Chapter 3: Midnight Rides
Lit torches cast a soft flickering glow on the practice courts. The winter's first snow had fallen earlier that week, leaving a frosty, moonlit shimmer on grass blades and windowsills. The serenity of the scene would have been perfect had it not been for the steady, pounding rhythm of staffs hitting against one another. The thunking of the wood echoed in the stillness and was backed by four voices, breathing heavily.
"Let's take a break."
The other voices murmured in agreement. For a moment, all noise ceased and silence permeated the crisp night air. Three pages and a princess passed around a canteen of water, pausing to catch their breath.
"I'm tired of all this," said Bryn at last, now breathing normally. "Everyday it's the same routine, classes and lessons one after the other, and then we just continue the same torture at night. Let's do something different for once."
Payton took a long draught from the canteen before passing it to Lianne. "And just what is it that you suggest?"
"An adventure."
Four heads turned to stare at Aideen, waiting for her to expound on this idea. "What kind of adventure could we possibly have in the middle of the night without waking the entire palace up?" prodded Lianne.
"Who said it had to be in the palace?" The attention turned once more to Bryn. He continued, "If we just went for a little ride nobody would even notice we've gone. We can jump the fence in the back pasture to get around the guards. It's a foolproof plan."
"Then it's settled," concluded Lianne decisively, all too ready to leave the palace. Under a moonlit sky, four friends put away their staffs and walked through shallow snow toward the stable.
In the darkness Lianne fumbled to tighten the buckles of her mare's saddle. Naryl had a dark, cloudy grey coat that appeared almost black in the shadows of the stable. Lianne finished quickly and led her horse out into the moonlight where she was soon joined by her friends. The mounted in silence – the stables were situated very near the palace, and too much noise would certainly wake its occupants.
The four nudged their horses into a trot as they got further from the palace, being led by Bryn to the back fence. His mount, a brown stallion named Kall was normally just as much of a trouble maker as Bryn; Lianne thanked the Goddess that both were quiet for the moment so their escape would go unnoticed. As the group drew nearer to the back fence, the horses were pushed into a rolling canter. One at a time they each cleared the fence. When Lianne's turn came, Naryl sailed easily over the top, landing lightly on the other side. Lianne became giddier with her new found freedom with every step that took her away from the palace. No more was she caged as royalty. Riding off into the woods with her friends, she was free to be a normal eleven year old girl.
The friends slowed their mounts up to a walk. "I knew we could pull it off!" exclaimed Bryn, his excitement building. "Where shall we go now, my fearless escapees?" Almost immediately he and Aideen launched into conversation, planning further escapades.
Lianne started to join in, but stopped as she noticed Payton falling behind, staring off into the forest with distant eyes. She too, slowed, bringing Naryl to walk beside him.
"It sure is beautiful out here." She looked around at the scenery. The pale moon glow bathed the trees in blue light. The horses made crunching noises while they walked, leaving hoof prints on frozen sparkling leaves.
She turned to him with concern. "What's wrong?"
Payton avoided her eyes, turning to look in the opposite direction. When Lianne did not leave, he finally spoke, softly at first. "What's the use of this? Sure we're having fun now, having great adventures, but we are putting our training in jeopardy. Bryn may talk big about his family being able to rescue him from trouble, but a few politics won't stop Sir Arnoc for long. If we keep this up we'll all be kicked out of the palace for good."
"Except me," said Lianne bluntly. "I'm a princess. I can't be a page and Mithros forbid I try to fight."
"You can't blame us for that," said Payton, his voice growing steadily louder. "And now you don't have anything to lose, right? It doesn't matter to you if you get your friends in trouble as long as you are having fun. You're never the one that gets loaded with punishment work and you won't be sent home in dishonor if we're caught sneaking out! Is this all some game for you, playing with our futures?"
Lianne brought Naryl to a halt, appalled by what she had just heard. Payton was always the honest one, but she had never expected this. "That's not what I'm doing at all," she protested weakly, blinking to fight back a sudden onslaught of tears. "You guys are my best friends – I would never try to hurt you. This ride wasn't even my idea!"
Payton kept his horse moving, looking back over his shoulder at his friend. "But you could have stopped it."
This was all too much for Lianne. She turned Naryl to the right, tiking off at a gallop deeper into the forest, tears streaming down her face.
When Lianne finally slowed Naryl back to a walk, she had lost her bearings completely. Not that it mattered, she thought vehemently. Her friends didn't really care about her anyway. It hadn't been her idea to go riding in the forest. In fact, few of the groups' many small rebellions had been her idea. Bryn was the true mastermind; if Payton wanted someone to rant at it should have been him!
But she had requested that the pages teach her how to fight. The four of them would not have even been outside that night if it hadn't been for her. Why did Payton put all the responsibility on her? That was the way it always happened – everything was always her fault. She wasn't the perfect princess or the perfect daughter or the perfect friend. She was never good enough for anyone.
Lianne was so caught up in her troubles that she failed to hear the rustling of bushes to her left. Naryl obviously sensed some danger for her eyes shifted from side to side and her ears twitched uncontrollably. Without warning she reared, swiping the air in front of her with her forelegs. Lianne was caught off guard and fell backwards, landing hard in the frosted leaves. When she pulled herself to her feet Naryl was gone and she was face to face with a sneering spidren.