Silence reigned heavily between them and Evangelina found herself wanting to apologize, not necessarily for the things that she’d said because they were, in her opinion, what she thought to be true. That hadn’t changed. But rather, she wanted to apologize for saying things that had made him uncomfortable, even if they were true. She’d never really considered how her frank honesty might have inflicted an uncomfortable sort of pain upon someone who wasn’t quite ready for the candid truths that she could dish out.

The last thing she ever wanted to do to someone was to make them feel like less. It was a feeling she was all too familiar with and that alone was reason not to intentionally hurt someone she cared about. That gave her pause as her brows furrowed a little and she pressed her lips together. She cared about him. She’d spent so much time trying to make him like her, to make him be her friend, she’d never thought she’d actually come to care about him. At least, not in the protective sense that she felt. Something about the man made her want to wrap him up in a blanket and tell him everything would be just fine. That wasn’t her usual strategy with people. She was more of a tough love sort of a girl.

‘You surprise me with how observant you are.’ Her head shot around to look at him again and wondered if she’d admitted that out loud to him, but he continued on and she realized he was talking about her earlier observations. ‘I’d convinced myself I was better at…’ Her gaze softened towards him and she forced a faint smile onto her lips. She should have been the one apologizing. ‘...measuring my reactions. But it would seem not. It isn’t anything deliberate, just… habit, I suppose. It didn’t pay to be anything less than polished growing up in the house I did.’

His words hit Evangelina hard in the chest, robbing her of air and of all other thoughts then the fact that she’d been right. People often didn’t consider that Evangelina spent her time around horses, who weren’t exactly known to great conversationalists. One became rather good at reading even the smallest of details and filing them away.

“In that we are alike, you know…” She’d looked away briefly but found her gaze settling back on him curiously. “It’s something I know something about.” Sadness made a ghost appearance in her liquid dark eyes and she took in a deep breath. Even her family’s insignia was a unicorn, how much closer to perfection could you get? “Expectations and measuring my reactions, albeit I’m not as skilled as you though.” She tried to smile but it didn’t quite meet her eyes.

‘Anway,’ His gaze seemed to be searching her and it quite unnerved her. ‘Please don’t think you’ve given offence or anything.’

“I’m less worried about offending you,” She sucked in a ragged breath and shakily smiled again at him. “...and more worried you’ll take my opinions of you as fact rather than just an observation on my behalf.” She gave a half-hearted shrug, “Just because that’s how I see it doesn’t mean that’s how it is...perhaps you really are as golden and politely perfect as you appear.” But if you are, I am so disappointed…, She added silently almost wistfully to herself.

Her mind instantly was tearing those thoughts apart. Why was she disappointed? Because if he was then it meant that perfection was attainable and it was just a failing on her part? Also, because she’d wanted so very badly to see something of herself in him, to share some sort of connection. And if it wasn’t this, then they really did not have anything in common. She worried on her bottom lip, why was this so damned important to her?

‘Lady Evangelina…’ Her name brought her out of her woolgathering with a blink and she looked at him again. ‘I do believe that little grey is lame.’

Instantly, her entire body stiffened and her attention focused onto Altair. He took another step and she felt it. That small softness of step in his leg and the way he overcompensated by bobbing his head only a little. Concern flooded her mixed with anger and frustration and… guilt. She’d pulled him up and was off his bad in an instant.

Crouching down by his leg, she let her fingers run over him as she skimmed the hollows of his leg and delicately grazed across each bony joint. Her face completely impassive on the outside, her heart raced on the inside. Had she hurt him? Every muscle in her body seemed to have tightened. There was heat in his leg. The grey wasn’t as young as he’d once been, but… Evangelina’s eyes darted up to the little stallion’s face and she felt the stinging pain of unshed tears pooling up behind her eyes.

Altair had been the only thing constant in her life. Her only true companion and without a doubt her best friend. He’d been her escape and joy and… he’d been the reason for her to get out of bed in the mornings. And she’d hurt him. He’d only ever loved her and she’d hurt him… That thought made the vivacious little Leventi withdrawal into herself, her face paling and her walls shooting up.

“I...I’ll walk him back.” The words echoed out of her, at least she thought they had come from her. Standing up, she positioned her back to Achilleas to hide the fact she was just a thin little thread away from bursting to tears. Sliding the reins over his neck she moved to the girth wordlessly, and loosened it as her mind reeled at the implications of her actions.

