Chapter Five: The Ride
Fiona wasn't exactly sure how they did it, but ten minutes after her final refusal, she found herself seated on top of a horse. A rather tall horse. King Jarrod's horse, in fact.
"He is as calm as a spring morning," Jarrod said, stroking the nose of the large tan horse.
"Why is he named Thunderbolt then?" Fiona asked, trying to stop her voice from shaking. Her hands were gripped in the reins so tight that her knuckles were white.
Jarrod gave her his broken smile. "My brother named him."
"Oh," Fiona said, itching with curiosity, but not wishing to push the matter.
"Oh, Fiona," Nia chirped from on top her own horse. "You'll see. Riding a horse is thoroughly exhilarating."
"If I don't die," Fiona mumbled under her breath. It was an awful long way to the ground.
"Nonsense," Jarrod said, soothing her as much as the horse. "I will personally vouch for Thunderbolt."
Visions of Thunderbolt reaching his head around and biting off her foot played in Fiona's mind. He was a stallion, wasn't he?
All Thunderbolt was really doing was flicking his lips at some hay.
Jarrod mounted another horse, a dappled grey stallion named Cloud.
"Why couldn't I ride a horse with a nice name like Cloud?" Fiona muttered to herself. "I get 'Thunderbolt.'"
"Because Thunderbolt is actually a little smaller than Cloud," Jarrod explained, his hearing obviously superb, "and a little older, making him calmer."
Fiona resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him.
"Let's go!" Nia exclaimed impatiently.
Fiona took a deep breath. She could do this. The horse wasn't that big. And all her sisters rode quite regularly without injury.
"Okay," she said.
She made a clicking noise at her horse, kicking at its flank with one of her feet. Thunderbolt started forward obediently.
They rode their horses through a small meadow and into the forest on the east side of the castle.
"I love coming in here," Nia said to no one in particular. "It's so calm and peaceful and – Fiona if you post, it'll be easier on your rump."
"If I had any idea what posting might be," Fiona replied through gritted teeth, "then I might follow up with your suggestion." She shifted in her saddle. Fiona felt as if her posterior had been attached to some large torture device.
"Perhaps we can take a break," Jarrod suggested.
"I know the perfect place," Nia said. "Follow me."
They arrived in a small clearing. Jarrod hopped off his horse and came to help Fiona slid down hers. Fiona stumbled, but luckily Jarrod was there to catch her.
The first thing that ran through her mind was that the king smelt really good. Then she realized she was smelling the king.
"Thank you, your majesty," she said, stepping away from him. She really wanted to massage the ache out of her rump, but she wasn't about to do that with an audience.
Nia gathered the horses and led them over to a small patch of greenery. Fiona wandered over to a little stream on the other side of the clearing from the horses.
"Hey, Nia, look!" she called. She pointed to the remains of a small campfire.
"Do you think it belongs to the bandits?" Jarrod asked, intrigued. If they lived in the forest, they might not be some of the villagers after all.
"I don't know," Fiona said dubiously.
"I wonder what they are planning," Jarrod mused, looking around as if a bandit might pop out of the trees at any given moment.
"Probably a midnight raid," Nia conspired.
"Probably an elaborate scheme to steal all the sheep," Jarrod said. Nia laughed.
"Probably nothing," Fiona said slightly irritably, bending down at the water's edge to splash some on her face. She pinned the two errant locks behind her ears again.
"I think I am fully recovered from this morning's ride," she announced, straightening.
Nia giggled. "Technically, it still is this morning's ride."
"Yes, well…" Fiona said. She realized this was less than articulate, but she felt she needed to say something.
"Would you like assistance to mount your ride?" Jarrod offered. She gave him a bit of a glare.
"I think I can manage on my own, your majesty," she said, a hint of frost in her voice.
She sighed as she approached Thunderbolt. Why was she suddenly so irritated with the both of them? It was most likely because she realized what a great couple they would make.
