In the name of love

11

"So, how long have you been riding?" Sana asked.

Dahyun kept her gaze down and held the rope a little tighter. Being alone with Sana managed to make her feel way more nervous than she needed. The memories from when her parents told her she had to learn horseriding came to her mind.

"Well, I learnt it when I was seven."

"Have you fallen off a horse before?"

"Yeah, it is part and parcel of horse riding"

Upon seeing Sana's tensed face, Dahyun quickly added, "But nothing too serious, it was just a few knocks and there. Besides my first horse was a little temperamental, nothing like Tofu."

The docile white horse neighed vibrantly as if it understood her owner's word of praise. Eagle, on the other hand, snorted with jealousy.

"You are good as well!" Dahyun patted on its back. Sana laughed along at their interaction.

The two have been riding the horses alone for quite a distance. They were almost reaching the end of the riding trail that was heavily surrounded by the nature greenery. The air there was much cooler compared to the main compound.

Any further, the trail would be inaccessible as the thick undergrowth of the forested zone would block out most of the sunlight and the rocky paths restricted any form of comfortable horse riding, especially for the horses. Although there were times where she and her brother would venture further, they were quickly stopped by the King, their father.

The most important reason being, it was well outside the patrol zone of the royal guards. It was a norm for guards to be stationed along the trail whenever the royals were having leisure horse riding. However, to prevent disturbance in order to preserve the privacy of the royals, they were sparsely placed, with perhaps two or three covering the entire riding grounds as compared to the well-guarded compound.

For the countless times Dahyun has been riding along this trail, nothing had ever happened before. Safety issues were never compromised. Being well loved by the public, none of the members of the royal family were ever targeted for assassination or kidnapping. The last known assassination on a royal was hundreds of years ago during the chaotic period of internal power struggle for the throne. Dahyun was extremely grateful that she was born in the present era where power struggles for kingdom were all stories of the past.

"I think we are almost at the end of the trail. Let's turn back."

"Aren't you going to wait for your uncle?"

"We can meet up with him along the way back, besides, it is getting late." Dahyun eyed her watch. It was close to 4 pm and Jo Kwon's birthday party was at 7 pm. It would take another 30 minutes to get back to the stable and another 30 minutes back to the palace for a change of clothes.

____

The dark figure grouched low among the knee length grasses, hiding from plain view. His instruction was clear. Hide well, stay hidden, and execute the order in precision. There was no reason for failure. All the other guards were purposely placed well outside of range. With a dart rifle in hand, he carefully raised it up, taking aim at one of the two horses. This was the perfect opportunity.

Then all of a sudden, the horses' heads reared up with ears pointed upwards as if it had heard something out of the ordinary. Sana struggled with the turn as Tofu refused to obey her gentle reining. Instead, Tofu was stamping its foot on the ground, trying to stand tall.

"I need some help over here. She is not listening to me!" Sana requested.

Dahyun noticed the strange behaviour of the horses. They would only display such mannerism when they feel threatened. But to what? Their surroundings were quiet and surreal.