The stable hand approached them, leading a large grey gelding harnessed to a camion on wooden skids. Taryn walked around the contraption, shaking her head. “You’re going to race in this?”
“Of course.”
“You’re braver than I thought.” She kicked one of the skids. “It’s a freaking chariot on skis. This is suicide.”
“If I’m not mistaken, it was you who said I should compete in the games,” Hayden protested.
“Yes, in an event that wouldn’t end in your death. How fast can you go in this?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you let me show you?” He held his hand out to her and beckoned her get in the chariot.
“You’re kidding, right?” She backed away.
“Don’t tell me there is something that frightens the all-powerful Eirielle? I never thought I’d see the day,” Hayden teased.
“I’m not afraid of riding in it. I just like my body parts better when they’re attached to the rest of me.”
“Suit yourself, but I’m going to take a twirl around the track to get a feel for the ground. Nothing fast, mind you.” Hayden climbed into the camion and flicked the reins.
The grey started off at a gentle trot and he smiled to Taryn and waved as he rode off. The wind in his face exhilarated him. The gelding begged to step up the pace, but he held back. After one circuit of the track, he returned to where Taryn stood watching him intently. “You see? Nothing so nefarious as bodily injury here.”
Taryn bit her lip. Indecision and excitement roiled in the depths of her blue eyes. “Well, it did look a little fun. Why not?” She stepped in beside him and he snapped the reins.
The grey took off at a trot but soon sped up to a full gallop. Taryn held the side of the chariot with a vise-like grip. Hayden laughed and flicked the reins once more. The grey leapt ahead even faster. Taryn screamed at Hayden to slow down, but his laughter drowned out her cries.
They rounded a turn and Taryn braced herself against Hayden, offsetting his balance. He shifted his weight to counter her.
“You’re going to kill us, you bloody idiot! You’re going too fast. We’ll fall.”
The aforementioned fall never came. Instead, they took the turn with Hayden leaning his body out of the camion and swinging them farther into the curve. Again and again, he did this until on the final turn Taryn leaned with him. They were beginning to rise up when one of the skids hit a rock, throwing Taryn against the side of the chariot. She grunted out a curse and held her midsection.
Hayden pulled in the grey. “Are you hurt? Blood and ashes, I’m sorry.”
“I’m fine, you dolt. Let’s do that again!” Taryn took the reins and snapped them. Immediately the gelding lunged forward and they raced around the track with Taryn keeping a firm hold on the reins. Her face shone with excitement and when they pulled into the stable, she didn’t stop grinning. “That was awesome.”
Hayden took the reins from her and handed them to the stable boy. “You should enter in the race today.” A flush warmed his cheeks. He hadn’t expected Taryn to enjoy it so much but was glad she did.
Taryn shook her head. “Mother would never allow it. If she knew I was here with you now…” She shuddered. “Let’s not think about what she’d say.”
Hayden held her hand as they walked along the row of Ullan beasts. Her power encircled his wrist, and he looked at her in surprise. “Are you doing that?” Her ShantiMari warmed his skin, with a reassuring protectiveness.
A sly grin quirked up her lips. “Doing what?”
“You’re infuriating, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told. I do like these horses.” She smoothly changed the subject, her power still wrapped around their hands. “Not that I don’t appreciate Ashanni, but she’s getting old and I worry about all the hard riding we do.” Taryn looked over her shoulder at the old mare as if worried she’d heard. “She’s a good horse, though.”
“You should ask Lliandra if you can have one of these. She’ll be taking them all back to Talaith at the end of our stay here.”
Taryn’s face lit up. “Do you think she’d let me?”
“If she doesn’t, you can go to Ulla and get one of your own.”
“I could, couldn’t I?” she said in a mysterious voice.
“Oh, no. What monster have I created now?” Hayden laughed. “If you do decide to visit the desert, you must take me with you.”
“It’s a deal.” She hugged him fiercely and her body trembled against him. Whether from the race or the thought of owning one of the Ullan horses, he wasn’t sure. For the merest of moments, her ShantiMari embraced them fully and he experienced the enormity of her powers.
