“Don’t let me fall,” I whisper as a tremble runs through me. I grip the front of the saddle as Nash’s arm wraps around my waist and he pulls me closer to him.
“You’re safe with me.” My heart warms at that. I believe I am safe with him.
The others mount their own equally tall steeds and Nash’s horse lurches forward. The motion makes me gasp and press even tighter into Nash’s body. I wonder if I can meld my body into his for the journey and become one? A sharp intake of breath behind me makes me freeze. Right, I’m pressing my ass right up to his man parts.
“Stop panicking. I won’t let you fall, Daphne,” he growls as we emerge from under the palace and climb a steep hill until we are in the main courtyard. We don’t exit the way I originally arrived, instead, we take a left around the castle and head toward the sinking sun in the distance.
“Which castle is yours?” I ask as the landscape dotted with many differing castles and kingdoms comes into view.
“It’s on the other side of the Jade Mountains,” Nash tells me.
My eyes widen at the famous mountains which sit behind the dwellings surrounding a gray castle, edging the ocean.
“We have to go over the Jade Mountains?” I ask.
“No, that would take too many diurnals. We time it with the tide and travel along the white sands around the mountains.”
My fingers cramp with how hard I clutch the saddle. “Relax,” Nash mutters against my ear. “I told you I won’t let you fall.”
“It’s not you I’m worried about. It’s the rest of the realm that won’t ignore the fact I’m perched on a stallion, tempting the Idols to teach me a lesson to stay on the ground.” Not only that, but now I’m daring them by trying to tame the ocean.
“The Idols don’t care about you,” Hart says from his position next to us.
I glare at him. “I’m aware of that, but it doesn’t mean they won’t toy with me for fun before they cut my meager life short.”
Hart rolls his eyes even more impressively than I can manage—and that’s saying something because I am the queen of the eye roll. Which makes him the king, making usmarried? What? When did that happen?
“Stop thinking so hard,” Nash mutters against my ear, sending a shiver down my spine and distracting me from my freak out that I unwittingly got married to grumpy pants. If I marry, they are going to need to balance out my chaos. Someone dependable, solid, grounded. Then again, I also need them to find humor in my diurnals, not too judgmental. That person would need to be a protector also, because I think I am lucky to have made it this many annuses. They also need to call me out on my bunkum poop, because that type of person forces you to be better. I am basically looking for the unicorn of a man, or several of them stuffed together.
We fall into silence as we make our way into the lower town surrounding the various castles. My eyebrows raise as we pass a family clothed in rags huddled together under the shadow of a tree. In front of them is a blanket where people have left bits of food.
I twist to look at Nash over my shoulder. “I didn’t realize you had people without clothing or food in The Hallowed.”
He frowns at me before glancing at the family. “Where there is power, there will always be disparity.”
“But the palace is full of food. How can they stand by while others starve?”
“It is not the palace who governs this area.”
“Who does?”
He jerks his head at the white castle. “The Charmings.”
I grimace. “I can’t say I’m the slightest bit surprised if Gwyneth’s Charming is a representation of the family.”
We head lower and lower until the horses step onto the whitest sand I have ever seen. Well, it’s the only sand I’ve ever seen, so I guess that isn’t much of a comparison. The contrast with the Sapphire Ocean lapping against it and the jagged Jade Mountains rising to the sun make it seem like a dream world.
I stare out at the sea. I’ve never seen the ocean. Part of me is in awe of its seemingly endless depths, another part of me is terrified for the same reason. I feel both at peace and inconsequential.
Nash jerks behind me and the horse lurches forward and begins cantering along the beach. A scream leaves my throat as my knuckles turn white against the saddle. Nash huffs a laugh behind me.
“Don’t laugh at my fear,” I snap as the wind whips my hair around my face and we cover miles. Let the record show that what transpires next was fully preventable. Nash directs the horse toward the shoreline so that the cool spray of the salty sea tickles my face and hands, along with my hair, which is obscuring our view. The horse jerks and Nash grips me tighter. Which, if he’d been thinking, was a terribly stupid thing to do. In a battle of Daphne versus gravity, count all your capon eggs on gravity.
Nash loses his grip on the reins, and we careen off the horse backwards with me still wrapped in his arms. My annuses flash before my eyes. From the time Gwyneth let me copy her answers to the Strongfair schooling assessment, to our respective parents kicking us out with a potato sack full of pots and clothing. The Duke’s weird eyebrows, meeting the Stirling brothers, and how in the space of a few diurnals, they have made my life more exciting than ever before. I also dance with death more often, but if you are going to go out, it may as well be interesting.
The sky grows smaller above us and then I jolt as we hit the ground, making my eyes squeeze closed.Here lies Daphne Stone, felled by jerking off a horse.Wait, no, that sounds wrong. Death by horse rearing—ugh, slightly better. I’m sure Gwyneth can spin it.
Nash groans behind me and my eyes fly open as three horses surround us along with riders wearing varying expressions smacked on their stupidly handsome faces. The Stirling brothers passing judgment.
