Horse Stone (Book 1 of Ilyrian Series)

Chapter 8

Riding Gallant was the best thing that had happened to me today.

He was such a strong and able horse, and I couldn't help but feel as if I was flying. His whole body moved while he ran, the muscles underneath his hind coming into view.

He didn't need any correcting, just the occasional 'steady' because he was enjoying this just as much as me. He had an ear facing me, and I knew that he was waiting and making sure that I was on and steadying myself.

"Go over some jumps," I said.

"Are you mad?" Gallant asked. "What if you fall off?"

"Are you deaf?" I mocked. "I am sure that I have been talked about as well as my mother. I will be able to hold on."

"Your loss," Gallant said. He turned toward the path that I was sure had a course of trees or whatever. He picked up his speed, and I could tell that he really wanted to get back to the barn.

"Easy," I said, sitting back and trying to get him to slow down some. "You are going to trip on the ground and get hurt."

"I will not," Gallant said but did what I told him to do. "Liam is going to be mad at me."

"I'll take care of him. Let's go and do the course. It's been a while since I had jumped."

"Well, isn't that just nice," Gallant snarked. "You won- Hey! What are you doing?"

"Holding on with just my legs," I said, having my arms out to the side of my body. "Just pay attention to the jump, and I will be fine."

"Just pay attention to the jump," Gallant mocked me. He hesitated a small bit, but he picked his pace back up when I squeezed his sides. His ears were pricked forward as he got closer to the jump.

I squeezed gently before leaning forward enough to keep my balance and not fall off. I bit back a loud "whoop" as he sailed over the jump.

Gallant flicked his ear back when he landed on the ground steady as if he had done this before. "Not bad," he said. "For a girl."

I rolled my eyes. "Haha, very funny," I said, unimpressed.

"It was better than Liam. He wouldn't have known what to do."

I didn't answer as we went over some more jumps. I had a feeling that was the end of the jumps so I grabbed some of his mane. "I was basically born in the saddle," I said. "Or at the barn before my mother was able to get to the hospital."

"How fun," Gallant said, dryly. He looked forward when we were near the gate to see Liam was anxiously waiting. "Can we scare him?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied. I kept hold of Gallant's mane as he ran towards the fence near Liam. I held onto him as he jumped over the fence, ignoring the warning shout that Liam sent my way.

I was flying, and there was no better feeling than that. I was at the place where I really wanted to be, on the back of a horse, and looking at the world between his ears.

***

"Are you fucking stupid?" Liam asked when he ran over to us. Anger filled his eyes, and I couldn't help but cringe. "Gallant can't jump."

I looked at the fence we had jumped and looked at Liam. "Really?" I asked, pointing towards the gate. "Then, what was that I did back there?"

"Having a death wish," he replied. "He isn't ready for others to jump him. He isn't that good."

"That good?" Gallant asked with a snort. He tossed his head and pawed the ground before him. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

"Are you sure that it isn't something that you are doing or not doing. Gallant is a bit forward when it comes to jumping. He gets too excited something. However, if you lean ba-"

"How do you that?" Liam asked, interrupting me. "How do you know he gets forward."

"We took the path that had jumps set up," I replied. "I let him have his head, and he went that way."

Liam shook his head. Annoyance filled his eyes, and his lip went up in disgust. "Get off," he said.

I hopped off of Gallant. "I don't know why you are mad at me," I said.

"Because you jumped my horse without asking me," Liam said. He pulled the lead rope off of his neck. "You could have hurt him."

"How?" I asked. "I know what I was doing. It wasn't the first time that I had jumped a strange horse. It's not going to be the last."

"Well, it is the last time on him," Liam said. He started to walk away, and Gallant followed.

"I can help you jump him," I called after him. "You don't have to be afraid of me getting hurt. It won't be the last time."

Liam didn't reply or look back. His whole body was tense, and I couldn't help but wonder what else happened.

I shook my head and made my way to the pen that held my "horse." I couldn't help but wonder if I could hear him, and if I did, would he let me help him? Or would he just ignore me?