The dark brown Friesian horse thundered its hooves against the forest's floor. Its rider was forward in the saddle, egging the mount faster. He yelled and pressed his heels in to the horses' flanks. The Friesian's nostrils were flaring as it pushed itself faster, farther. It didn't let its panic set in—it kept its mind on running and the commands of its rider. The rider took a moment to turn and look behind him. He couldn't hear anything past the horse's movements and his own breaths. Anything that might have been following them was lost to the darkness of the moonless night.
Scott continued at the pace for a few more minutes. But he could already tell that the horse was rapidly tiring out. If he was indeed being chased by something as he had thought, the Friesian would need to be able to get up and go. Scott leaned back, pushing his heels into the stirrups as he pulled steadily on the reins. The horse gratefully slowed to a stop, his muscular sides expanding in heaves as he began to regain his breath. Scott reached down to give a couple quick pats to his horse's thick corded neck. He was fond of this horse, had assisted the birth all by himself. Heat radiated from the horse's skin and Scott's palm came away damp with sweat. He could feel the tension in his horse and strained to see it's ears, listening for any indication of danger.
So as not to cause injury to the horse, Scott gave a gentle squeeze of his thighs to move in to a walk. Even if they weren't in danger he still needed to get back to the castle. Allison was due their first child any day now. He had known this mission would be cutting it close to the due date, but it was an important courier assignment that Lydia could have only entrusted to him. Especially during Stiles' absence, they all had to be very cautious about anything they did for the kingdom. Lydia was more than capable to handle everything but there was something running underfoot that was making her nervous. All of this heaped onto his soon-to-be parenthood was quite the weight that Scott had to carry. Feeling the anxiety seep in to his bones, Scott shook his head and picked up a jog. His Friesian let out a small huff but had mostly cooled down from the earlier mad dash.
Making way once more towards the kingdom's walls, Scott allowed his mind to wander in the direction of his child. They didn't know if it was going to be a boy or girl and honestly Scott didn't care. It would be nice to have a boy to carry on the McCall name but he would also love to see Allison teaching swords to their little girl. He wondered who the child would look more like. Hopefully they would have their mother's brown hair that was as rich as the soil in spring. He thought of children with Allison's button nose and couldn't help the grin that broke his face. They hadn't decided on a name yet although Scott knew whatever Allison named their child it would be beautiful and perfect. Scott was both nervous and excited to be a father. His own father had never really been in his life, leaving when Scott had not yet entered manhood. King Stilinski and Deaton had been the closest things to father figures Scott had ever known. He wanted to be the best father he could be. Scott was going to be there for his child, boy or girl, and do everything within his power to do it.
Caught in his reverie Scott wasn't paying attention to the environment around him. Even without the stars to guide him, he knew the way back to the kingdom. He had traveled this route many times with this mount. There was a falter in the Friesian's step and Scott was brought back to the moment. Scott looked around, trying to see what had caused it. There weren't any loose rocks or tree roots to trip the horse in this area. Perhaps a bush rat had passed by and startled the horse. But Scott had never known this horse to be particularly frightful. He moved his heel back on the horse's flank and pressed, leaning forward and clicking his tongue to ask for a canter. The horse stalled, shaking his head against the reins. Scott frowned and asked again this time giving a bit of a kick with his other leg. A louder protest came from the Friesian and he bucked before rearing onto his hind legs. Scott adjusted to this and leaned forward to nearly hug the horse's body with his abdomen to keep from falling off. Even after grounding itself, the horse was jittery and did a half turn. Scott could feel his brow furrowing. Just what was spooking his horse?
