her neck and backside while she happily ate hay. I could still sense Elijah behind, but was not quite sure what he was about.
I turned my head to the side to see that he was copying my movements, except with a beautiful new dark brown horse. I couldn't help but exclaim at the sight of him.
"He is a beautiful horse. Australian right?" I asked curiously
"Yes. She is. You have a good eye for breeds" he looked approvingly at me
"A neighboring family used to breed them. But none I have seen are as beautiful as yours. Was she wild when you found her?"
"Yes. My brother Kol found her three winters ago and gifted her to me that next Spring."
"What is her name?"
"Do you promise not to laugh at me Miss Forbes?" Elijah asked seriously, but with a hint of a smile around his lips
"Of course, Mr. Mikaelson" I answered equally as serious
"Her name is Finn…" he said dramatically as he grandly gestured in her direction. And then as if anticipating my laugher and scorn, he turned and resumed brushing her.
"Of course it is. A horse as wild and untamed as yours could not possibly be happy with a conventional female name. A male name was the obvious choice." I answered in my most serious voice, but turned so he could not see the amused smile on my face. And that was when I heard the most beautiful sounding the world, Elijah's laugh. It was a sound that would cause all around him to pause work and observe; to be a part of this laughter was to be happiness itself, and it stole my breath.
I turned to face him fully with a bright smile of return on my face. He was also facing me. He started walking toward me from the stall he was at, and put his brush down as he passed a table. I felt as though I was frozen to the spot as he came step by step closer. When he was standing right in front of me, he raised his hand as if to brush it along my cheek, but at the last moment thought better of it and returned it to his side.
"Would you like to go riding?" he simply asked
"You know I cannot" I answered grumpily
"If the horsemaster could be persuaded to look the other way, would you want to go riding?" he repeated
"Yes" I said longingly
"Then saddle your horse" he said with a smile, he turned and walked out of the stables in search of a groom. I happily set to work, and within minutes Hope was fully saddled and ready to ride.
I grabbed an extra pair of riding gloves hanging from a hook in one of the stalls and mounted my horse. Just then Elijah returned.
"Did you think to leave without me?" he asked incredulously
"Oh," I said surprised, "I did not think you wanted to join me"
"Will you have me?"
"Of course" I answered, in that breathless manner that was becoming habit around him. He smirked in response and saddled his horse with inhuman speed and then mounted. He then turned to look at me and fully observed me for the first time.
"Would you not like to return to the house and get a traveling vest Miss Forbes?" he asked politely as the horses walked out of the stable side by side.
"I really wish people would stop treating me like a porcelain doll" I muttered and kicked my heels to get Hope into a gallop and we sped past Elijah and Finn. After a slight pause I could hear Elijah's laugh in the distance again and then a shout of a command and knew they were after us. I kicked my heels again and uttered a command to Hope to get her to speed up to put more distance between us in this race of ours. I knew that Hope and I could not possibly win, but it was exhilarating to compete against someone who I knew would not let me win. And I was right. Before too long Elijah was level with me and Hope, the wind ripping through his white undershirt and open jacket, his brown hair flying behind him.
"What are the rules?" he yelled over the wind with a laugh
"There are no rules!" I yelled back, facing him with an excited smile of my own, before nudging Hope into her last burst of speed and then Elijah was behind me again.
There was an ancient oak tree on the edge of the estate, bordering the forest, it was the largest and most beautiful tree in the area, and that was my destination. And just when we were about 100 meters from it a brown blur sped right past us. My mouth dropped in astonishment as I recognized Finn and Elijah. He must have known the destination from the obvious direction of our path and was at the tree long before Hope and me. When we finally reached him we were both out of breathe from the exhilaration of the race, although it had really been no contest, and laughing like fools.
"Very well, Mr. Mikaelson, you and Finn won fairly. What will be your prize?" I asked, still out of breath from the ride and then from sharing a laugh with Elijah afterward.
"Hmm…" he paused, "Will you allow me to inform you of my desired prize at a later date? At present I cannot think of anything worthy enough for such a valiant effort" he said with a smirk
"Very well, but just know there is a time limit to collect" I answered cheekily. And he just continued to smirk at me. But gradually that smirk changed into a look I could not identify. It was a look that seared through me. I once again became very conscious of how I must look. Blonde curls a tangled mess, pale cheeks splotched with color, and eyes too wide with excitement. I wanted to look away, almost as much as I wanted to continue to gaze back into his beautiful brown eyes, but the choice was taken from me when Hope suddenly got spooked and reared up, almost throwing me off. She then landed her front legs back on the ground and took off into the forest.
She was flying over branches and around trees and branches before I even knew what had happened. Stray twigs and branches scraped past my cheeks and chest, and tugged at the sleeve of my gown, and mud from the morning rains was kicking up all around us. I hung on tightly to the reins and clenched my thighs in an effort to keep my seat. I could hear the crunching of twigs behind us and knew Elijah must be following. I could hear his voice calling out for me and for Hope. I too was trying to speak to Hope over the frightened thundering in my ears. Nothing seemed to calm her. And as we wound our way past more and more trees I could see a stream ahead of us. I had never jumped something that wide with Hope before and was suddenly terrified that she wouldn't be able to make the jump and would be injured trying. But as we got closer to the water I knew I was about to find out. I locked my muscles in anticipation and issued a rider command that Hope would recognize. Her ears turned back to catch my words and I could feel her back muscles clench in preparation of the jump. And then we were soaring.
