“Well, she is a much better ruler than I could ever be.”
“Eh.” I shrugged, trying to make light of the situation. “Nobody’s perfect.”
He tried to push himself up but let out a hiss as some of the shattered glass pressed into his skin.
“Did it cut you?”
Without waiting for him to respond, I pulled his hand towards me. It was a very small cut, and I could easily pick out the glass.
“What a waste,” he murmured, giving another sniff. “That was a damned good bottle of whisky.”
I couldn’t help but let out a snort as I made sure there was no more glass in his hand. I felt Lance’s eyes linger on me. For some reason, it made my stomach flutter.
“There, it should be fine.” I let go of his hand, which had a small trace of blood left on it but nothing serious.
Lance rubbed his face with his good hand. His eyes were still red from crying, and I could tell he was holding back a little. Perhaps he needed privacy to cry by himself. I wouldn’t blame him. His sister had just died.
A loud booming noise erupted from outside.
“Thunder,” I noted. “It seems like there is a bit of a storm coming.”
“Mmhh,” Lance agreed absentmindedly. We sat in silence for a few moments before the thunder sounded again.
I looked out of the nearest window as movement from outside caught my eye.
“The horses,” I said. “The horses are still in the paddock.”
Lance’s eyes grew wide, and he shot up into a standing position.
“They’ll never get them all in in time,” I continued without hesitation, already on the move. Lance and I hurried through the palace until we reached the door that would lead us to the stables and paddocks. Before we could open the door, a strong gust of wind blew it open, the curtains flapping about.
Outside, it was now pouring rain, the sky completely covered with a dark grey blanket.
“You should stay inside. You can’t go out in this weather.” To tell me that I couldn’t do something was probably the surest way to get me to do it.
“Like hell I can’t.” I was out of the door before he could stop me.
The royal stables had many horses, so it would take a while to get them all inside, even if we took two at a time. When we reached the paddock, the servants were already at work while the stable master’s voice was carried away by the wind as he tried to give orders.
There was another crack of thunder and one of the horses took fright and reared. Without intending to do so, I looked for Bessie. I found her in the field furthest from the stables, calling to one of the other horses that was being led away by the stable boy. Poor thing, she probably didn’t want to be left alone there.
I made my way over to her as Lance grabbed some rope and took hold of one of the other horses.
I pulled her leather halter over her nose, but it took me a minute because she was tossing her head so much. “Come on, girl,” I pleaded with her. “I’m trying to help you.” Eventually I managed to lead her to her stable, both of us soaked to the bone.I made sure to close her stall door tightly. She seemed a little more at ease now that she was next to her friend.
I was back outside quickly, trying not to shudder at the loud thunder. Lightning flashed close by.
The problem with horses was that they were herd animals and if one was frightened, it got all the others worked up. Lance had a horse in each hand, walking past me as I made my way to the nearest stallion. Not bothering to search for other halters, I took Bessie’s and slipped it over his head before we made our way to the stable. My ankle was starting to hurt from all the quick walking, but I didn’t care.
“Where is Windchaser and his mother?” I asked with concern, noting that I hadn’t seen them yet.
“Don’t worry, they were the first to be taken to the stables. They’re all tucked in, warm and cosy,” he assured me.
There was another flash of lightning. It was getting closer.
The stable boy and the servants brought in four more horses. “That’s all of them, Your Highness.”
“Thank you. I think we’d all best get inside.” Nobody had to ask me twice. Now that I was certain all the horses were safe and warm, I wanted to hurry myself to a fire as quickly as possible.
