I took another step forward all the same, noting the double saddle as I approached, praying to any of the gods who mightlisten to a vampire-witch that it didn’t mean what I thought it did.
I pulled my foot into the stirrup and swung my other leg over the horse. The movement wasn’t easy, especially with her being taller than Alphonse, but I managed it all the same. The mare shifted under me, ears flicking back, but did not, thankfully, immediately buck.
I could do this.
Raphael offered the reins to me. I grabbed them, our fingers grazing.
“Settled?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Good.”
He took a step past me and easily mounted, sitting behind me on the horse. I hadn’t been quite naïve enough to believe the double saddle was there on the horse’s back because there wasn’t a spare, but I’d hoped.
What I was altogether unprepared for was for Raphael’s arms to wrap around me.
“Must you?” I snapped, ignoring the way the warmth of his arms immediately penetrated my chilled skin.
“You want me to be safe teaching you to ride, don’t you?”
“I wouldn’t mind if you altogether slid off this saddle and onto your ass,” I snapped.
Raphael chuckled, and I would have sworn I felt it in my bones.
“If you two are so inclined, we would like to be on our way before dawn,” Demos called over.
“Tap her with your heels.”
I obeyed, and the horse lurched forward, jolting me back into Raphael. He steadied me, hands never straying even as I felt warm all over my body.
“Easy,” he said again. “Contessa is a responsive mare, so a gentle tap is plenty. She’ll do most of the work, so you just need to let her know what you want.”
I tried to steady myself, but each squeeze of my calves had her jolting.
“Relax, Samara.” He pointed ahead. “Have her follow Demos.”
I forced my muscles to unclench, one by one, and eventually found a rhythm.
“If you want her to stop, just give a short tug of the reins,” Raphael explained. “Beyond that, hold them loose. It can be hard to modulate at first, but you’ll figure it out. Each horse is different. Contessa is pretty forgiving.”
Despite his reassurances, I was pretty sure Contessa would trample me at the first opportunity out of the saddle with my sudden jerking and whatnot.
I let out a sigh and tried to follow Demos.
Then— “Contessa?”
“Hmm?”
“I thought naming a horse was silly,” I muttered.
“I thought it was charming,” Raphael corrected.
Charming. I tried not to laugh at the thought of anyone being charmed by me. I’d named Alphonse because I felt he deserved a name, even if no one else knew it. The same way I’d held on to Samara Koisemi all the years in Greymere when I was nothing butGirlorYouto Nelson and the rest.
Samara Koisemi wasn’t a prisoner. She wasn’t a vampire, or even a witch. She’d just been a void with a mother who didn’t quite know how to love her.
Raphael shifted behind me, rubbing one hand over his chest while the other stayed at my hip.
