Horse Stone (Book 1 of Ilyrian Series)

Chapter 68

Mrs. Treat opened her mouth and then closed her mouth without saying a word, and I could tell that she was trying to come up with a plan to get me off but not to get my father involved. She pressed her lips into a thin line and stayed silent because she couldn't think of anything.

"Uh... Shadow is her horse, so she can tell you what to do," one of the girls that had watched me work with Vanar said. She folded her arms across her chest and scowled when I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You don't own him, so get off of him."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and rolled my eyes, annoyed that she was opening her big fat mouth while Mrs. Treat and I were talking about something that did not concern her. "But she had abused him before I got here," I replied, my voice cold and sharp, and she flinched because she was surprised that I talked back to her at that moment when I hadn't in the past. "I am pretty sure that the state would have something to say about that."

"And, I do think that it is a good thing that Hadley did that," Liam said, and they looked at him. He cleared his throat and shifted on his feet, and I had a feeling that he did not like the attention on him now. His cheeks turned red while he took a deep breath, but he didn't back down on his comment or what he thought. "Maybe he would be more well behaved when she rides him again? I mean, I am pretty sure that she wants to, right?" He looked at me, and I nodded silently while I turned my gaze back to Mrs. Treat.

"I-" Mrs. Treat started but stopped when a sudden thought occurred to her. She knew that I could tell my dad about banning me from riding him ever again, and she knew that he would do anything in his power to get me back on him. Mrs. Treat sighed and shook her head. "If you get hurt by him, then don't come crying to me."

"What!?" one of the females exclaimed, shocked. "You're going to let her ride him after she was disrespectful to you? If we did that, then you would have sent us straight home."

Mrs. Treat didn't respond and narrowed her eyes at me while she scowled. "Make sure that you get him washed completely; is that understood?" she asked, and I nodded, deciding it was best not to say another word. "Good," she said. "Let's go, girls." And with that, she turned around and left without another word, and the other girls went with her, some complaining about how there were "double standards" and "favoritism" going on because she didn't send me home.

I let the breath that I was holding out and relaxed before I rubbed Vanar's sweaty neck. I looked at Liam to see that he had stayed and offered him a hesitant smile.

"That was amazing," Liam said and leaned against the fence. He didn't look to his side when Serena moved back to the fence and stood next to him. "I thought there were many times where you were about to fall off."

"I was about to when he pulled some of his stunts," I replied and rubbed Vanar's neck some more, and he nuzzled my boot. I sat taller in the saddle, feeling accomplished that I had ridden him and had stayed in the saddle through it all. "When did you all get here? How did you know that I was riding Shadow?"

"Leanne told us while Mom and I were talking about what had happened at school earlier," Liam said and shrugged. He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat when he caught my confused look, and a blush appeared on his cheeks. He forgot that I didn't know any of the girls' names. "She's the one that complained to Mom about you not being sent home from the stable for being rude to her."

I nodded and stayed silent. I was glad that I wasn't friends with her because she sounded like she was a bitch who thought that the world owed her everything. I had a feeling that she was not going to like me whenever I interacted with Vanar, but I didn't care, for I had my horse, and I was happy.

"Oh, how are you feeling?" he asked while he studied me. "I mean, you passed out, too, because of something, right? I mean, they, whoever they were, did find us together."

I nodded to let him know that I had passed out, too. "I think it was Dr. Wilson and Adrian who had found us," I replied, not telling him that Inen was first because he didn't know about the wraith. "I don't know what had happened, but I do know that we were together." I cleared my throat and shifted in the saddle to get more comfortable. "How about you? How are you feeling?"

Liam shrugged. "Confused," he replied. "All I remember is that we were talking about some book that you had found, and then it goes blank from there." He paused and cleared his throat while he studied. "Do you know what has happened to us?" he asked and raised an eyebrow.

I shook my head, no, even though I did know what had happened and what caused us to pass out. Well, I knew what caused me to pass out. I still had no clue why he passed out nor why he was in such a dazed state, so I made a mental note to talk to either Adrian or Dr. Wilson tomorrow.

Liam cocked his head and studied me, and I had a small suspicion that he knew I was lying, but he didn't push me to tell him what had happened to us. His eyes were bright and shining, and I could see this admiration in them that covered his suspicion. "You look different," he said while he studied me further, and I cocked my head and raised an eyebrow while I looked at him.

"How?"

Liam smiled and shook his head in response, and I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his brain. "Like a ruler," he said, finally. He cleared his throat and shifted on his feet while he studied me before he nodded as if he was agreeing with himself on something. "Like Arthur."