Alliance

"Cheap" Tricks

In Laochra Riocht, it is customary for a royal couple to spend their first fortnight together in the family's cabin estate accompanied only by their servants and those in their inner circle. The lives of royals are hectic, so the court allows newlywed couples to spend this time together so that, "marriages do not start with strain already on them." A rouge, if you ask me. They're concerned about heirs, and a fortnight away from society gives a couple only so much to do.

"Seraphina," Farrell calls from beside me, "if you would like to take a break from riding, do let me know. After all, ladies are not accustomed to such strenuous activities."

I refrain from rolling my eyes. These people refuse to have their horses go faster than a mediocre trot, so I don't see why anyone would think that this activity is strenuous.  If anything, the only break I require is from this mundane pace.

Nala, as if feeling my irritation, lets out an annoyed huff or her own and speeds up. I purse my lip to keep from laughing. Even a blind man could tell that Nala hates this pace just as much as I do. Back home Nala, mother, and I would go on adventures in the woods near our village whenever we could. Half of the said excursions led to us high tailing it out of the wilderness with something chasing us on our heels. I'm surprised that Nala and I haven't fallen asleep due to the lack of excitement.

Instead of telling him all on the above, I simply throw a polite smile Farrell's way. "Thank you for your concern, but I have quite a bit of experience on horseback so I will be just fine."

He gives me a nod. "If you change your mind, you can ride with me and I can have one of the men lead your horse by her reign."

"I appreciate the offer, but Nala's saddle is as comfortable as any that I've ever been on." 

Well, that's not exactly true, but what it is what I prefer nonetheless. My sisters all have rather plush saddles for their horses, but I've found that a fluffy saddle gets dirty rather quickly. Even if I do enjoy the outdoors, I'd prefer my things not to look like I live in the wilderness.

"Even so, perhaps we can arrange for you to have a newer one made. Yours is looking a bit worn."

"It's seen quite a bit over the past few years, but I shall stand by it until Nala says otherwise." 

My hands lightly skirt over the indentation one of my boots made on the saddle's leather and I softly chuckle to myself. I remember how I made this mark, amongst the plethora of others scattered across the saddle. A few weeks into learning how to shoot my bow while standing on Nala's back and I began to grow overconfident in my abilities. I brought Nala to a strong gallop against my mother's warning and shot at my target before truly gaining my balance. I slipped, one of my boots catching the leather before I plummeted into a berry-filled bush. It took a minute or two and my mother's howling laughter for Nala to realize that I wasn't on her back. My mother, unlike other mothers, laughed at me to the point where she nearly fell off of her own horse.

"You have quite the smile on your face right now," Farrell chuckled. "Any memory that you would like to share?"

"I was just thinking about how I got one of the scratches on my saddle," I grin. "All of the big marks in the leather have a story behind them. This one" I point to the one from my boot "has to be one of my favorites, though. Would you like to hear it?"

Farrell arches an eyebrow and nods, curiosity evident in his facial expressions. With that, I dive into the story, even telling him how mother and I had to sneak out at dawn because we had representatives from a village we have an alliance with hates nothing more than women doing anything but papering their men coming in that afternoon and we wouldn't be able to galavant for at least a week. Throughout the entire story, Farrell looks entertained, much to my satisfaction, and even laughs when I told him how my older sister threw a fit when she saw the berry stains she'd have to get out of my dress.