Page 64 of Promised to the Forbidden Laird

Bran looked at Roy.

“Bow,” the boy repeated.

The stallion took the carrot and remained upright.

“He cheated,” the girl declared.

“He is a horse,” Roy shrugged. “His sense of honor is limited.”

They tried again. The children commanded Bran to bow, turn, lift his hoof, and shake his head. Bran ignored every instruction while consuming each reward offered.

Roy leaned against the fence, intending only to watch. Then the smallest lad attempted to push Bran backward by placing both hands against his chest. The horse did not move. The boy’s boots slid through the straw until he sat abruptly upon the ground.

A laugh escaped Roy. The sound surprised him. It surprised the children, too. They stared at him for one silent heartbeat before laughing with him.

“Ye must give the command properly,” he said.

He stepped beside Bran and clicked his tongue once. The stallion backed three paces. The children cried out in delight.

“He only listens tae you!” the girl exclaimed in awe.

“He possesses excellent judgment.”

“Make him bow.”

“He doesnae bow.”

“Try.”

Roy looked at Bran. The stallion looked back with profound distrust. Roy took the carrot from the boy and lowered it beneath the horse’s chest. Bran bent one foreleg and dipped his head in pursuit of the food.

The children cheered as though Roy had conquered Edinburgh. Bran seized the carrot and straightened, clearly pleased with the arrangement.

“Again!” they demanded.

Roy repeated the gesture. This time the stallion bowed farther, and the smallest boy attempted an imitation, nearly falling face-first into the straw.

Roy caught him by the back of his coat. “Careful.”

The child grinned up at him without fear. Roy set him upright.

Soon he had Bran lifting one hoof while the girl bowed solemnly before him. The boys took turns issuing commands the horse ignored, after which Roy repeated the same words and received immediate obedience.

“That isnae fair,” the eldest complained.

“Life rarely is.”

“Does he ken any tricks without food?”

“He carries me intae battle.”

The children considered this.

“That isnae a trick,” the girl mused.

“Nae?”

“It sounds like work.”