Eyes wide, he shuddered. To have that much power contained within one body was terrifying to comprehend. “I wish I could help,” he murmured against her ear.
“You do, my sweet cousin. In more ways than you’ll ever know.” She pulled back and nudged his ribs. “So, Rhoane tells me you found a spy in Talaith. Now who’s keeping secrets?”
Cold filled the space where her power had been and he longed for the warmth of her ShantiMari.
“I meant to tell you, but you’re never alone.” Two figures approached and Hayden bit back the words he was about to say. “And now I suppose it will have to wait further. Who is that man with Baehlon?”
Taryn glanced past the stables and squinted into the sunlight. “His brother, Denzil.”
“Brother?” Hayden searched his memory for any mention of the man, drawing a blank. Baehlon’s family was not one he’d researched thoroughly—a fact he would soon rectify. He prided himself on knowing every House in Aelinae. “They don’t look to be getting along.”
“He’s a mercenary and that pisses off Baehlon.”
“I think I saw him once before.” Hayden thought back to the day he met Amanda at the docks. “He was following me. Amanda, the spy you just mentioned, warned me that he was working for your mother.”
Taryn squinted again, her face moving forward several inches as if that small distance would bring clarity. “If he’s one of the mercenaries she hired to patrol the docks, what’s he doing here?”
“Competing in the games?”
“Besides that. Mother wouldn’t let him leave Talaith unless she had a good reason.”
Hidden by the shadows of the stables, they observed the two men for several minutes. Baehlon’s hands gesticulated wildly while Denzil remained calm.
“You should get to know him better,” Hayden suggested to Taryn.
She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“I’m serious. He’s Baehlon’s brother; Baehlon is sworn to your House. He has to at least acknowledge you as the daughter of his empress.”
“He’s Danuri and Geigan. His loyalty should be to my father, not mother.”
“All the better. You can worm out of him why he’s working for the enemy, so to speak. But wait.” Hayden realized a flaw in his thinking. “If Baehlon is also Danuri and Geigan, why is he honor bound to you?”
She ruffled his hair. “For being so smart, you can be such an imbecile.”
“What?” He had no idea what she meant.
Trumpets signaled the call of riders to the race. “That’s you.” Taryn touched his cheek with her fingertips, trailing them along his jaw. “Be safe out there. If anything happens, I can’t use my power.”
“Don’t you dare. I’ll win this race of my own accord, thank you very much.”
Taryn surveyed him with an impish smile. “All for a kiss from the empress.” Dreamy laughter trailed after her as she drifted away to join the others in the royal box.
Sabina leaned close to speak with her and and Taryn pointed to where Hayden stood. She waved and Hayden raised his hand in greeting. A slight shake to his fingers gave away his nerves. Fortunately, the women were too far away to notice.
The riders lined up to take the reins of their horse and Hayden was relieved to see he was given a sturdy black stallion. The horses were drawn a
t random by the stable master and Hayden had secretly been hoping to receive either this stallion or the one Taryn had admired.
They took their places at the starting line and Hayden breathed in calm as Taryn had taught him to do. The other riders fidgeted and stomped the floor of their camions, but Hayden ignored them.
When the trumpets flared, he snapped the reins and flew away from the others. He and the stallion were as one as they raced around the track. On the first pass, he took a turn a little too sharp, his shoulder mere inches from the ground, but the stallion adjusted his speed to keep Hayden from tipping into the snow. With a quick body alignment, he righted the chariot and sped off.
The crowd roared their approval, although Hayden guessed a few of the onlookers had hoped he would crash. Each time one of the racers fell or smashed into another racer, the crowd erupted in cheers and jeers. The horses pounded past the stands, the noise of the crowd drowning out all other sound. Hayden kept calm, focused on each turn of the course. The racers needed to complete three circuits of the track and by the time they sped past for the final lap, only six remained of the fourteen who started.
