Page 41 of Chained Knight

That’s ridiculous, Ari. And yet, the face in her dreams was an incontrovertible fact. What explanation or theory could fit?

Guessing correctly once when it counted was useless if she couldn’t continue the trend.

He bent slightly, iron still soundless though the chains draping his arms swayed. “The same,” he murmured, and his breath held the same spice-tang as last night’s strange drink. “Your eyes, in your quiet and your speaking, but more than that. Since the moment I first saw you amid flowers on the heath while your companions fled in terror, I have known what you are.”

Um.Her brain seized up again.Come on, Ari. Don’t be stupid. Do something.

But what? The sense of helplessness wasn’t like waiting for Mike to go off again or yet another session of not living up to her mother-in-law’s standards. Instead of breathless tension it was endless falling, but that wasn’t quite right either.

Like flying. That was it, the imagined rush of wind under feathered wings or the stomach-flutter when a plane bounced on a pocket of warm air.

His lips moved slightly, as if wanting to say more. But he stopped, those eyes darkly incandescent and the rest of him a haze of dangerous warmth, an unfamiliar sensation filling Ari from slipper-soles to scalp.

“I…” A tiny, helpless whisper. She was failing miserably at negotiation. “I don’t know what to do.”

His chin dipped incrementally, the merest suggestion of a nod. “You have freed me, and brought hope to your companions. You are alive, and before me again.” His mouth curved up at either corner, just a fraction. “It is… enough.”

Nothing is ever enough.The crashing realization that she was making a gigantic fool of herself pushed Ari back a step, nearly tripping on the threshold.

His right gauntlet shot out, closing with that same exquisite care around her arm. A brief, steadying touch, but it burned all the way through her, and when he let go she was almost bereft. A susurration of waking went through the room behind her, cloth moving and the sighing of a deep yawn.

The chained man turned back to his vigil. His broad black-armored back was stiff, but something in his stance said it wasn’t anger.

She couldn’t find the word for his body language, which was dangerous—anticipating someone else’s mood was the only way to be even halfway safe. Plus, Ari realized, she’d lost the chance to make her case.

Now, in fact, she couldn’t even remember what her casewas.

A crimson furnace on the horizon said dawn was underway instead of merely nigh, and there were three new equines grouped with the others outside the garden fence, stamping and making horsey sounds. Two were grey, one dark and one much paler, and the third was cream-colored with a flowing mane and tail, its tack adorned with silver discs. Hannixe regarded the beasts somberly as Keners closed the gate; the house was buttoned up tight and looked forlorn now, as if it sensed abandonment.

“They are tame enough,” the Grey Lady murmured. Her elbow brushed Ari’s arm, comfortingly close. “But I have not ridden in some while.”

“Yesterday was my first time.” It was a lot easier to talk to another woman; Ari’s fingers moved uneasily over pale cloth. Hannixe had produced this sleeved mantle—clearly cut to accommodate the dress—from somewhere, and fussed with thelarge draping hood while Ari tried it on. “I’m surprised I didn’t fall off.”

“We shall n-no doubt go at an easy pace; ’twill be difficult to fall.” She was trying to be comforting, maybe; Hannixe smoothed a fold of her own rain-colored cloak. “And our lord prince is not likely to select a beast so ungrateful as to inconvenience his lady.”

If you say so. “He seems very…”

“Grim?” The other woman’s dark eyes gleamed as she glanced swiftly aside, the corners of her mouth tilting up. “He was passing sober before, indeed, but now…”

“He’s very thorough,” Ari said. It was difficult not to smile, and she was deeply glad for another girl in the group. In fact, Hannixe reminded her of a college friend, cheerful brunette Annelise, who had moved to Massachusetts the year after graduation. “And sort of…”Repressed. There was a term in their language, but Ari wasn’t sure it had the right overtones.

“Difficult to say, is it not?” Hannixe’s laugh, low and sweet, brought a glance from Keners, who was busy checking the tack on the new grey equines. He smiled before turning back to his work, the stripe at his temple flushing as mist thinned further and ruddy light crept between houses. “Many called him cheerless before, though you found much comfort in… but forgive me, I should not speak of such things.”

It would have been nice to get more context, but Ari was uneasy with any mention of ‘before’. The urge to look over her shoulder to see who they were really talking about grew more pronounced each time.

Jazarl and the chained man were in conference at the head of the group, where the big black equine stood patient, tail flicking irregularly. The blue-haired man nodded, conveying the impression of a respectful bow, and swung away, gesturing to hisfellows. “To horse,” he called, and the chained man moved along the fence, bearing down on the women.

Keners reached them first, his dark grey half-cloak dotted with mist. “May I have the honour, my lady Hannixe?”

“Of a certainty.” Her cheeks turned pink; the fresh color was even prettier though her eyes were still red-rimmed. The damage did indeed look permanent.With my queen gone, all I could do was weep, she said, matter-of-factly, while braiding Ari’s hair with swift grace.Hand me that r-ribbon, if it please you… oh, very lovely indeed.

“My lady Ari.” The chained man arrived, the metal on his boots making faint sounds against paving—he was back to advertising his movements. “We are ready, when it pleases you to mount.”

Great. Now she had to struggle into the saddle wearing this getup. There was plenty of material to cover everything even if Hannixe hadn’t done something to make the skirt divided, frowning at cloth while that strange unsound of magic or a different technology brushed the air.

Thankfully, it was easy—one foot in the cupped cradle of the chained man’s armored hands, a moment of effort, and Ari found herself atop the white equine as if she’d been performing the movement for years. He even guided her toes into the stirrup, and she found the one on the other side with a glance.Okay. Great. I can do this. Ari gathered the reins, concentrating hard and biting her lip.

Keners performed the same service for Hannixe before swinging into the saddle of the slightly darker dappled grey. The chained man looked up at Ari for a moment, and from this angle she could see an edge of soft black cloth below the lip of his gorget.

---