She wobbled slightly and instinctively set her bad foot on the ground. Just that slightest motion shot thousands of needles of pain up her foot all the way to her knee.
She exhaled through gritted teeth.
The foot she had twisted was not the one she’d kicked the prince with last night, it was the one she’d been standing on when she stumbled backward. It had felt mildly painful then, but she’d fallen asleep assuming it would be fine in the morning.
Now, she stood helplessly in the center of the glade, staring at the horses, which were at least some seven steps away.
She didn’t want to show weakness in front of the man who had just insulted her. She couldn’t. But if she attempted to take a single step forward, she would crumple to the ground again and that would be a far worse blow to her pride.
“Never ask for help. Especially from a Quotidian,” she whispered to herself soundlessly.
So, she stood where she was, biting her lower lip as she scrambled to think of any other option. Maybe she could manage it if she crawled?
The prince still stood with his back to her. “Coming?” His voice was curt.
“No!” she yelled at his back. “I can’t move, idiot.”
Finally, he turned back toward her. His eyebrows were stretched high and a sigh of exasperation escaped his lips. He looked as though he were about to say something, but then he shut his mouth. “Oh, right,” he finally muttered.
Aizel crossed her arms and pinched her nose in an effort not to cry. She hated feeling helpless.
He crossed the glade back to her. “I’m going to... can I pick you up?”
Avoiding eye contact, she nodded. The thing she most wanted was to be as far away from him as possible, which was the complete opposite of allowing him to put his arms around her.
Bending down, he swung one arm under her knees and the other under her lower back.
She grabbed his neck so she could support some of her own weight and kept her body as stiff as possible.
In a few short moments, he had lifted her onto her horse. He stood close while she gratefully settled herself on the familiar animal.
She lifted the bundled blanket from her shoulders and held it down to him. He watched her closely, but his expression had returned to a stony iciness.
“Keep it,” he said, pushing it back toward her. “Today might still be chilly.”
Chapter 20
By the time they stopped for the night, Aizel’s ankle throbbed painfully. She had protected it as best she could, but the constant motion of the horse had slowly taken its toll.
She looked down at the ground beneath her, contemplating jumping down by herself and trying to land on her good foot. The thought of even slightly jostling her aching ankle kept her in place.
Erich slid from his mount, letting the animal wander to the nearby stream by herself.
Seeing where its companion was headed, Aizel’s mount stepped forward to follow. Erich caught her reins. “Not quite yet, Constance.”
Aizel patted her horse’s neck, unaware that she had a name. Aizel mouthed the foreign word, rolling her tongue in an attempt to make the new sounds despite her silent breathing.
“I don’t know if that’s her name,” Erich said. He must have noticed her action. “I just took to calling her that since she is so steady.”
Aizel nodded in understanding. She wanted to smile. A horse with a name was more endearing than a horse without one.
“Ready to dismount?” Erich reached his hands up toward her.
Aizel nodded. Having no other option, she released her hold on Constance’s reins and slid down toward Erich.
Instead of catching her under her armpits as she expected, he scooped her off the animal with one arm under her knees and the other under her shoulders as he had that morning.
“This way is safest for your foot.”