Hayden held his own against a wily little man with arms of steel. His horse was a mammoth beast with hooves the size of a man’s head. They thundered past and just as Hayden was catching up, a skid caught on a rock and he was thrown backward, pulling up on the reins.
The onlookers screamed taunts at Hayden as he recovered and snapped the reins, but it was too late. He came in second, a mere length behind the other man. He guided his stallion to the stables and hopped out of the camion. After a pat on the stallion’s neck and a murmured apology for losing the race, he dusted off his cape and started for the stands.
Sabina stormed past the crowd and skidded to a stop a pace from him. “Don’t you ever frighten me like that again, Lord Valen.” Her hands flailed about, a look of aggrieved consternation marring her pretty features.
Before he could answer, she smothered his face with kisses, nearly suffocating him. The polite clearing of a throat drew Sabina’s attention away and a flush bloomed across her cheeks.
“Well done, son.” Worry danced in Duke Anje’s eyes.
His father had tried to talk him out of racing, but Hayden was determined.
“It was a good race,” Taryn said, giving him a shaky hug.
“No one was killed,” his father said dryly.
“Not this season, at least,” Sabina retorted.
Taryn shuddered. “People have died racing?”
“Several in fact, but this is a popular event and the participants know the risk.”
Sabina’s lips tightened with disapproval. What he wouldn’t give to loosen those lips right then. Right there, in front of everyone. But there was protocol to uphold. Damn it all.
“Oh come now, the empress adores the race. She used to partake of the camion, didn’t you know?” Hayden’s gaze remained on Sabina’s pout.
“She used to race? And yet they’re not naked and greased up? Amazing.”
“It would make it rather hard to hold your balance, don’t you think?” Sabina asked.
Hayden chuckled. “Taryn was making a jest, dearest.”
“I never know when she’s serious.”
Hayden wrapped an arm around Sabina and pulled her against him, delighting in the warmth of her body. “That’s the treasure of my cousin—none of us do.”
His father motioned to the horses. “Do you like her latest additions to the royal stable?”
“They’re gorgeous. Hayden and I were looking them over before the race.”
“Do you have a favorite?” Anje asked and Hayden grinned at his father’s subtle manipulation of the subject.
The stable boy led the handsome black and tan to a stall with Taryn’s gaze following his every step. “That one caught my eye. He’s gentle, but with a fierce heart.”
“He did not win.”
Taryn snorted and with a dismissive wave of her hand said, “Due to his rider’s skill, not his. The man driving the chariot was an idiot and if he’d only trusted his horse, he could have won.”
His father nodded with a knowing smile. “You’ve learned much since that morning so long ago when I gave you Ashanni.” Pride underscored his words. “I should like you to have the horse.”
Taryn cocked her head and half-smiled. “I thought these were Mother’s horses.”
“Not entirely. She purchased them on condition of their prowess. Since your horse barely finished, she will overlook him and therefore open the door for me to purchase him,” his father explained.
Hayden suppressed an immense feeling of awe for the man.
“You don’t have to buy me a horse. I owe you so much already.” Taryn’s cheeks blossomed pink. It was a delight to see his too often of late stern cousin blush.
“My darling, when will you stop saying this? You owe me nothing. Allow me my entertainments and let me spoil you a little.”
Sabina snickered and they all laughed. Everyone knew how much the duke lavished on his nieces, Taryn especially.
“All right, you can buy me a horse.” She sighed and looked back to the stables. “He is a very fine horse and Ashanni wasn’t built for the type of riding I’ve been putting her through. Do you think she’ll be upset that I’m replacing her?” Taryn asked, concern edging her voice.
His father’s expression was a mixture of delight and consternation. “You really do care about the horse’s feelings, don’t you? You are a remarkable girl.”
Taryn shrugged. “We’ve been through a lot together and I don’t want her thinking I’m abandoning her.”
“Tell you what. I’ll take Ashanni to Paderau with me, where she’ll be with all her other horse friends and when you come to visit, you can ride her out in the countryside.”