I closed my eyes for a second in prayer and by the time I had opened them we were safely on the other side. I laughed in triumph and Hope started to slow. I think my rider command and my relieved laugh was enough to snap her out of her fear. We eventually came to a stop and I was able to breathe more deeply as the world settled. I slid down from the saddle to examine Hope, my legs weak from the adrenaline. She had only sustained two scratches though our wild ride and I was extremely relieved. I knew my hair had to be even more of a mess now, and the right shoulder of my gown had a slight rip in it, but I happily noted that it would be one easily fixed.
I then heard galloping and shouting a bit of a distance through the trees. I called back and then Elijah and Finn appeared. Elijah immediately dismounted and stepped purposely toward me and caught me up in an embrace that made me truly breathless. Breathless because no air could enter my lungs with the strength of his arms.
"Elijah I am unharmed" I manage to croak out after a moment. His grip loosened and he held me at arm's length to examine me. His eyes took in my wild hair and torn shoulder and then his eyes settled on my face. His right hand moved from my shoulder to my face for his thumb to graze my cheekbone. I thought it a loving gesture until his thumb came away with blood. His gaze was focused on his thumb and again I had the strangest impression of Elijah's brown eyes darkening to almost black along with the skin around them. I opened my mouth in surprise but then he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, by brown orbs were back into place.
"Is it that bad?" I whispered
"No, just a scratch on your right temple and slightly deeper one on your left cheek" he answered just as quietly. He still had not released me. One hand was still encircling my arm and the other was back on my cheek. His warm hands were heaven on my shaking body. I was not sure why my body was shaking, it was not a particularly cold morning. And looking into Elijah's eyes while having his hands on me again was definitely warming my blood up. Especially when his head tilted slightly toward mine. His forehead came to rest against mine, and our eyes never broke contact. I knew what was coming and I had never been more thrilled in my entire life. I tilted my head closer to his and closed my eyes…
"Mistress Forbes!? Mistress Forbes? Mr. Mikaelson?" I could hear voices calling for us. My eyes opened when the pressure on my arm and cheek disappeared, and the smell of his musky cologne was gone. When my eyes opened, he was standing an appropriate distance away, as if we had been engaging in a pleasant conversation and had not been about to kiss.
"Oh Mistress Forbes! I had quite the fright when I saw your horse take off into the forest, I did!" the horsemaster said when he entered the clearing that me and Elijah were standing in. "I was glad when Mr. Mikaelson followed right after you." He finished, smiling at Elijah. The horsemaster, Peters, was accompanied by two of my father guards, who had apparently been within shouting distance of the stables when the incident occurred.
"Oh I am quite unharmed Peters, but thank you" I assured him with a smile
"But Mistress, your bleeding" he observed worriedly
"Just a few scratches" I laughed. And even to me that laugh sounded forced and shaky. Without Elijah's warmth to ground me, my shaking had gotten worse. I looked to Elijah for help.
"Miss Forbes needs to return to the castle. She has had a terrible fright and needs rest" he commanded with all of the authority of the son of a Lord.
"Of course sir" Peters responded. Elijah stepped closer to me and put his hands around my waist.
"Allow me to assist you" he murmured quietly in my ear. And before I could fully enjoy the sensation his hands were gone and I was once again in a saddle. But this time I was sitting atop Finn.
"I will ride with her while one of you takes Hopes reigns. She was startled by a snake that emerged from the trees while we were resting on the edge of the forest"
"Yes sir" one of the guards answered. Elijah then mounted Finn behind me and reached around me for the reigns and settled his hands near my waist while his chest pressed against my back.
The horsemaster led the way through the forest and back to the estate. I realized how far into the forest we had truly traveled when after several minutes, there was no break in the trees in sight. Slowly I leaned into Elijah as my trembling subsided. He put one arm slightly around my waist, offering his comfort, while he held the reins with the other hand.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he breathed against my right ear, sending tingles down my spine and causing my stomach to clench
"Yes" I whispered back. I had never been better.
We eventually made it back to the estate and then back to the stables where Elijah dismounted. And for the last time that day he put his hands around my waist and slowly lifted me from the horse. I put my arms on his shoulders to steady myself. He lowered me to the ground slowly so that at one point the length of my body was pressed against his, and then our faces were again inches apart. And then my feet were back on the ground, but Elijah did not remove his hands from my waist and I did not remove mine from his shoulders. We stood like that for a moment while the men bustled around us. Elijah seemed to remember himself and cleared his throat as he removed his hands from me.
"I am glad you are unharmed Madame" he said politely. And a bit distant. I was shocked, and a bit confused, at this return to formality after our experience in the woods. But I followed his lead after shooting a confused look at him.
"Thank you My Lord, I am grateful for your assistance" I returned stiffly
"Perhaps your Lady Mother was right to put a temporary ban on riding" he said without looking at me.
"Perhaps strangers should stay out of family matters" I retorted angrily and then I walked away. I was confused and angry at his cold dismissal, and could not get out of that stable, and away from him, fast enough.
Fast enough that I did not see him staring after me, watching me until I walked through the front door of the estate and out of his view.
