"Has anyone ridden him since I've been gone?"
Paolini chuckles, "Hell no.I couldn't persuade anyone to try, and my hip won't allow me to anymore."
Aurei laughs, "I'll be prepared for the worst then.Which pasture is he in?"
Paolini points and says."The back forty, boss."
"We're going to walk down there.I want to show Siri the training area."
"Take a rope and halter.You never know with him.He may have missed you enough to come to you."
"I will."
"Nice to meet you, Siri."
"You too, Paolini."
Rope and halter slung over Aurei's shoulder.We walk down towards the trees behind the stables.As soon as we enter them, the noise from the world evaporates into peacefulness.Only an occasional song of a bird joins the sound of Aurei's deep voice as he tells me stories of his summers growing up among his cousins.I walk blindly forward with my head turned, watching him going in and out of the shadows.The sun's rays kiss his hair and flash his halo, then they disappear, leaving only darkness, only reappearing in an instant.
That's how he is.The light and dark are equally the reality of Aurei.
I smile at him, and he stops talking."What?Am I rambling on too much about myself?"
I stare at him without answering, and he stops in the sun to study me studying him.His dark eyebrows cut his face in two, defining his angular features.The light accentuates his straight nose.The sun rests on his broad shoulders, and the shadows enhance the angle falling to his narrow waist."No, I can't get enough of you."
"I was talking too much about myself."He looks sheepishly at me.His perfect lips turn into a perfect smile, and his white teeth almost glow with the sun's brightness.He takes the halter and rope off his shoulder and switches sides.
"I want you to know, Maximus Aurelius Moore, that I'm truly happy right now.Walking peacefully with you in the woods of Italy.It's like I fell into a dream, and if I am dreaming, Sugar Bare, I don't ever want to wake up.My heart sings with the joy of being in this moment."
"Come here."He commands.
His soft green gaze fills my eyes with peace and love, and his beautiful smile greets me with hope and happiness as I obey, collapsing onto his chest.He reaches one hand around."Oui!"He pinches my ass, and I jump closer to him.
"You're not dreaming.This is real."His hand cups my ass and holds me against him.
"That feels real...."I giggle."Big."
He lowers his lips to mine and whispers."Shh.Don't move.Caesar is watching us."
"What?"I whisper too.
"Caesar is watching us."He says again."He is standing in the shadows behind you."
"Where?"I start to turn my head and look.
"Don't move means don't move."He tells me softly, forcing my mouth back to his and sticking his tongue between my teeth.
I try to focus on the delightful feeling of him filling me, but I'm more curious about Caesar.I open my eyes to see Aurei looking out at the woods, so I release his tongue."Is he still there?"I ask in a soft voice.
"Yes.When I release you, slowly glance back.Try not to spook him."
When he lets me go, I do as I'm told."I don't see anything but blackness."
"Look down at the ground for his hoofs.Can you see them?"
"Oh yes, there he is."I can see his hoofs standing in a pool of sunshine.Following them up, I can barely make out the outline of a black beast standing still as a statue.I whisper, "He's a big boy."
"Yes, he's a Friesian Horse.He stands 17 hands."Aurei relaxes his embrace, and I turn slightly to look at this monster horse.
