𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖐 𝕺𝖓𝖊
𝔖𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔶: A high-school project gone wrong sends Astraea Aphelion fifteen centuries back in time, where she has to face a world of dragons, magic, and evil sorcerers. Luckily, she is not alone. In between hardships, she finds a...
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📍 Camelot
⏳ February, 504 AD
After months of working together practically every day, I finally decided to try riding Cinderella around the paddock without a bridle, praying that she would remain calm. It helped that the stables were unusually devoid of people, given that most courtiers and knights had stayed up until very late celebrating Lancelot.
I went to bed at around 22:00 like a good girl.
Dallas and Gaius's mule grazed peacefully as I saddled the dark bay mare. Then I clasped on my helmet and zipped up my protective vest before climbing onto the medieval saddle she wore. I wiggled for a few seconds, still unable to get used to its shape. It made me feel too disconnected from the horse's body, and the high pommel and cantle took some mobility away from me. But, sadly, Dallas's normal English saddle did not fit her, so I had to swallow my discontent.
Pushing past my mental whining, I asked the mare to walk on and guided her around the paddock at an easy pace; mostly testing out the voice command for stopping. Once I was completely certain that she still understood it even without the added pressure from the reins, and that she was willing to perform the action every time I asked; I dared to bring her up to a trot, which she was happy to do as she surged forwards with floaty strides.
Some minutes later, I asked her for a canter, instantly regretting it as my tummy collided with the pommel when I instinctively went to stand on the stirrups and I groaned in pain, but allowed the mare to keep going and resigned to remaining seated.
I halted her at a corner, turned her around, backed her up, and rewarded her with a piece of carrot before asking her to canter again, now to the other side.
Ella finished her workout a couple of minutes later and I cooled her off before untacking her and setting her loose once more. She instantly trotted up to Dallas and stood beside him quietly as they grazed shoulder-to-shoulder. I smiled at the sight, wishing that I could take a photograph. Their friendship is so precious!
I let out a sigh and gathered the saddle and neck-rope, taking them back to the tack room.
"Astra – Lancelot has been arrested!" Merlin startled me as he rushed into the small wooden building.
"What?!" I asked as my stomach dropped – along with the stupid saddle I was carrying.
"They found out about the fake seal," he explained. I noticed that his face was paler than usual.
"Fudge," I mumbled and quickly placed the saddle on its rack before following Merlin towards Camelot's jail.
Surprisingly, the guards let us through without asking any questions and we found our friend sitting on the floor of a cell, with his legs stretched out in front of him and his shoulders slumped in defeat.
