Fighting For Love

Chapter 9

Ram woke up bright and early the next day. He was excited about the horse-riding because he wanted to teach Tashi himself. At 9 o’clock he made his way down to the meeting place: the stables. His friends were already there with their horses. Ram got Leap out of the stables, groomed her and fed her. Then he found a horse for Tashi to ride on. He found a grey stallion called Thunder and decided to give this to Tashi. When he came out of the stable he gasped at what he saw.

Tashi was making her way towards them wearing an amazing short–sleeved maroon and gold gown. She wasn’t wearing much make-up but it all matched her outfit. She was wearing brown riding boots and a gold chain with a dragonfly pendant dangling from it. She was wearing a gold bracelet on her right wrist and her hair was bouncing freely on her shoulders. There was a small red rose in her hair that danced around in the wind. It was an amazing dress and it was sturdy and practical too.

She smiled when she approached the men and gently petted Leap on the nose.

“Hello Princess,” Lucas said.

“You look really nice,” Jon complimented.

“Thank You,” Tashi replied, blushing a little.

“Princess this is your horse. His name is Thunder and he is a stallion,” Ram said petting Thunder. Thunder neighed and slowly walked towards Tashi.

Tashi walked towards Thunder confidently and let Thunder smell her. Ram watched in awe as he saw Tashi and Thunder familiarise themselves with each other.

“Have you ridden a horse before Princess?” Jon asked. “Because you seem to know what to do.”

“Yes. I have ridden a horse before. We had to learn how to. It’s a tradition for the Princesses to ride through their Islands during special festivals and parades,” Tashi replied, not taking her eyes of Thunder.

Ram was a little annoyed. Oh, well. If she already knows then there’s nothing I can do about it.

“So, where are we riding to?” Tashi asked to the group of men.

“We’re going to ride through the forest to a large town, wander around for a while and ride back through the village to the main palace entrance” Lucas replied.

Ram jumped onto his saddle and the rest of them did the same. Daniel lead and they all rode through the forest at top speed. Ram felt like he was free for the first time in months. He soared past Jon, Lucas, Daniel and Tashi. He heard hooves behind him and looked around to see who it was. He was surprised to see Tashi and Thunder catching up to him. He carried on riding and didn’t notice Tashi blast past him. Ram chased after her and rode past her. They carried on riding until they reached the end of the forest. Tashi and Ram stopped and waited for the others to catch up.

They emerged through the trees and they all set off again, at a much slower pace, through the town. They were about to stop for a drink of water, when Ram heard a very familiar voice.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Ramsil ac Burinholt and his little friends. And... who’s this?” the man said.

“What are you doing here David?” Ram asked.

“I was just in the neighbourhood with some of my friends,” David said, gesturing to his four friends; three men and one woman.

“Yeah right,” Lucas muttered under his breath.

“So, who is that?” David repeated again, pointing at Tashi. “She can’t be yours. She’s too gorgeous.” David and his friends laughed, except the woman.

“Hello. I’m David. This is James, Adam, Tom and Katie,” David said to Tashi.

Tashi didn’t reply.