The Tale of the Leaders

Chapter 4

Atticus looked up at the tall brute in front of him. He looked back at his mentor with fear in his wide eyes. 

"I have to get up on that thing?", he asked.

"Yes and that thing is a horse", his mentor said with a sigh.

Atticus let out a gulp and shakily got up on the horse. His mentor watched him with a nod of approval.  He let out a sigh of relief and waited for the next set of instructions. Once he was given what he was needed to do, he sighed and hit the whip lightly to the horse's flank. The horse neighed and galloped off with a whiny. Atticus held on tightly and tried not to look back at his mentor. Fear made him gasp with terror and he closed his eyes shut. He opened them slightly and he let out a tiny noise of wonder. It felt like he was flying! He let out a whoop of sheer happiness and turned the horse around with a light turn of his reigns. Once the horse came to a stop, he leaped off of the animal and he trotted happily up to his mentor.

"How was that?", he asked.

"Impressive for a beginner", he said with a dip of his head.

Atticus felt pride fill up inside of him as he waited for his next training session. His eyes widened when he spotted a young boy about his age walking with an older man, his mentor maybe. He looked up at his own mentor and he saw that he was watching the boy with interest. 

"Well, hello Queen Eliza. What are you doing near our border?", he asked with a dip of his body in a respectful gesture. 

"I wanted to bring Bryan to see the forest", she said with a regal nod of her head. 

Atticus looked down at the younger boy and noticed he was watching him. His wide eyes were watching him and he couldn't help but staring into the young child's eyes.  His gaze softened when he spotted the young Flora. She was 6 years old, two years younger than Atticus himself. He had feelings for this young beauty since he had seen her at the prince and princesses ball. With a shake of his thoughts, he looked back to where the two adults were speaking. Flora was smiling and nodding politely while the young Bryan was listening as well. A shiver went down his spine when a vision of him and Bryan played across his mind. He was fighting for his life and redness overcame him. He reopened his eyes and noticed that Flora was watching with wide eyes that were filled with worry.  He shook his head to show he was okay and turned back to his mentor. 

"We should be going before the King had my head for letting his son roam too long out here",  Atticus' mentor said. 

Atticus waved good bye to the two young children and bowed to the Queen and followed his mentor away towards home.