Page 19 of The Mirror and the Curse

White and the great stallion exchanged greetings next, and Eddi thought—though she couldn’t be sure—the stallion approved of him. White stood tall while evidently acknowledging the older horse’s superiority.

“That went well,” Kai observed. “White has good manners. Let’s go meet them.”

When he hopped down, Eddi moved to follow, but something tugged at her hair. “Ouch!” Reaching for the back of her head, she turned and came face to face with a foal who’d been quietly sucking on the end of her braid, which was now frazzled and soppy.

“Kai,” Eddi whispered, then louder. “Kai!” She tugged at her braid, but the foal tugged back, flicking its tail.

Kai appeared in her peripheral vision, and she sensed rather than heard him chuckle. But he must have done something mentally, because the filly opened her mouth and let the braid drop, then stamped a tiny hoof and let out a shrill whinny. Eddi could only smile at the cuteness. But then Kai pointed at her arm, and she realized another foal had sampled her sleeve while she was distracted. “Why me?” she groaned, gently extracting the damp fabric from eager pink gums and lips. “Eew!”

“You must smell delicious.” Hearing laughter in Kai’s voice, she gave him a quelling look.

Meanwhile, the adult horses had approached to watch, necks extended, ears twitching. Kai bowed slightly, so Eddi slowly rose to her feet and copied his manners.

“Storm and Shale say you and White are welcome here.” Kai slipped Eddi a sideward smirk. “The braid sucker is their youngest.”

“Did you plan this meeting?” Eddi asked from the corner of her mouth while admiring the magnificent creatures.

“I hoped it might happen. The herd often uses this valley as a nursery. Storm is the dominant stallion in this region.”

“Are all these horses related to Flurry?”

“More or less. Storm and Shale are the dominant pair. The others are their offspring, their—for lack of a better term—in-laws, and their grandfoals.”

“Wait . . . The dominant stallion allows other stallions in his herd?”

“These are fterotá, not ordinary horses, Eddi. The pairs bond for life.”

“Fascinating!” Eddi observed the little families with a sense of wonder.

“We’d better head back to the resort now.” Kai gave her an apologetic glance. “I don’t want to outstay our welcome . . . or be late for work.”

“Can we return sometime?” She didn’t even try to sound casual. This interlude easily ranked among the best moments of her life to date.

His gaze caught and held hers. “Maybe. I’ll get Flurry’s opinion about that first.”

When he blinked, Eddi abruptly bent to pick up her helmet. “Ick! My braid is still soggy,” she muttered, feeling short of breath. The altitude must be getting to her. “Next time, I’ll pin it up.”

Eddi jumped back into the resort’s social whirl that week, for the most part adjusting to the new normal without Beatrice. The regular crowd welcomed her, and time passed in a whirl of activity. At times she wandered down the hill to haunt the stables, but Kai was always busy, and she didn’t like to be a bother. White seemed content to graze in the pastures with ordinary horses who had decided he wasn’t as frightening as he looked. He sometimes hopped from one pasture to another where the grass was apparently greener, but he never once attempted to fly off on his own.

At her Wednesday and Friday lessons, Kai gave her exercises to practice with White, but no matter how diligently she applied his instructions, nothing seemed to change. Those few occasions when she’d thought she might have sensed White’s emotions were probably wishful thinking.

But each time her spirits began to sink, Kai would suggest a ride, and they hopped on their fterotá for a jaunt into the surrounding mountains. Those early-morning excursions were the highlights of her week, brief though they were. Mostly she liked being friends with Kai again, and she knew without even trying to sense his emotions that White was enjoying their holiday as much as she did.

Everything seemed idyllic until Saturday rolled around.

First, two of Eddi’s resort buddies showed up, taking rooms directly across the hall from hers, and wasted no time before dropping in for a visit. Maria draped over one of the plushy chairs in Eddi’s suite, her legs dangling over its arm, while Princess Ianthe sat opposite Eddi on the sofa.

“I finally got my father to tell Prince Max to leave me alone,” Ianthe eagerly confided. “I’ve told him again and again that he’s the last man I would ever choose to marry, but he never listened to me. Now I think—I hope—Bampás got the message through to him.”

Maria shook her head. “Don’t count on it. That man believes he is irresistible. In his mind, you’re just playing hard to get. Now it’s my turn to spill some juicy news Eddi will want to hear.”

“What’s that?”

“You know how Lord Carevo has been pursuing Princess Kadri from Nevsehir? Well, she refused him, and I think he is truly heartbroken this time.”

“Ooh,” Ianthe said. “Great time for you to swoop in and pick up the pieces, Eddi.”

Eddi let out a frustrated huff. “How many times do I have to tell you? I don’t want Dino; I got over him almost two years ago. I’m sorry if he’s heartbroken, but maybe he’ll benefit from a taste of his own medicine. If you think he’s so great, why don’t you snag him?”

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