The Future Queen and King of Dauntless

Chapter 10

Tris POV

Tobias takes my hand and leads me through a long hallway. At the end there is a door, he opens it and we walk outside. I hear grunts and cheering the sound of metal hitting metal, metal hitting wood, flesh hitting bags, flesh hitting flesh and the sound of gunfire surround me. We keep walking as we pass by the dauntless training some stop and stare at me while others give a slight nod to Tobias. We walk past them and into what I assume the stables are. He stops in front of a beautiful chestnut mare.

"This is Ember." He says patting the horse.

"She was my mother's horse, after my mother died I kept her and have trained with her since. She is sweet and well trained. Do you know how to ride?" He ask me looking over his shoulder.

"No, I never learned."

"Well today you will. Would you like to ride her or have a horse of your own?"

"You would let me ride your mother's horse?" I ask unsure how to feel about this.

"It would be a great honor." He looks at me with all the love in his eyes. I know he is being honest with me. I nod.

"I still would like to have a horse on my own so we can go riding together, but I would love to learn on Ember."

Tobias smiles, grabs the saddle and starts preparing Ember for a ridder. I stand there watching the muscles contract under his tight black shirt. I can't help the blush that crosses my cheeks when he looks over at me just staring at him. I hear him chuckle.

"Like what you see?"

I close my mouth. I didn't even realize it was open. My cheeks eel even warmer now. I bet I could put a tomato to shame. I nod slightly, and he chuckles again.

"Okay. She is ready for you. Come here." Tobias extends his hand out to me and I gingerly take hold of it. I can admit to myself and myself only that I am slightly nervous. Not only about being able to ride this horse, but I also wish to not make a fool of myself in front of Tobias nor the Dauntless training outside the stables. I am to be a leader of these people one day and I prefer to not have to deal with the taunts and whispers if I mess this up.

"Here, place your foot on this rung."

Tobias holds my waist as I place my foot in the stirrup. Then he lifts me as if I weigh nothing and tells me to throw my foot over the other side of the saddle. I look at him for a moment.

"Dauntless don't ride side saddle."

I nod and throw my leg over the other side, and center myself. Tobias points out how to hold the reigns and how to guide Ember. Then he asks if I am ready. I nod slightly unsure of my voice. He smiles gently at me and guides us to fence, he opens the gate and we enter, then he closes it again. There are jumps and open land all around us. I have to say I was happy enough that I have stayed on the horse so far.

"Are you ready?" Tobias asks. I furrow my eyebrows unsure what he means.

"Just remember you wanted to learn just like a dauntless solider does."

My eyes widen at the implications of his words, but before I can say anything Tobias gives a good whack to Ember and yells "YAH". We shoot off like a bullet. A slight yelp escapes my throat. I can hear Tobias laughing slightly before I am too far away.

Ember continues to gallop but not as fast as a few seconds ago. She must know this field like I know the back of my hand. I barely have to guide her. We round the fence when we reach the end. I feel like a bird flying through the sky. I let go of the reigns with one hand and lift it so it glides through the air the wind blowing around my hair. A smile on my face. I decide to be bold.

I grip the reigns again with both hands tightly, lean into the horse and guide her to a jump. As we get closer I feel my heart pounding in my chest. I feel my eyes widen, my grip tightens and we jump. The horse lands with a slight jolt but I remain planted on. I shout in excitement and I hear cheering. I look over and see a few Dauntless standing around the fence and sitting in the middle on the top rung of the fence is Tobias cheering louder than the others. A huge smile on his face. We take another jump then another and one more for good measure before heading back to Tobias and the crowd that is surrounding him. I see Zeke, Uriah, Shauna and Marlene as well, their eyes are wide and I see a look of shock on the girl's faces and a playful smirk on the boys. I stop on a dime a mere six inches from where Tobias is sitting, he doesn't even flinch. I am breathing hard a smile on my face, eyes wide with adrenaline and quickly jump off the horse.

"So what is next?"

"You're going to shoot a gun." Tobias says smiling, as he jumps off the fence and scoops me up into his arms, his face burying into my windblown hair spinning me while in his warm embrace. When we pull away I look up at him and stand on my toes to give him a chaste kiss on his soft lips. More cheering from the soldiers.

"Tris you're a natural."

"No, I'm Dauntless."

He smiles and kisses me with so much passion I feel like I may melt. We pull away and Tobias tells a stable boy to get Ember back to her stall, and request a new horse for me. He grabs my hand, interlacing our fingers together and head to the shooting range.