A Beast's Tale

Chapter 39

Leon and I set out with two hundred and fifty troops each. Likely an excessive amount for what Nokto had reported, but I was taking no chances. We marched through the night, keeping a steady pace with no intention of stopping until we reached Flandre's barony. Shortly after dawn, scouts reported three horses incoming at high speed. One was Clavis' chestnut. I gave orders to let them approach. Clavis' horse was lathered in sweat when he pulled up beside Leon and me.

"It's confirmed," he gasped, as breathless as his steed. "The fort has been fortified and is guarded by two hundred men, but they were only just called up. I couldn't get in, but she's there. And it's not good."

"Got it. We'll take it from here," Leon said. "Now get back to the palace and get some rest. Sariel is working with the others to draft a treaty. We'll be back soon - with Ivetta."

Clavis nodded, and then he said darkly, "It better be soon. From what I hear, Flandre has cracked, and his dungeons are seeing a lot of use lately. Nobody who goes in makes it out alive."

I'd been seething silently since Clavis first started his report. Something snapped inside me at his last words. I kicked my horse into a gallop, Leon's voice caught by the wind and whipped away from me.

Time was of the essence if she were to live. And she had to live.

But, unlike Flandre, I was unwilling to run my horse into the ground. A dead horse would do me no good. Mine would have kept up the breakneck pace I'd set, if I asked him to, but I finally reined him in around lunchtime. We'd reached a small stream, and I dismounted so we both could get a drink before we continued.

He'd been my mount for eight years now; I'd selected him in Jade after retiring my previous mount due to old age. Nobody had dared contradict my choice, though nobody understood it. The white stallion that caught my eye had been completely wild from birth, and as a two-year old, he was thought to be untrainable, worth nothing except as a stud. But I saw potential in him. He was massive, as strong as a draft horse but with finer bone structure, capable of great speed, afraid of nothing, and remarkably intelligent. The perfect steed for battle, if I could train him. Which I'd never done before, but I'd read enough books on the subject to give it a try. Traditional training methods hadn't worked on him, anyway; if I went with something a bit unconventional, who was to say it wouldn't work?

"Are you ready, Blade?"

He stamped a hoof impatiently and snorted.

I chuckled and patted him on the neck. "Then let's go."

Licht was the best with horses of any of my brothers, but Blade had never responded to Licht - or anybody. For months, I'd sat in the pasture with Blade, reading, until eventually he came to me on his own. The day we bonded was the day I first touched him. I was reading, as usual, and he came over to me and started nuzzling at my hair. I reached up without a thought to push him away, but when my hand touched his soft muzzle, he leaned into it. Training progressed quickly after that point, and he became as much a necessity to me on the battlefield as my sword.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" I murmured thoughtfully as the countryside passed us by. I sighed and released the reins, lying back across his broad back and interlacing my hands behind my head. He kept up his pace, going in the same direction I'd told him, as I expected. In times of peace, I took him out once every week or so for a long ride like this. I'd neglected him since Ivetta arrived at the palace.

She'd enjoy a ride like this, with the warm sun beating down on us and the quiet solitude of the scenery. I'd have to take her out with Blade one day. He would accept her, if I told him to. I could imagine her seated in front of me, my arms wrapped around her waist, the wind whipping color into her cheeks as her green eyes danced happily.