There were people in the world who found it easier to not pick at the mysteries in front of them, to remain oblivious to the world around them. Those people lived quiet, idyllic lives. Evangelina had never been one of them. She wanted to know the things that motivated people at their core. She wanted to pick apart problems and analyze them, there was something to be learned from the knowledge that could be gained. Perhaps, the next time she ran into the same problem she would have a fix. She’d understand what or why something was important rather than simply accepting that something was the way it was.

The problem with this was that occasionally, Evangelina would keep picking at something and then realized she’d unravelled enough to leave a big gaping hole. Gaping holes weren’t good. They were messy and painful and something that only time could fix.

Biting her bottom lip, the younger Leventi was afraid that all of her picking had left a small messy hole there in Achilleas mind. Despite him admitting that he perhaps wasn’t the person he pretended to be, she wanted to refuse that piece of knowledge even if saying so made her ache because she wanted nothing more than to probe deeper, learn more about the enigma of a man who rode beside her. She pressed her lips together and tried to find anything else to occupy her, except when he grumbled it wasn’t what she’d thought he’d mumble.

‘I don’t understand why everyone is so keen on knowing my deepest darkest thoughts all of a sudden.’

Her dark, searching gaze landed on him and the way he pressed his lips tighter together. Who else was asking about his deepest darkest thoughts? Theodora? Krystos? Emilios? No, not Krystos or Emilios. They didn’t seem the type to care about admitting deep dark thoughts. So, Theo was prodding at him trying to find out what made him tick. And he wasn’t happy about it. Why wasn’t he happy about that? She blinked as her imagination shifted from possibility to possibility and not finding any of them that were satisfying.

Realizing she’d stared at him for a time too long to be considered proper without being awkward, she jerked her head away until he spoke about Altair being lame and she was suddenly consumed with the harsh realities of what had happened to the one creature she depended so greatly upon.

‘Don’t be silly. I’ll walk. You ride Amyntas.’

He was stepping past her to take the reins and push her over to his bigger bay preparing himself to help her up on the horse. She might have huffed over the fact that she was capable of swinging her lithe body up onto Amyntas without his assistance. She was definitely not used to being taken care of. Unlike several of her cousins, Evangelina was not guarded so preciously. Granted, there had always been an independent streak in her but her father’s master of horse had instilled a solid work ethic. She knew how to take consequences and sort out her own problems.

“No.” She jutted out her chin, a stubborn set forming on her face. Perhaps, it was a chivalrous move from him… but doing such a thing, passing this problem off upon her felt so much like shucking her duties. Surely he had to understand that even when it wasn’t comfortable why she had to walk her own horse back. Straightening her shoulders, like some sort of tiny soldier, she reached to take the reins from him.

“This is my fault. Altair isn’t as young as he used to be and I know better, but my ego and trying to impress you has consequences…” Her dark eyes pleaded softly with him for understanding. “What sort of person would I be if I fausted off my problems upon you?” She almost smiled sadly at him and tilted her head a little for a small shrug, “Not a person I would be proud of. He’s my responsibility.”

The little chestnut haired Leventi had grown up with the understanding that if she wanted something done then she’d best figure a way to make sure it was done. There were people who waited for things to be done for them, coasted through life upon the coattails of others; but, Evangelina wasn’t one of those people. She was a mover and a shaker. She moved things around, she shook up the world around her as a way to get the things she wanted done… done. Her parents had also instilled a deeply rooted sense of responsibility in her. If she was going to be a person to make decisions…she had to be the person who accepted what those decisions brought her. Good or bad, they were hers to accept.

She’d thought if anyone understood her, that he would. But as soon as her words were out and his eyebrows drew together in a surprised look, she began to wonder if he understood.

‘What do you mean, no?’ The frown deepening made her blink rapidly up at him. She thought the word ‘no’ was pretty self explanatory. Parting her lips, she was about to tell him she meant that she didn’t agree to what he’d said, but something about the look on his face made her close her mouth and narrow her eyes slightly at him.

‘I understand. But the fact that you are riding instead of walking has nothing to do with you not taking responsibility for your horse. You’ll still tend to him when we get back to Vasiladon. But it is a long walk and I will not entertain the idea of you walking whilst I ride.’ Pinching her lips tighter, her dark eyes didn’t move off of him as he patted the neck of his big bay, ‘So hop on up and let’s get Altair back to where someone can take a look at his leg.’

