Through the cloud, Pettifey trotted toward Dorian. She knew more carrots were tucked away.
He approached me, the horse following, his shadow blocking the sun. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” I pushed myself up to a seat.
“You rolled—that probably saved you from injury.”
“Completely intentional.”
He reached out a hand for me to take. “Enough for today. The dew’s gone and the horse won’t want to be out in the heat.”
I didn’t take his hand. “But I haven’t ridden her.”
“Didn’t you? I saw you hang on for several paces.”
Several paces wouldn’t take me half a block in the Dip.
I stared at him a moment longer, then I took his hand. He pulled me up with ease. Together we walked back to the stables, Pettifey following and nosing Dorian for a carrot all the while.
“What does that name mean?” I asked as we walked. “Pettifey.”
“I’m sure you know.”
“Small,” I said. “Weak.”
Dorian didn’t answer. We came into the aisle, and he finally pulled out a carrot, guiding the willing horse into her open stall. She went inside without protest, and Dorian gave her the carrot as he latched the door behind her.
“That’s what your people think of me,” I said.
“Yes,” he said. “Do you blame them?”
“Blame? No.”
Dorian walked down the aisle, and I walked at his side. “Hate?”
“Not because of a word.”Because of everything else.
Beside me, I felt him stiffen. I wondered if he would say something soft, something kind?—
“Tell me what weapons you’re proficient in.”
Of course not. “The short sword, the dagger, the bow and arrow.”
“Bow and arrow? Absolutely not.”
My eyes wandered; we had left the stables and were headed down a path I had not been on, toward the far side of the citadel. “I can hit a target’s eye from thirty paces.”
He snorted. “Multiply that by three and you’d be half as capable as Rhiannon.”
A target’s eye at ninety paces. I didn’t know anyone in the guard with that eye, that strength. Awe and jealousy warred in me.
Dorian seemed to sense it. “You don’t want to be in her sights when she nocks an arrow.”
No, but I did want to be that arrow.
We came to the moat and passed over a third bridge. I made a mental calculation: there were at least three bridges, and probably a fourth around the citadel.
A circle. Just like on the tapestry of the four courts.
