Chains of Fate

Chapter Two

“Sorry,” Titus said again, and I knew he meant it. “We need to get to Letrine as fast as possible.”

Lucan exited the stables and indicated inside. “Why are you hesitating, Lady Lannie?” he asked politely. “Are you afraid? If you are, let me assure you that these horses are the best in all of Etheia. They don’t go wild.”

I clenched my fists. How could he be so oblivious? “First, ‘Lannie’ is fine, Your Highness,” I told him bluntly. “Second, if you can trust an evil, man-eating horse to be the best way of transport to your kingdom, I pity what you will be like as a ruler.”

No! my mind screamed at me as I slapped a hand over my mouth. You’re a blasted idiot who just insulted a prince who is also Clarice’s friend!

Curse my anxiety! If we were riding normal horses, then I wouldn’t be prone to say such disgraceful things. Guilt seeped through my bones. Lucan had been nothing but nice to me, and here I was sniping at him out of my own fear.

But Lucan just chuckled. “Very well, Lannie. I’m sorry for addressing you incorrectly.”

My guilt dissipated at his reaction. I eyed him suspiciously. There was something about his cheeriness that set me off. It could have been the way the edges of his lips turned down ever so slightly when I criticized him or from his immediate reaction of laughing. Either way, this prince unsettled me. He was too happy. Too polite. And I didn’t like it. It seemed like he needed a dose of reality to open his eyes. Or someone to take off the deceitful facade he had wrapped himself in.

Titus coughed, interrupting the standstill. “We don’t exactly have the entire day to spend talking. You’ll be riding Alvira, Lannie.”

I gave up and resigned myself to my fate. I was going to ride Alvira, who happened to be my mother’s favorite carnivorous water horse.

                                                ————————

“Someone tell me why I’m not dead yet,” I muttered to no one in particular as the creature below me broke into a trot along the dirt road. Alvira’s glossy black coat glistened in the sun. Her nostrils flared at every farmer we passed, terrifying me senseless. We had been riding for at least two hours now, and I still wasn’t dead.

Clarice snorted beside me on her chestnut mare. “Maybe it’s because Alvira’s saving you for lunch.”

“Enough of that, ladies.” Maddox Quill, the Captain of the Guard, rode up beside us. “No one is getting eaten today.” Maddox vowed to accompany us to the ship, but decided to stay in Aria while we were gone to watch over Odelia. His dark hair and sideburns reminded me of my father. I frowned at the thought. Where was my father? I hadn’t seen him for weeks, though he was probably off gambling somewhere.

I glanced down at Alvira as the trees rushed by us in a blur. The sweat reflecting off her coat made me wonder when the next water break would be. We had to stop at every water source to keep the horses hydrated or else they would dry up. Even though they were faster than normal horses, this was ridiculous. Besides the fact that they had fangs, water horses were too much responsibility. Always having to be watered like a blasted plant. Always having to be watched so they didn’t eat humans for lunch.

I let myself fall behind Titus, Lucan, and the unit of guards as we continued on the road. It skirted vast crop fields, winding down rural dirt pathways that cut through the landscape. In the field on my right, the golden stalks of wheat swayed in the cool air. Farmers tending to their crops stopped to give us curious looks. This was an uncommon route for nobility to be traveling, it seemed.