“I see you,” she said softly.
Draugr blinked, and she maintained eye contact, refusing to look away. She placed both hands on his muzzle. “I know what you are, and I am not afraid.”
Draugr blew hot air in her face and snorted.
“I see the fire in your heart,” she said, not caring if she looked ridiculous speaking to a horse. “And I am not afraid.”
She put one leg in the stirrup and swung the other over his back. Instead of digging her heels into his sides and demanding he heed her orders, she lifted her behind in the air and put her weight on the stirrups, mentally preparing herself to not fall off.
Leaning over his mane, she brushed against his consciousness and projected a mental image of them running across the field. She thought of the wind in her face, the sun on her back, and the feeling of racing through the field.
All she said was, “Run.” Her voice was soft, hardly more than a whisper.
She did not dig her heels into his sides. She did not give him a command of any kind, but rather, permission to run as wild as he pleased.
Draugr took his first few steps tentatively, then took off like an arrow. They thundered down the plains, his body a rolling avalanche beneath her.
They raced across the plain faster than she had ever ridden before, the wind rushing into her face so hard it almost threw her off balance. They made it to the end of the plain, nearing the forest’s edge, when she gently, ever so gently, tugged the reins, and he slowed obediently.
She whooped, raising her fist to the skies in victory, even if there was no one but the clouds as her witness.
Draugr reared, but less to throw her off and more in a playful way, his hooves only leaving the ground by a couple of feet. As he stomped down, he swished his ears back and forth, as if waiting for further instruction.
They circled the plain, and when she rose in the stirrups again, he needed no further encouragement before breaking into a gallop, racing full tilt across the field.
Exhilarated, she leaned over his mane, grinning widely.
They raced three times across the field before Draugr snorted and turned, kidnapping her to circle the entire valley at a breakneck pace. She bent low over the saddle and held on as the spirited horse raced faster than the wind.
They galloped until Draugr’s sides were streaked with sweat, and he finally slowed of his own volition.
“Finished?” she asked, grinning widely.
Draugr blew air out his nose, which she took as a yes, and turned him back towards the castle.
Dismounting, she stroked his nose.
As she reached up to take off his bridle, he bowed his head to her.
Feeling rather touched, her eyes grew bright.
As she left the stable, she thought of what had been different today. Draugr didn’t want to be coddled or led with a gentle lady’s hand. No, Draugr was a force unto himself, and wanted to run as fast as his wild heart desired. Because, somehow, Draugr was a demon.
***
The days passed in a similar fashion.
In the mornings, she would race Draugr. He never threw her from the saddle anymore, and his trot became smooth as butter, hardly jostling her. Occasionally, when she finished brushing him down, Draugr would butt her hand affectionately. She was filled with pride whenever she thought of the angry and skittish creature he had been.
Sometimes she would hike to the mountain lake, looking for the angel, but he was nowhere to be found.
One day, she found herself slipping into Caspian’s thoughts and saw something so horrifying that it curbed her desire to learn anything more about slipping into people’s minds and made her long for a way to stop it from happening.
She had settled to read in the sitting room, and Caspian decided to join her.
His scent of musk and fire wafted through the room, heady and intoxicating. Her stomach twisted into guilty knots; she was so attracted to him that even his smell had her inhaling deeply and growing warm all over.
He sat quietly across from her as she enjoyed her book. But when his eyes drifted up from the letter he was reading, she caught herself staring at his angular features. He looked lost in thought. As if he sensed her watching, his gaze snapped to hers, and an image came unbidden to her mind.