Hayden observed the interplay between his father and cousin, noting the way Taryn studied the duke from the corner of her eye. Finally she said, “I can’t tell if you’re mocking me or not.”
Anje answered with a laugh.
“Is he mocking me, Hayden?”
Hayden snaked his free arm around her. “It doesn’t matter. You get a new horse, I get a silver crown for my efforts today, and tonight, we celebrate being alive.”
Rhoane and Baehlon approached, tossing compliments and congratulations his way. Beyond them, Baehlon’s brother stood to the side of the royal box, his focus on Hayden’s group of friends. He glanced at the knight and Eleri prince before turning back to Denzil, but the man was no longer there. A chill swept over Hayden. The man couldn’t possibly disappear like the Shadow Assassin. Or could he? If so, then Hayden had to find out whom he really worked for.
Chapter 19
TARYN lounged on an overstuffed chair in the great room of the castle, flipping her fan open and closed with suppressed irritation. On the next couch, Hayden was once more regaling the court with his near-victory in the chariot race. Taryn could almost recite the story in its entirety. She silently mouthed the words, matching Hayden’s cadence perfectly. Sabina slapped her hand with a stern look at the fan and an arched eyebrow, daring Taryn to disobey.
She didn’t begrudge him the second-place finish, nor was she jealous of the reward he received from her mother—his choice of the magnificent Ullan horses. Unsurprisingly, he chose the black he’d raced with. Taryn might’ve been upset had he chosen the black and tan, but even then, she was excited for her cousin.
She shared in his happiness, often sneaking away to bring sugar cubes and carrots to the stables, always making certain to have a little something for Ashanni as well. Despite Anje’s teasing, Taryn didn’t want to hurt the mare’s feelings by showing too much enthusiasm for the black and tan.
Inactivity had soured her mood. The morning’s training was canceled due to bad weather and she was restless waiting for the day’s events to commence. Between listening with rapt attention to Hayden’s tale, Sabina corrected Taryn’s fan manipulations. Her friend insisted she learn the art, but Ta
ryn played coy, often making mistakes just to annoy Sabina. Which wasn’t very kind of her, but she couldn’t see how snapping a fan closed at just the right speed and with the exact flick of her wrist would do her any good.
As she flicked and fluttered her fan, she was fairly certain she insulted half the court, but no one said anything to the contrary. When Sabina wasn’t looking, she would bat her eyelashes and grin like a fool with the fan concealing half her face. If caught, she would act genuinely chagrined and be a perfect student until the next opportunity for mischief.
Darius passed with another page and she waved the fan at him.
“You just told him you will meet him by the stable in half a bell,” Rhoane said, sitting on the arm of her chair.
“I did not.” In truth, she might have.
“He tells me he has been training with you and your guard. Is there something I should know?”
“I’m thinking of taking Darius with me to Talaith. I can use good men like him.”
“Have you asked your mother? Technically, Darius is her servant.”
“Mother thinks everyone is her servant. But I checked and the residents, while they are employed by Her Majesty during the Light Celebrations, are not officially a part of her household. Still, I’m just kind of hoping I can ask and she’ll say yes.”
Rhoane kissed her nose, wished her luck, and then left to practice before his archery competition. Bored with the fan and restless, she decided to take a walk. Kaida, warm by the fire, stayed with the princesses. A chill blew up the hill and she pulled her cape tight against it before heading in the direction of the archery field. On impulse, she turned to visit the jeweler’s to inquire about Sabina’s gift.
The little shop off the high street was warm and Taryn loosened her grip, allowing her cape to flow loose around her. The cape had been a gift from Faelara upon her arrival at Celyn Eryri. Pale-blue velvet trimmed in white fur, it not only kept the chill from invading Taryn’s body, but rendered her fashionable, which made her mother happy. Despite the lighter fabric, it was as warm as the heavy, utilitarian wool cloak she’d had Tarro make for her trip to the Narthvier. She saw his handiwork in the delicate stitch work of the cape and could only guess how thrilled he was to have her dressing more like a lady.
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