The Season (Season Series #1)

Chapter 7.1: Royal "Rescue"

I fell in beside Ella and Emily, Emily rolling her eyes when I explained how I'd managed to exchange the gelding for such a gentle mare. James' horse was dun-colored, with big brown eyes that watched the world calmly. She responded daintily to my commands, noticeably far less agitated by the excitement of the imminent hunt than the other horses.

When the prince strode out from the palace, there was an audible titter among the debutantes as they wheeled their horses around to display themselves from the prettiest angles. Andrew bowed perfunctorily in their direction, a polite smile on his face before he greeted his courtiers, his smile relaxing with the familiarity of the other men. As soon as he was mounted, ladies started jockeying for key positions behind him. Ella urged us forward, using our three horses to block Mary Marquette's path towards the prince.

We rode as a retinue out of the palace grounds and through the city's merchant quarter, exiting via the north gate into the Kingswood forest. I couldn't help my head from swivelling to and fro as we crossed the city, taking in the merchants and their wares, stifling my grin at the backlog of carriages and wagons in our wake. We drew stares, cheers, and some jeers as we made our way through the streets. Penelope Roxton's nose pointed skyward the entire time, Mary Marquette next to her sneering in distaste as she looked over the wide-eyed cityfolk. Emily chided me as I offered a smile for a baker who had come out and cheered for us.

"We mustn't encourage them," she hissed over the sounds of the horses, "They're only common folk, they're not worthy of our attention,"

In response, I shot the baker a wink, earning an even louder cheer and some whistles from the apprentices surrounding him. Emily's skin flushed puce and she kicked her horse ahead to ride next to Ella.

When we finally broke out into the open fields leading to the Kingswood, the hunting party spread out while the dogs were unleashed. I covered my grin with a gloved hand as James struggled to dance the huge gelding off the road to follow the rest of the men. With a cry, Andrew broke into a trot and the rest of us followed into the open rolling field. We spilled out onto the grass, the dogs running freely with their noses to the air as they scented the wildlife. Courtiers fanned out, most of the ladies attempting to maneuver their way towards the prince. Ella and Emily cantered forward while I pretended to have trouble with my horse so I could hang back, away from the annoying tittering of all the other women.

Some of the hounds brayed and I felt the mare tense beneath me. Across the field, James had leaned up in his stirrups, waving his arms when he spotted me. He mimed pulling back on the reins, but I was too slow. As soon as the hunting horn sounded, his mare took off at a gallop behind the baying hounds. Belatedly, I realized she must have been trained for hunting, for she fell in next to the prince and his men despite my best efforts to steer her away.

As I fell in beside him, Andrew shot me a comical look as his eyes went from me to my horse.

"However are you riding Sable?" he shouted, the wind whipping his words away as we sailed towards the forest. I was too exhilarated and desperately trying to find my place in the saddle to reply, until James finally steered the gelding over and caught a hold of my reins. He shouted a brief command of "whoa" and Sable slowed to a trot, the rest of the hunting party pulling away from us.

"I'm terribly sorry, I should have warned you that she was trained to the horn," he said, handing the reins back over to me. Sable's ears flicked as the horn blared again, but this time I held the reins back.

"It's nothing I couldn't handle," I said, grinning despite knowing I must be disheveled from all the galloping. Truthfully, the rush had set my heart to racing in excitement. I almost wished he hadn't stopped the horse, already mourning the exhilaration.