Evangelina didn’t miss for a moment the way his body stood between her and the grey stallion acting as a big, hulking barrier. She narrowed her eyes at him and licked her lips wondering why it was that they were even debating this. She also knew she should just close her mouth and for once in her life go with the flow of things rather than dig her heels in and protest. Of course, he’d listened to her and then politely declined it but she couldn’t help but feel like he’d already made up his mind before she’d spoken. It was irritating that he’d so easily dismissed her.

Her hands came to rest on her hips and she she glowered up at the big oaf. Pressing her lips even tighter together she tried her very best to stare him down. Gods, was this what Theo had to deal with? She probably had him wrapped around her pinky finger though and could simply wiggle it and he’d jump at whatever she said. Theo had always had that effect on men; however, Evangelina had not. That thought worked like a bucket of water being dumped on to her and she felt her resolve weakening.

The tense lines that stubbornness had created seemed to lessen and her eyelids drew heavy as her arms went limp and she slowly gave in. Fine. Her head dipped and she turned to Amyntas leaving Altair’s reins in Achilleas hands. Despite feeling defeated, she stood at the shoulder of the larger bay stallion and twisted a hunk of his black mane around her fist. She half-stepped gauging the distance and then launched herself up to the impressive height of the stallions back and took a moment to straighten herself and settle into the saddle.

Frowning down at him, “You might as well get on too, you can lead Altair just as well on top of Amyntas as you can from the ground.” There was absolutely no reason for him to walk when he could ride.

She hadn’t missed the smug look upon his features when she’d conceded to ride. But, she wasn’t the least bit phased by it. Sometimes you had to lose the battle to win the war. He might have just won this little battle but she was far from making him miserable. With an entirely unphased look, she suggested he ride as well, but her gaze was sharply attuned to even the faintest of reactions from him. His brow furrowed and there was a small thrill of satisfaction thrum through her. She waited for him to come up with an excuse but she knew her argument was a hard one to beat.

‘I’m fine walking.’

Her lips twitched. Oh, he was definitely squirming… Tilting her head up, she glanced at the darkening clouds and then back at him. If she was him, she’d expect some sort of logical argument to come from and draw his to a quick death. She could do it and what was more, he knew she could. Evangelina’s lips curled upwards a little more generating a devious warmth all on it’s on. She wasn’t done playing though…

“Hmm…” She murmured softly. “Well… Okay, if that’s what you want to do.” She was purring almost demurely with her answer. She was going to teach him a lesson of not interfering with her plans. Allowing him to stride forward, she nudged the bay stallion forward to amble along at the pace that Altair would set. Letting her feet dangle lazily out of the stirrups, she slumped deeply into the saddle as she grew into the back of the horse.

‘How old is he?’ Arching a suspicious eyebrow at Achilleas, he was trying to change the subject and she knew it. ‘An old injury, or something new bothering him?’ Evangelina smiled and fed him the metaphorical rope for him to hang himself with his decision soon enough.

“Um…” Evangelina considered for a moment with a tilt of her head, “Fifteen? Maybe sixteen, now.” Where had the time gone? Just yesterday he’d been eight or nine. It made her heart hurt. How had she lost so much time with him. Catching her bottom lip between her teeth again, her gaze drifted over his body. There were the subtle signs of his age, despite his immaculate care. The divots above his eyes had sunken in a little along with the way he’d lost some of his muscling in his hind quarters. The almost unnoticeable stiffness in his hocks.

“My parents raised him in Acharist but at five, he was sold to one of the vassal house’s son who wanted to make a name for himself at the circus.” She explained with an earnest softness. “He wasn’t quite cut out for the circus though and was passed around to several more stables before my father finally had the opportunity to buy him back about five years ago.” Looking back to Achilleas, she offered the King an almost sad smile.

“My father knew I’d always been rather fond of him and hoped he’d cheer me up after…” She cut her words off with a sigh. It didn’t really matter now and Achilleas knew enough of the story. “After, Lord Nikos left for Colchis my parents thought it might cheer me up. But Altair wasn’t quite the same horse that I’d remembered. Life I don’t think was as wonderful for him as we had hoped it would be. He was rather bitter when he came back to us.” She licked her lips and forced a smile. “He’ll still take a nasty swipe at you every now and then… and he won’t jump anything.” She paused and shrugged, “Well at least not reliably. He’ll go up to an obstacle sometimes and you’ll think he is about to go over it and then he’ll dart sideways out from under you.”

