“Been told it’s Setti,” I said, unable to tell her that I’d chosen the name and raised him from a colt.
“Named after Theon’s warhorse?” Her lips curved up as Setti nudged her hand, always looking for attention. “He has big hooves to fill.”
“That he does,” I replied. “I’m assuming you can’t ride a horse.”
She shook her head. “I haven’t been on one since…” Her smile grew. “Gods, it was three years ago. Tawny and I snuck out to the stables and managed to climb on one before Vikter arrived.” The smile vanished as she dropped her hand and moved back. “So, no, I can’t ride.”
“This will be intriguing,” I said, seeking to distract her from the pain associated with Vikter’s name. “And torturous since you’ll be riding with me.”
Poppy tipped her head to mine. “And why is that intriguing? And torturous?”
I grinned. “Besides the fact that it will allow me to keep a very close eye on you? Use your imagination, Princess.”
Her brow knitted and then smoothed. “That’s inappropriate,” she muttered, proving she had a damn fine imagination.
“Is it?” I dipped my chin. “You’re not the Maiden out here,” I told her. “You’re Poppy, unveiled and unburdened.”
Those stunning green eyes lifted to mine once more. “And what of when I arrive at the capital? I will become the Maiden once more.”
“But that’s neither today nor tomorrow.” I turned back to one of the saddlebags. “I brought something for you.”
She waited a bit impatiently, trying to peer around me as I pushed aside extra clothing. Finding what I was searching for, I worked it free and quickly unraveled the cloth I’d wrapped it in.
“My dagger,” she gasped. “I thought…I thought it was lost.”
“I found it later that night,” I shared. “I didn’t want to give it to you when I had to worry about you running off and using it, but you’ll need it for this trip.”
“I don’t know what to say.” She cleared her throat, drawing my gaze to hers as I handed the dagger and sheath over. Her eyes were damp, and her fingers trembled slightly as she grasped the hilt. “Vikter gave me this on my sixteenth birthday. It’s been my favorite.”
I wasn’t surprised to hear that it had been a gift from Vikter. “It’s a beautiful weapon.”
She nodded, turning slightly as she parted the folds of her cloak, giving me a brief glimpse of the breeches she wore as she secured the dagger to her right thigh.
Breeches.
She was wearing nice tight breeches. My gut clenched. It wasn’t that I was surprised. There was no way she could wear a gown out on the roads we’d be traveling, but I hadn’t thought about how she would be wearing something that would reveal every lush curve of her body.
This would be a very intriguing trip.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
I nodded, turning at the sound of the others. “The party has arrived.”
Poppy followed my gaze, stepping closer to me in a way I wasn’t sure she was aware of as I introduced her to them. None met her stare as they greeted her, but as soon as I moved onto another, their gazes lifted, and every single one of their features immediately filled with either awe or surprise. None of them had seen the Maiden unveiled before, and they now saw what had always been beneath that veil.
A beautiful young lady.
My eyes narrowed on brown-haired Airrick, the youngest of the guards tasked with escorting her. He stared in open-mouthed wonderment, like a godsdamn fish out of water.
Jaw ticking, I turned to the final member of the group. “This is Kieran,” I announced. The wolven slid me a quick sideways look. “He came from the capital with me and is familiar with the road we must travel.”
“A pleasure to meet you,” Kieran said as he mounted his horse.
“Same.” Poppy’s head tilted slightly as she looked up at him.
Kieran’s attention lingered on her for a moment, his expression appearing blank to anyone who didn’t know him. But I did. I caught the slight widening of his eyes and the faint upcurve of one side of his lips. He, too, was now finally seeing her.
“We need to be on our way,” he said. “If we have any hope of crossing the plains by nightfall.”
“Ready?” I asked Poppy.
She glanced past us toward the center of Masadonia and the castle she’d called home for the last several years. Where her friend Tawny and all her most recent memories—the good and the bad—remained. And I was struck again by how enormous this moment was for her. She truly was leaving the city not as the Maiden but as Penellaphe Balfour.
As Poppy.
ENCHANTED
Never in my life did I think I would be so thrilled by another’s inability to ride a horse on their own.
But with Poppy seated in front of me and little, if any, space between our lower bodies, I thought perhaps I needed to give a prayer of thanks.
I swallowed a groan as Poppy moved in front of me. With the saddle flat and having no seat, the curve of her ass was pressed fully between my thighs, and when she squirmed, which was a lot, that lovely ass of hers brushed my cock.
Which made what would normally be a boring ride through the empty lands quite intriguing and a bit challenging for my self-control.
And this was only day one.
We hadn’t headed straight into the Blood Forest. It would’ve been the quickest route, but it would’ve also meant traveling through the thickest section. No one, not even Kieran and I, wanted that. So, we were skirting that, riding more toward Pensdurth, where the Blood Forest thinned out. We would enter there.
Watching where Kieran rode ahead with Phillips, one of the more seasoned guards, Poppy wiggled again.
I shifted, sliding my arm through the opening of her cloak and clasping her hip.
She stilled.
I tipped forward, lowering my head to hers. “You doing okay?”
“I can’t really feel my legs.”
I laughed. “You’ll get used to it in a couple of days.”
Her sudden inhale as I moved my thumb across her hip brought a grin to my face. “Great.”
“You sure you ate enough?” I asked. She’d only had a little of the cheese and nuts earlier, and I knew she wasn’t accustomed to eating and riding at the same time.
She nodded. “Are we stopping?”
“No.”
“Then why are we slowing?”
“It’s the path—” Airrick cut himself off as he caught my glare.
For once, he managed to stop himself from calling her the Maiden. My promise to knock his ass off his horse likely helped with that. I saw Poppy grin at the young guard.
Airrick just may end up being knocked off his horse either way.
“The path gets uneven here,” Airrick continued. “And there’s a stream, but it’s hard to see through the growth.”
“That’s not all,” I said, moving my thumb in a circle on Poppy’s hip.
“It’s not?” she asked.
“You see Luddie?” I said, referencing the quiet Huntsman who rode beside us. “He’s keeping an eye out for barrats.”