Tears of Iron and Gold

Chapter 2

 I headed to the stables a little bit before dawn. To my surprise Jace was already there packed and ready to go, by his horse.

"Up so early?" I ask trying not to sound concerned. He smirks

"Couldn't sleep," He said "what about you?"

I just nod in response, too tired to talk. I had stayed up trying to plan a way to get Jace out of this, but I came out with nothing that would work. I looked up at him to see that he was staring.

"Shall we," He said, gesturing to his horse. "Unless, you would like to attend your execution?" He asked with a playful smile.

I got up on Willow after strapping my riding bag to her saddle, then I rode out of the stable with Jace following behind me. The grass was dead and yellowing, which made it crunch under the hooves of our horses. I snapped at the reins and Willow ran, it felt so nice to feel free again, but I wasn't. Not yet. A strong gust of wind hit me, almost blowing me off the saddle when I felt a hand supporting me by my waist. I got back onto Willow and turned around.

"When was the last time you went riding?," He said laughing to himself. "It seems like you've lost your touch"

I blushed thinking of the last time I went riding with Jace.

"Well maybe it has been a while, but I can still kick your butt at it" I said smiling at him. Ew, Why was I smiling? I quickly looked away.

"Bet?" He said, I could almost hear the smirk on his face. I turned around to face him and raised one eyebrow.

"Bet" I called and Willow ran forward. I heard the sound of hooves trailing behind me,they were getting closer. I continued riding further until the hooves behind me could no longer be heard. I smiled to myself.

"Still think I lost my touch?" I said waiting for a response. Silence. I looked over my shoulder to look for Jace. He was nowhere to be seen.

"Jace?" I called out, my voice shaking. Then someone tapped my shoulder.

"Boo!" I jumped and whipped my head around so fast my neck hurt. I glared at Jace.

"Don't do that! It's not funny!" I yelled, but he was already laughing so hard it looked like it hurt. I let out a giggle.

"See told you it was funny" He said in between laughs

"No it's not" I said laughing now.

"You are the most confusing girl I have ever met Reha." He said after he calmed down a little. He looked up at me making direct eye contact. I didn't notice until now how beautiful and calm his eyes were. No. I didn't just think that. Ugh, hanging out with Jace was starting to get to my head.

I rolled my eyes and snapped the reins, so that Willow was now walking gracefully with me on her back.

"So where's the first stop?" I asked over my shoulder.

"In about a day. There is a forest on the edge of the Viryn kingdom, it should be safe enough to stop there for a little" He replied, hurrying Pepper to catch up with Willow, until he was right beside me. I eyed his horse for a second until I noticed he was missing something.

"Hey, where's your saddle bag?" I said pointing to mine, still strapped to my saddle.

"Oh," He said with a smirk, " I thought I could rely on what you brought"

I pulled on the reins making Willow abruptly stop. "What?" I said

"I mean, I won't need much until we get to the small town in Viryn, but that's still a couple of days travel" He said, stopping Pepper beside me.

"Well, I didn't bring much," I said rolling my eyes. "And I know what you want, so have fun sleeping in the dirt" I rested a hand on my single bedroll and slightly kicked Willow and she began at a slow paced gallop.

When I turned around, Jace was still where we had stopped. Staring at where I was, his mouth hanging open.

"What?" I said, slightly annoyed. "Are you coming with? Or not?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm coming" He said racing towards me. I had never heard him stutter, he was usually very confident in what he had to say, but all I knew was that this was going to be a very long ride. 

We had been riding for a couple of hours when I told Jace I needed to stop.

"Burnt out already?" He said "I thought you would at least last a day or two"

"I'm not Burnt Out! I just need a break." I said, getting off Willow when we stopped at a nearby river. I winced at the shooting pain "and my back is killing me"

He laughed "Don't worry, you get used to it and eventually, you don't feel it at all" He climbed off his horse too.

"Sometimes I forget that you basically ride horses for a living" I stated, turning to look at him.

"Actually I protect you -erm- you and your family of course," He said, awkwardly smiling "for a living, you know" He looked away from me

We found an open meadow deeper in the forest not too far from where we were. We both took a seat on a nearby fallen tree.

"Why did you become a guard?," I said looking at my leather boots, which were now caked with mud.

"I-I think it's time we got back to riding," He said, standing up as he spoke "Unless you want it to take a week to get to Viryn?" He continued to walk out of the forest, not turning back to make sure I was with him.