She scratched her nose and her smile became a bit more genuine as she added, “Matter of fact, he did that on the first ride that Lord Gavriil and I took together. Dropped me into dry riverbed not too far from here actually. I am not sure who was more mortified. Me, a Leventi, having fallen off my horse. Or Lord Gavriil, because my chiton ended up over my head.” Her eyes sparkled for a moment and she shrugged again. “At Altair’s age, it could be something old popping up… or something new. He’s had injuries in the past… but this is the first time I’ve noticed anything in quite some time.” Guilt started to slowly seep back in and she looked away. What if she’d missed something?

The young Leventi’s guilt wasn’t a rational feeling but it wasn’t built upon her not catching the signs of age that the little grey stallion was showing but rather on herself. In this world there were only a handful of things that truly mattered to her, one of them was the stallion. How had she let him fall between the cracks in her life? How could she have missed this? True enough, it wasn’t as bad as it appeared in her mind but it was bad enough. It shook her up enough to wonder what other things she’d let fall between the cracks. It made her second guess herself and that opened a whole other door about whether she could trust herself to made the right decisions when the time came to make them.

Achilleas’ bay stallion plodded along as if he’d packed many a maiden faire, whether he could sense his small rider’s anxieties or was just rather relieved to get to plod along she wasn’t sure of. However, his owner didn’t possess the same skill for being quiet.

‘I’m sure it’s nothing too serious,’ Wide brown eyes looked at him and blinked, he was trying to make her feel better but it sounded like he was just trying to bury their own anxieties. ‘Likely a bit of rest will set it right.’ Evangelina had to look away on those words though because there was a tightening in her chest that she wasn’t sure she was ready to unravel in front of him.

The king had spoken very true but the she didn’t doubt for a moment that he knew the underlying meaning of the things he was saying. Sure, it wasn’t too serious and a bit of rest would set him right… But for how long? Something Evangelina had been shoving aside and refusing to consider was the age the stallion was starting to show. He deserved something better than this… He deserved to live a life where his owner didn’t pull him out and gallop him around haphazardly. Of all the things in this world, that damned little grey stallion deserved only the best things in this life.

Her mouth opened to say something that her brain hadn’t quite figured out yet when the fat icy raindrop hit her squarely on the cheek causing her to jump and the stallion under her to skitter sideways momentarily before she brought him back between her legs like a skilled spellweaver. Blinking her confusion, she glanced up and felt more droplets hit her. It was a cold awakening from the Gods for her to pull her big girl sandals up and get herself pulled together. There would be time enough to wallow in the loss of her favorite riding companion.

The murmured ‘Typical’ from Achilleas had her glancing sideways at him. It was he who had volunteered to walk after all… As if subconsciously gloating to that fact she settled a little deeper into the saddle. Rain had never bothered her before, why should it now?

‘Look, why don’t you ride ahead to the woods, get some shelter?’

A puckish glee filled her dark gaze as more raindrops slowly picked up momentum as they fell on the two Tangeans.

“And leave you and Altair?” Her voice creaked with amusement, “Not in your life, your majesty. I’ve waited years to see you have to be a human instead of some sort of perfect idol among men… you don’t think for a second I am going to leave you when you are about to get soaked.” Raindrops clung to her thick lashes as she beamed down at him and the sky opened up to let all the rain fall onto them.

The fat little droplets of rain had started slow but they were picking up speed with a vengeance as if they meant to wash the two lone humans off of the map or perhaps back to the water that surrounded Taengea. Evangelina wasn’t the least bit concerned on how the gentle breeze from earlier was now gusting or the rain was falling and pelting against her fragile skin. The bay horse under her didn’t seem nearly as pleased with the effect of the rain but, the little Leventi was comfortable enough.

The rain was soaking through the thin fabric of her chiton one big raindrop at a time and causing her dark chestnut hair to cling to the skin of her neck around her face. What was a little rain though? She wasn’t going to melt into a puddle. In fact, as a child she’d been the sort to seek out every mud puddle and jump with both feet first into it. The first spanking she could remember had come from jumping in one of those… coincidentally her Uncle Fotios had been the one standing closest to the little puddle when she’d done that little feat.

Wrinkling her nose, she looked down at the large man leading her horse as he raised an eyebrow at her, ‘You do realise you are going to be soaked as well? Is that really worth whatever hilarity you will find in seeing me get rained on?’

