[HIATUS] The Amulet Series: Queen of Fire [REWRITE]

4 || Ashen War

"Ivory, up!"

Scarlett pleaded her snow touched gelding, but he remained rooted in place, stone cold.

Ivory snorted loudly, unable to keep still, ears flicking towards the jump Scarlett had set up for him. Badel's King Leif had possessed a rather sophisticated hobby of training steeds as a prince, setting aside some land at ground level beneath the monument of rock and clay the castle was perched upon. Scarlett had resolved to train Ivory shortly after breakfast, delivered to her room this morning as the King had wished to discuss matters of private affairs with his family.

The young gelding let out a rather shrill neigh, stepping away from the jump, and Scarlett heaved a sigh. "Ivy, please! It's merely a small jump, you've never been afraid of--"

Scarlett yelped as the deafening sound of cannons pummeled against her eardrums, cutting off her string of words as one would douse fire in water.

It was common to hear the cannons firing away at various miscellaneous targets beyond the fortifications surrounding the castle. What Scarlett had not expected was for it to be so early in the morning. Nearly half of Alabaster, the capital city of Badel as well as the home of the Royal family, would be deep in slumber. Life would not stir for another hour.

Another jerk from Ivory knocked Scarlett off her table of thoughts, and she gripped her gelding's reins with as much force as her trembling hands could muster. Ivory, on the other hand, snatched the opportunity to back away, rearing as he did so. Scarlett cried out in surprise, gripped the reins tighter, hanging on for dear life as the cannons roared for a second and third time.

It's not the jump he's afraid of.

Scarlett clicked her tongue in irritation. She should have expected Ivory to behave in this manner, having been afraid of loud sounds and sudden movements for most of his life. It was Dante who had found him, all those years ago, a weak and feeble thing next to his deceased mother. The forlorn gelding had since undergone numerous anxiety spells since the incident, screeching desperately, snorting loudly, bucking and rearing. Scarlett herself had witnessed several episodes when she had first arrived in the castle, a beautiful storm of white prancing about the field.

Her grip on the reins loosened momentarily, a fatal error.

Ivory reared once more, and Scarlett leaned too far back to recover her position on her horse. A sharp cry pierced the air as the young apprentice tumbled backwards, colliding with the cold dirt below. Her left foot had caught within the stirrups, and Scarlett struggled aggressively against it, panic grabbing her by the throat. Ivory fired another shrill neigh, rivalling the booming cannons and reared again. The action allowed Scarlett to maneuver herself, freeing her foot and rolling onto her side to avoid getting trampled beneath her gelding's hooves.

Once Scarlett had regained her footing, it was then that Ivory decided to bolt.

Oh no you don't!

Scarlett attempted to reach out and grip the reins once more, but she came up too short, gripping nothing but cool air. Her breath caught in her throat, panic bubbling to the surface at the thought of her dear Ivory darting away from her.

Almost immediately, as if on cue, another hand shot out, this one much larger, long fingers wrapping around the straps swiftly. Dante tugged just enough to force the gelding to turn around, loosening the reins as the horse reared once more, before tightening them again as Ivory came back down.

"Whoa, whoa, easy boy. Shhh, it's okay, it's alright." Dante soothed, lightly pulling on the straps to apply pressure around the gelding's mouth, curling the horse's head inwards. Stroking Ivory's mane, Dante continued to whisper to the anxious horse, and Scarlett watched as Ivory's twitching ears ceased ever so slightly.