If only her sister wasn't so… everything! Beautiful, interesting, with a cute laugh, and a captivating personality. Fiona might as well give up the ghost right now and join a nunnery.
She had just swung her leg up onto Thunderbolt when he immediately started bucking.
"Ahh!" Fiona screamed as she clutched two handfuls of mane for dear life.
"Lady Fiona!" Jarrod exclaimed.
"Fiona!" Nia said at the same time.
Fiona's grip on Thunderbolt's mane was slipping. A final buck from the horse and she felt herself fly through the air to be caught by a pair of masculine arms.
"Fiona, are you okay?" Jarrod asked. In the back of her mind, she noticed that he had dropped the formality.
"Maybe," she answered in a shaky voice. She pretended the tremor in her voice was from her mishap.
"I think I need to sit down," she said, not quite sure if her legs would hold her.
"Of course," Jarrod agreed, setting her down on a flat rock.
"Oh, Fiona!" Nia cried, embracing her sister tightly. "I was so scared! I felt so rooted to the spot when you were flying through the air. It was a good thing that his majesty was there to catch you."
Jarrod walked over to Thunderbolt, calmer now. His eyes were still a little wild, so he held up his hand and made soothing noises. He examined his horse all over, looking for something that would have irritated Thunderbolt enough to buck.
He was irrationally angry. If he hadn't been there to catch Fiona, she could have broken a bone… or worse.
"Nia," Fiona said to the girl hugged around her, "I might need some air."
"You must not be that injured, if you can still be sarcastic with me," Nia replied, wiping the tears from her eyes with the tips of her gloves.
"No, I'm – What is it, your majesty?" Fiona asked, noticing Jarrod's dark expression.
"This," he said, holding up a shiny metal pin. "It was underneath his saddle. It didn't bother him when there was no weight, but as soon as you sat down, the pin jabbed into his back."
"But why would anyone want to hurt Fiona?" Nia asked.
Fiona and Jarrod shared a look. "It's not me that they were trying to injure," Fiona told her sister slowly, "it was him."
"I believe you are right," Jarrod agreed. "They know which horse is mine, and assumed I was riding it."
"But when did they put in the pin?" Nia asked. "Fiona had no problems coming here."
"Probably while we were inspecting the fire," Jarrod explained. "Those bandits have some explaining to do."
Fiona and Nia looked at each other. "I don't think this is the work of the bandits," Fiona said.
Nia nodded her head. "They don't kill people," she added.
"How do you know?" Jarrod asked, surprised at their defence of the robbers.
"We don't," Fiona explained, "but they have never killed anyone before and they've had plenty opportunities."
Jarrod wasn't sure, but he thought she sounded almost proud. "Do you actually support what these bandits are doing?" Jarrod asked in shock.
Fiona stood up at her tallest, which was about his nose, and looked him in the eye. "Of course not," she scoffed, "I don't condone robbery. But I can't help but admire the bandits. They have yet to get caught."
"Besides," Nia added, "if Uncle Edward didn't tax the poor village almost into starvation, these bandits most likely wouldn't even be here."
"The Earl has placed high taxes on the population?" Jarrod asked, intrigued by this new turn in the case.
"You saw the buildings," Fiona said indignantly. "These bandits' stolen money is the only thing that's keeping some of these people on their feet. I'd give them money out of my own pocket, if I knew that Uncle Edward wouldn't just tax all of it back to him."
"Hmm," Jarrod said noncommittally. "We should get back to the castle."
"You two can take the horses. I will walk," Fiona said firmly. "Or, if you feel obligated, you can have a carriage sent out for me."
"But Fiona," Nia protested, looking pointedly at Jarrod, then at Fiona.
Fiona remembered what Annabelle had said. "Oh, botheration!" she swore irritably. She was really not looking forward to getting back on the horse.
"We can walk back together," Jarrod said.
Fiona shot him a grateful look. "We better get going then," she said brusquely. "Even if we leave now, we'll still have missed the noon meal."