Blinking back a couple of rain droplets she grinned down at him, “It’s just a little bit of water, your majesty.”

‘Will you not just be reasonable and go and take shelter?’ It was her turn for an eyebrow to be raised at him as her mouth formed a smug little smile, until he tried a different tactic. ‘Amyntas despises the rain.’ As if on cue, when she darted her dark eyes to the stallion she was riding again, his ears were agitatedly pointed backwards and he seemed to be balling himself up trying to make himself small enough to slither between each raindrop.

“Looks like someone is as fussy as their owner.” She remarked and looked back at him. “That’s a terrible trait for a horse, you know.” She was almost having to squish her face up now because the rain had soaked her face to the point it was drawing lazy little rivers of water down her face.

‘You really are the most stubborn of creatures.’ With the back of her hand she raked away some of the wetness to give him a toothy grin in victory. ‘I hope the Lord Gavriil knows what he is taking on.’

“Says the man who refuses to do the simple thing and just get on the damned horse behind me. If you want me out of this weather, your majesty… There is a simple enough fix. Get on, we can lead Altair faster and make it to those trees if you would just consent this little thing.” She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing but it slipped out in sparks of amusement from her earthy eyes beneath her thick lashes. Biting her bottom lip, she hazarded a glance up at the skies and then back down on him. “What will it be, your majesty?”

The habit of persistence didn’t fail Evangelina once again as it led to her victory which was made all the sweeter by the fact her opponent in this was Achilleas. He was so set in everything going exactly as he planned out, every detail completely and perfectly arranged… just like the little things on his shelves in his office. She might have been wet and miserable but she’d never admit it, not to him anyway.

‘I prefer to think of it as a sign of intelligence.’ Her mouth curved into a slow triumphant smile formed on her lips. ‘He knows it’ll be drier in the trees too.’ It amused the little Leventi that he went with that path, pointing out how the independence of thinking on his own granted his stallion intelligence. He wasn’t wrong. It did, Evangelina wouldn’t have argued that at all. However, she also knew that Achilleas esteemed things like loyalty and control too; so it was interesting he was putting intelligence before the other two. Maybe under that stodgy layer there was something more free there to be found.

She could see the way he was wrestling his options in front of him, not that she’d left him that many to choose from, but he was still carefully considering the good and bad points of all of them while she quietly ambled next to him on his horse growing steadily more soaked. It’s just a little longer and he’ll give in, she consoled herself as she wiped another river of rain off her face with the back of her hand.

‘If you are going to be difficult about it then fine.’

Her brown eyes flashed amusement beneath raindrop laced eyelashes down at him. “Me? Difficult? You must have me confused with someone else again.” She murmured just loud enough for Achilleas to make out what she’d said all the while trying not to send a gloating smile his way as she leaned over and took the reins from her beloved little grey horse who looked bored with all of this.

He might not have trusted his stallion not to skitter away, but he had the fortune of having Evangelina settled nicely up there, the lean length of her leg tightly there supporting the stallion and giving him nowhere to skitter away too. She moved her left foot free of the stirrup at the gentle tap on her leg and shifted in the saddle slightly so that her weight rested on her right foot to stabilize the saddle as he mounted. There were definite benefits to mounting up on a horse with another rider already in the saddle.

The stallion pressed against her leg looking for somewhere to move but the muscled length of her calf kept him in place as Achilleas settled in behind her. Scooting forward in the saddle she tried to make as much room for him as possible but what had seemed like a generously sized seat now was a bit tighter than she’d imagined. The urge to squirm was itching away at her and the more she tried to not think about squirming the more the need seemed to plague her. He was very close to her right now and it… Perhaps he was right and this was a bad idea. The tiny voice in the back of her head chanted, he might have been right but you won.

‘Happy now.’ His voice curled close to her, near her ear and she swallowed. She was going to make this work for the sole purpose of having won. She didn’t win enough to not take full advantage of that. Taking a deep breath, she hissed out, “Yes.”

Shooting her little grey stallion a glare, this was all that horse’s blasted fault for picking today to be plagued with achy bones. She tried to subtly shift in the saddle so that they weren’t pressed quite as close but it seemed anyway she barely moved only made things a bit worse. Clearing her throat, “You can drop me off at the Leventi manor, and I’ll take Altair back and see to his legs.”