Rose Revenge

Chapter 14

I smile down at Alberta from the massive height difference from the floor.

"Nudge or kick him in the stomach to make him move. There are 4 paces. Walk, Trot, Canter and Gallop." She leads me into a sand arena.

"Just do what you want to do with him, i'll observe." She sits on the side of an fence.

I nudge Spirit into an trot and his back throws me up into the air. I decide to just push my heels down and rise up as he trots. He hakes his head, wanting to go faster. I sit down into the saddle and trot sitting down without rising. At a corner, i give him a slight kick and he launches into an canter. His head fights for control so i loosen the reins a smidgen and give him his head. Instead of pulling back on the reins, i move in the saddle with him, until we get to another corner and completely loosen the reins and lean forward, keeping my legs back but leaning my face into his mane. I realise we are galloping. I slowly sit back down and gather my reins so that he moves back into a trot. Looking around, i see Alberta has assembled an small jump, about half a meter high for us to jump. Kicking Spirit into a canter again, we approach the jump. I feel him taking off, so i resume the position i was in when we were galloping and lean forward with Spirit. When his front hooves touch the ground, i sit back and pull him into a trot and then a walk.

"I knew you would be able to do that." Alberta grins at me and jumps down from the railings. I unclip my helmet and toss it neatly to her, letting my hair flow loose and it cruscades down my back. Smirking at her, i let Spirit stretch into a trot and twist him into a figure of 8. I drive him into a canter and sit back, holding his reins in one hand and jerking my stake out of my jacket pocket. I aim for the centre of the mirror and while cantering around, throw it and it hits the target, bullseye.

"Rose, we have to be there for Vasilisa's meeting. Jane will take him." She indicates to a stable yard girl who walks towards us. I dismount and land on the ground feet first. The girl leads him off, and we hurry to the meeting room. I take up my guarding position by Lissa and Belikov stands next to me. Lissa catches my eye and talks to me through the bond.

Where were you? I was getting worried!

"Lissa, i was fine." I mutter quietly in her ear before taking my position by the wall. The computer webcam turns on and she starts talking about politics. Dimitri leans over to talk to me and i stare blankly at the wall.

"Rose, I'm so sorry for leaving you." He starts droning on.

"Please, we are on duty." I hiss.

" Rose, Lilly looks just like me its..." He keeps his position by my ear.

"Stop.Talking.Now!" I mutter through gritted teeth.

"But Rose..."

"Please stop!" I turn away from him and shuffle up against the wall. He moves closer to me so i jam my foot onto his with all my force. His mask slips and i can see the grimace on his face so i grab his arm, calmly twist it and then swap places with Eddie. I don't look at him the whole time, wondering what i should do after the session is over. Maybe i should take Chey to see Spirit, it would cheer her up definitely. Before i knew it, the meeting was over. My shoe becomes unlaced so i re-tie it, when i look up i see Dimitri, Christian, Eddie and Lissa surrounding me.

"What?" I raise my eyebrow.

"What did you do this morning?" Chrisitan asks me.

"Why am i being interregated by you like i'm a prime suspect in a murder investigation?" I cross my arms over my chest.

"We just want to know." Lissa looks into my eyes.

"I was..." I feel like i should tell her everything, to do anything for Lissa.

"I was with..." I shake my head and blink realizing Lissa just tried to compulse me.

"Lissa!" I sigh and pull Eddie's arm over his head, twist it and push him down on the floor.

"Excuse me." I smile and walk out.
I run to Chey's room and find her just sitting on the floor quietly again.

"Chey?" I stand worried at the door.

"Rose?" She looks up at me and I'm being crushed in a bear hug.

"I want to show you something." I hand her a pair of black leggings and a purple tank top with ankle boots for her to get changed into.

"You need to stop moping around, and get back to being the confident, brave guardian novice that I knew." I lead her to Alberta's office before making our way to the horses. I'd been to ask Alberta for permission for Chey and me to go for a ride around campus. Jane was ready with Spirit and another horse was being tacked up for Chey. Her horse was bright gold with electric blue eyes called Dreamer. I clipped Chey's hat onto her head firmly before mounting up. I clickedSpirit into a walk and we made our way out of the yard.
"So why do you not get to wear a hat?" Chey asked me for the millionth time.
"Because.... I'm used to riding so I don't need a hat." I quickly make up and excuse. "let's move on to trotting?"i suggest and I shorten my reins while letting Spirit trot freely.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Chey huffs from the side. I look at the vast countryside, lit up by the dim light of the sun coming up. The horses' hot breath conjured puffs of steam coming from their noses. needless to say, it was quite cold. I pulled Spirit to a stop on the hill outside the courtyard. we turn our horses so they are facing the countryside. the ground dips down like the big dipper.

"Thank you for bringing me here, it's helped clear my mind." Chey smiles at me.

"Don't worry about it, now tomorrow you are going to that gym wether it kills you or not and you are going to train and catch up with your classes understood." I look at her, my hair blowing around my face like a fan.

"Yeah mum!" She jokes with me.

"Shut up." I playfully punch her shoulder.

"Let's head back now," I announce and pull Spirit to the side. I see a figure in the corner of my eye. 4 figures.

"Stay here Chey," I mutter and turn Spirit to the archway where the figures are crouching behind a bush. canteringSpirit over to the bush in question, I realise that Lissa, Christian,Eddie and Dimitri are hiding. I pull Spirit to a stop.

"Why are you guys spying on me?" I say normally. they guiltily stand up and look at me.

"We're so" I cut Lissa off.

"Save it. what's wrong with you guys, can't a girl have her fun, can't a person do something to help others , can't the head guardian take a ride when she needs to?" My voice eventually raises to a yell.

"What?" I realise I just told them about the head guardian position.

"I've already told you too much." I shake my head. Just as I'm about to turn, Spirit rears up and fights for control.

"Shh.." I try to calm the horse down as he fretts prancing around. then I realised, he feels what I feel. my anger is making him annoyed. I calm down and he goes back to being the Spirit I know.

"I don't want to talk to you right now, any of you." I avoid their eyes and sharply twist Spirit around, cantering back to Chey.

"Are you alright?" She looks concerned.

"Yes, come on." we gallop our way back. I tie him up and groom his back before feeding and cleaning him out for the night. the sun is becoming dangerously high so I rush back off to my room. on my bed is a note :

Work starts at 8, be at yard for 7:30. Your dad is taking care of Roxy and Lilly for the rest of week.
Alberta xx

I scan through the letter before taking a shower and falling asleep.