* * *
I’m hoping for a chance to redeem myself when Taran teaches me to ride his horse, but to my disappointment, he asks Emlyn to show me instead.
Like Taran, he now looks entirely fae, having dropped the glamour he used while in Haven—one more secret they explained that makes it easier to trust them. In Emlyn’s case, his golden eyes now catch the light like a fire shimmers within, and the tips of his ears come to sharp points against his long blond hair. A pair of braids on each side keep it out of his face.
“I just spent half a day teaching Reid,” he grumbles.
“Which makes it fresh in your mind.” Taran whispers something to Willow before handing her off to Emlyn, then returns to the other horses.
Minutes later, I almost fall over attempting to get into the saddle, causing Reid to burst out laughing.
“Quit it,” Emlyn snaps, glancing over his shoulder. “You were so bad at this, I thought you must be faking it just to get me to touch you more.”
Reid shuts his mouth, then decides he has other places to be.
Other than that mishap, my instruction goes relatively smoothly. Emlyn runs me through the basics, occasionally correcting my posture. It’s kind of fun, even though I’m still a bit uneasy with all this outdoorsy stuff. But it brings me a sense of joy,enduring experiences I’d only ever read about in adventure stories.
“We don’t really have time to get into much more,” Emlyn says after a while. “Taran will ride in front, and Willow will follow his lead. If he goes faster, stand up in your stirrups and let your knees absorb the bounce.”
I push myself up as he directs, and he nods with approval.
“Reid, your turn!” he calls, heading to the other horses.
I resist the urge to snicker as he helps Reid mount his, noting he’s much more handsy about it than he was with me. But now Taran’s approaching, and my pulse quickens as I straighten up.
He pats Willow on the shoulder. “Are you comfortable with what you’re doing?”
“I trust Willow will take care of me.” I’ve been brainstorming possible responses all morning.
Taran smiles as he glances my way, sending a tingle through my chest.I finally said something right.
But my relief fades beneath a gnawing in my chest. I wish that didn’t matter so much, that I didn’t have to try so hard to do it. That someone existed who was easy for me to talk to. A void pulls from within, as if I once had that and someone took it away—but even with my mom, I was never that comfortable.
My eyes follow Taran as he mounts the remaining horse. They pass over Reid, briefly meeting his gaze. To my surprise, he frowns.
He can’t possibly blame me for Emlyn snapping at him earlier, can he?
Before I can spare more thought on the matter, Taran clicks his tongue and Willow starts forward, forcing me to focus all my attention on staying balanced.
* * *
Around midday, the rolling hills that mark central Landore break the monotony of our ride. A hummed tune carries on the breeze behind me, and I awkwardly turn in my saddle to see where it’s coming from. Emlyn follows behind Reid, and at that moment, he transitions from humming to lightly singing, his soothing tones wafting through the air. The words are foreign to me, but they sound similar to what Taran said when he spoke to the horses.
“What language is that?” I call up to Taran. I’ve been trying to keep my gaze off the sway of his hips as they move with his horse, but it’s been difficult—he’s directly in front of me and there isn’t much variety in the landscape. Trees to my right, fields to my left.
“It’s the Tongue of the Land. The sacred language we use to speak with Her and Her creatures.”
Emlyn breaks the song with some loud words in the Tongue. Taran laughs, then yells something in return.
“It can’t be that sacred if they’re using it for jokes,” Reid grumbles from behind me.
My face scrunches as the two fae holler back and forth until Emlyn eventually returns to humming his song.
I nudge Willow to walk faster, until I’m riding beside Taran. Pitching my voice so hopefully only he can hear me, I mutter, “I didn’t take you as the sort to joke about people when they can’t understand you.”
“We weren’t speaking of you,” he replies, keeping his gaze ahead. “And he said nothing of your friend that he doesn’t already know.”
After all the effort he spent trying to reach me…“We’re supposed to be building trust. That won’t happen if you shut us out like that.”
