Chapter 14
Cold swept throughBella as she whirled to see not one, but two ruffians fanning out behind Nocturne.As surreptitiously as possible, Bella tugged at his bridle, pulling the horse’s nose out of the water and stuffing the sugar cube under his lips.She felt his soft muzzle brush along her palm, then heard the quiet crunch of the cube.
“Who are you?”
“We was sent by Roch.”
“I do not know who that is.”
“The ostler.Where this fellow was from.”He slapped Nocturne hard on the rump, and the horse flicked his ears back and tensed his hindquarters.“We got a little visit from the royal guard.Know anything about it?”
Bella had a pretty good idea what had transpired but didn’t want to say anything condemning.“I do not know anyone in the royal guard, sorry.”She swung the horse’s head between them, and Nocturne’s body followed, blocking her from the large men.
The closest one reached up and grabbed the reins on the other side of Nocturne’s head.“I said, we’re taking this horse.And Roch wants you with him.”
Fear made Bella bold, and she gripped the saddle horn and yelled, “Yah!”
Nocturne responded like the well-trained steed he was, leaping immediately into a canter.
But...something...was...wrong....
The world smeared around them as Bella dangled from the pommel at the speed with which Nocturne moved.The ruffian screamed as his feet flapped in the wind.
Bella gripped the pommel harder in her left hand, stretched for the cantle with her right, and managed to get her left foot into the stirrup.She hoisted herself into the seat as each of Nocturne’s strides carried them a mile at a time.With one foot in the stirrup, she used her leverage and kicked the man repeatedly in the stomach and then the elbow to no affect.Nocturne whipped his head around and bit the man in the shoulder until he screamed and released the reins.The ruffian continued screaming as he fell, but even as Bella turned her head to watch him tumble, he was already out of sight.
“Good boy, Nocturne!”She gave him a sound patting on his neck as she claimed the empty stirrup with her right foot.
Now free of the additional weight, and with Bella properly seated, Nocturne snorted and lowered his head, his strides lengthening, covering leagues instead of mere miles.Ponds and forests and towns and cities passed by in blurs.A moment of panic struck: how would she know where she was at such speeds?
She leaned over and patted Nocturne’s neck.“I shall need you to keep to the road if we can.When we reach the river, I shall slow you down, alright?”
One ear flicked back, and Bella took that as a sign he understood.She recalled maps she had seen showing a river that flowed beside the road for leagues south of her town, so once they reached that, at this speed, she calculated that they would be a mere hour from home.
Seeing people on the road was rare; whether they were truly few and far between, or whether Nocturne’s unfathomable speed made all invisible, she knew not.All she knew was that they had no issues.Nocturne even stopped for a drink, and Bella took the moment to stretch, and yet, when they resumed their pace, the miles melted away behind them again.
“What a wondrous gift!”she exclaimed, patting Nocturne’s neck in appreciation.“I shall have to find a gift of equal value in thanks when we return.”
She assumed she would return.She desperately wished to see Albert, um, Riven again, and help him break his curse.She wanted to make the world a better place, and cleaning up that pond and giving him back his life was a great starting point.
She refused to think of how she might feel upon viewing him in his human form.
