If you asked her, it was long past time.
But no one had, so here they were.
Eva swung her leg over Caia's back and dropped to the ground, landing with a thud. She reached up to pat Caia's neck, not missing the way the mare's ears were tilted forward or the challenge in her eyes as she glared at Sebastian.
Eva thumped her on the shoulder and pointed at the mare's face. "None of that nonsense."
Caia blew a breath in Eva's face, the sound conveying her emotions as clearly as words would.
There was a strange jealousy between Caia and Sebastian that Eva found absolutely ridiculous. Both seemed to see the other as a rival, using every encounter to get one over on the other.
It would have been hilarious if Eva wasn't responsible for both.
One side of Jason's lips quirked, well used to the two's interaction. He wasn't the only one. Many of the Trateri who'd gathered at Sebastian's arrival nudged each other with a smirk.
Eva nodded to the few she was familiar with before returning her attention to Sebastian.
"Did I put it on right?" Jason asked as she reached up and checked the saddle's fit. "I wasn't sure since it was my first time."
A design of Eva's making, the saddle owed its origins to the light weight, bare bone saddles the Trateri sometimes used to travel long distances quickly.
Padding was minimal. Just enough so Eva's ass didn't ache after an hour but not so much that the Kyren would feel weighed down or restricted.
There was no bridle, nothing to force the Kyren to obey its rider. The Kyren loathed even the smallest hint of control. Something Eva wondered if the Trateri fully understood.
A Kyren would never act as a horse. They would go where they willed; the rider was simply along for the journey.
The biggest difference lay in the two hard flaps that sat toward the front of the saddle. When seated on the Kyren's back, they'd curve over the tops of the rider's thighs, allowing them to wedge their legs against them during aerial maneuvers.
It wasn't a perfect compromise but short of tying a rider to a Kyren's back—which held its own drawbacks—it was the best Eva could come up with.
Eva tucked her fingers between Sebastian's side and the straps, making sure they weren't too tight or too loose. One option was dangerous and could end in her death and the other could result in saddle sores, making an already cranky Sebastian even crankier.
A cranky Kyren was no one's friend.
Jason shot Sebastian a cautious look and leaned closer to Eva. "So that thing Fiona was discussing. Is it true?"
Eva darted a glance at Jason as he lowered his voice, almost whispering before shooting Sebastian a quick look.
Sebastian's head was slightly turned their way, but she knew perfectly well that Kyren, like horses, had binocular vision. This made their peripheral vision excellent, expanding their field of view until they could see nearly two hundred degrees. Much better than a human.
Their only blind spots were directly in front of their nose and right behind their tail.
Sebastian might be giving every appearance of not paying attention to Eva and Jason's conversation, but his ears gave him away as they rotated to pick up her and Jason's voices better.
"It is," Eva confirmed.
There was no point in hiding it. She didn't believe for a minute that Gawain and Van's presence here wasn't a large part of why Sebastian had chosen to return at this particular time and place.
"You and the others should prepare to receive guests," Eva said, finishing her inspection of the saddle.
"Damn." Jason looked in the direction Eva had come from. "Do you know who is leading them?"
"Gawain and Van," Eva answered.
"Lion and Rain?" Jason couldn't hide his shock.
Eva made a sound of agreement as Jason went back to staring into the distance.
