Page 25 of The Mirror and the Curse

“Oh.” A slight line between his brows smoothed. “Must have been fun.” Recalling his manners, Fidelio tardily greeted Eddi’s friends, then indicated Raquel. “I just finished showing Raquel the new barn,” he exclaimed as if Eddi must be thrilled at the news. “She’ll be bringing Tirador a week after the Summer Ball.”

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Raquel’s tone curled Eddi’s fingers into claws. “Del and I know these mountains; we’ve both competed in the Cup race twice now. We’ll be able to practice and explore and provide guidance to the rest of you.”

“A group flight will be safer than only two,” Fidelio added.

“We’re required to file a flight plan before we go flying off into the mountains,” Eddi reminded him. “Even on resort grounds it can be dangerous.”

In her peripheral vision she caught Raquel’s slight eye roll, and before Fidelio could answer, the older girl said, “Del, we’d better pick a table and eat in a hurry if we’re going to find good seats for the movie.”

Fidelio looked a little self-conscious, but he only nodded. “See you all there!” he said, avoiding Eddi’s gaze as Raquel almost dragged him away.

It was going to be a long evening.

Early the next morning, Eddi awoke groggy to her requested wake-up knock. After another restless night, she was tempted to roll over and lose herself in sleep. But then memory kicked in and her eyes popped wide. Her lesson! For one blessed hour, she could escape the social whirl with all its confusion, have fun working with Kai and White . . . and maybe sneak in a quick flight.

Minutes later, she hurried down to the stables for her lesson. The sky above the mountains was pale in color but still dotted with stars when she approached the barn to again find White ready and waiting for her in the courtyard, his ears pricked, his expression eager.

“Good morning! It’s been too long since our last lesson.” She gave him a hug, then leaned under his neck to address Kai’s back. “You don’t need to do that for me, you know.”

He straightened from cleaning White’s right front hoof. “I know, but getting it done early saves more time for your actual lessons, and maybe a morning flight.” She barely glimpsed his dimples in the silvery darkness, but she could see that he wore his flight suit. “Where would you like to work today? We could use either the small paddock—the one with the big rowan tree—or the old cross-country course. Flurry will find us when she gets here.”

“The paddock is closer. Can we take off from there?”

“I don’t see why not.” He raised a dark brow. “But not before you two put in a good effort.”

“What are we working on today?”

“I think we’ll try ground school. See if he can pick up your commands with no verbal or hand signals.”

Soon, with Kai perched on top of the paddock fence to observe and offer suggestions, White moved around Eddi in a generous circle. She started him with hand signals, using her stick and string and complimenting him warmly on his obedience. He obeyed flawlessly, trotting, cantering, switching directions, and even backing up on command, so she began alternating verbal commands with the hand signals. He responded just as promptly. After a few minutes of this, she silently asked him to halt, and he stopped short.

“Good boy,” she said quietly. “I knew you could do it.”

Realizing his mistake, White looked startled, then almost sulky.

Eddi heard Kai’s quiet chuckle. “You pulled a Simon-says on him.”

“What happened?” A deep voice spoke from the sidelines, and Fidelio stepped from the rowan tree’s shadow into Eddi’s line of sight.

Her stomach jolted. But when her gaze flashed to Kai, his dry half-smile somehow relaxed her. She could handle this. And maybe White could convince Fidelio that her lessons weren’t a waste of time and money.

“White responded to my silent command to stop,” she explained brightly.

“How can you know for sure?” the prince asked, propping his forearms on the top fence rail. “Maybe he just got tired or fed up with traveling in a circle. He’s a horse.”

“He’s more than just a horse,” Eddi retorted.

Fidelio raised a brow but had sense enough to hold his tongue.

Eddi motioned with the stick for White to walk on again, and he obeyed. Only then did she return her attention to the prince. “White does understand when I send him mental commands and other thoughts, but until now, he has done his best to keep me from knowing it. I can’t be certain, but I suspect he was abused in his past and doesn’t trust people.”

A frown looked out of place on Fidelio’s face. He shook his head a little. “So, show me. Without even looking at the horse, give him a command.”

Eddi motioned for White to halt, then locked eyes with him and silently begged him not to make her look like a fool. His toothy yawn was daunting.

A glance at Kai earned her a tiny nod. Encouraged, she walked over to Fidelio and whispered, “I will ask him to switch directions.”

He gave her a big grin and whispered back, “Are you keeping this secret from the horse or from your trainer?”

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