Chapter 16

16

Ella

As soon as he walked the prince's giant horse out into the courtyard, I grabbed Bianca's saddle and hurried into Gwendolyn's stall. Pip jumped off my shoulder and found a spot to watch. The horse tossed her mane and stamped her feet, clearly agitated. I set the saddle on the rail and brushed my hand along her neck. "I know it's late, but you're going out riding, Gwen. And I know you might not like her, but will you please help me out?"

She snorted and nudged my arm as if to say, At least I get to leave .

"Thank you." I situated the saddle and began securing the straps. She shimmied and huffed to let me know how she liked it fitted. Once I was certain the saddle was properly secured, I pulled the large thorn from the pocket of my apron and showed it to the mare. "Your rider wanted me to put this in your foot to make you lame."

Gwen's eyes widened, and she backed up until she bumped the end of the stall.

I tucked the thorn back in my pocket. "I would never do that to any animal—even one I didn't like—but especially not to a sweet creature like you."

The horse tossed her head. I should hope not.

"It leaves me in a bit of a predicament, though. Bianca will be furious."

She pulled her lips back, showing her teeth.

I stroked her neck with an affectionate smile. "No, don't nip her, or we'll both be in trouble. But perhaps you could pretend to go lame partway through the ride? She wants an excuse to have to ride with the prince."

The mare snorted. So, she wants to take me out riding but doesn't want to ride me?

I shrugged and grinned back at her. "Pretty stupid plan, huh?"

She stamped her hind foot and snorted again. I'll be glad to be rid of her.

"I bet you will," I laughed, then shook my head. I'd always talked to animals, but I'd had to guess what they would've said back. It was a little imagination and a little wistful thinking. But with the chestnut mare, it was almost like I could hear her talking in the back of my mind.

Like she was actually talking to me.

I arched my eyebrows as I checked the straps one last time. "Are you sure that saddle fits okay?"

Her head bobbed. Perfect—I can actually breathe. The stablemaster always tightens it up like he thinks I'm a hundred pounds lighter than I am. She looked me straight in the eyes, with just a hint of accusation. We can't all be dainty little things, can we?

"Holy Fates," I said as I stumbled back in surprise, my heart suddenly beating against my chest. Either I'd lost my wits or the horse was speaking to me in my head. Was that part of the castle's magic?

The horse sniffed the air. She's here.

I looked over my shoulder just as Bianca swept into the stables. She was dressed in a scandalously tight riding outfit that hugged every curve of her body. My jaw dropped. I'd never seen a woman dressed like that before. I wondered if her pants would rip when she mounted up. Perhaps that was part of her plan, as well.

"What are you gawking at, girl?" she snapped as she approached. "Where's the stablemaster? Is my horse ready?"

"He took the prince's horse out already," I said as I walked Gwendolyn out.

She glared at me. "If you've made me late, I'll make you bleed."

I decided not to point out that I'd been waiting for her. "Let me help you up, my lady."

She mounted Gwen, and I led them out of the stable.

The stablemaster looked up with an expression of trepidation, but it was the prince who caught my eye. He sat on Tenebris, the hard lines of his face drawn into an icy expression. "What is the meaning of this? I'm riding out alone."

I shivered as the frosty accusation skated over my skin, but Bianca simply fanned her fingers against her chest and put on a look of surprise that wouldn't have fooled a six-year-old. "Oh, I had no idea you were going out riding, Your Highness. With all the commotion of the castle, I needed a breath of fresh air and a bit of quiet."

"As did I," he gritted. His hard gaze found me, and something wicked flashed in his eyes. A blaze of heat raced across my skin, and I looked away. It did nothing to distill the tension that tightened the air between us.

No—I had to be imagining that. More likely, he was planning ways to punish me for this.

"How wonderful!" Bianca cooed as she spurred Gwen over. "We can ride together and discuss the ball. I know you wouldn't be so rude as to make me ride alone."

Her voice dripped with honey and feigned na?veté. I couldn't believe the prince would be fooled—and by the expression on his face, he wasn't. "I'm going hunting."

"That's wonderful, Your Highness. I should adore seeing you in action. I love killing things myself. I'd do it more often if it were legal."

The prince's mouth opened, then shut as hoofbeats sounded from the castle gates. I followed his gaze as a female rider appeared, and my stomach tumbled.

Lorayna raised her hand as she spurred her horse into the courtyard, making directly for the prince. "Your Highness, what a surprise! I was just out for a little ride but turned back because—" Her voice cut off as her sister rode over. "Bianca? What are you doing here?"

"I was going out for a ride with His Royal Highness. It seems you've already gone. Too bad. Your horse must be tired."

The lines of Lorayna's face stretched as her skin blanched with white-hot fury. "He's not tired in the least. I was just preparing to head out, but when I heard the prince was riding, I thought I'd wait to join him. We have important things to discuss. Alone."

I stood there, gaping at their audacity. Had the sisters come up with the same plan to corner the prince?

Bianca brought her horse alongside her sister and turned her nose up. "Well, perhaps you can join him another time."

Her movements left me standing in the open. My muscles screamed for me to run and hide, but instinctually, I knew that if I moved an inch, I'd draw attention to myself. For now, I was just another servant. Invisible. A plaything beneath noticing.

Except I thought I felt the prince's gaze on me, warming my skin. Surely not.

I looked up, surprised to see him watching me instead of the sisters. I'd have given my best boots to read what was in his eyes, but of course I couldn't. His gaze didn't move from me, and I looked away first, seeking the sisters.

Lorayna's lips curled in disgust. "All the groomsmen were just leaving for the night when I was preparing to ride out. I hope you weren't so desperate that you had to saddle your own animal. I doubt you have the skill, and I wouldn't want you to break your neck, dear sister."

I was certain that if the prince hadn't been there, Lorayna might have tried to snap her sister's spine on the spot.

"I will leave you ladies to sort out your differences," the prince said, his voice thrumming with disdain. Without so much as a nod to either of them, he gave me one last heated look, then spurred his horse and galloped through the gate.

"You've ruined everything!" Lorayna hissed at her sister, then pinned the stablemaster with an accusatory look that nearly curdled my blood.

The truth clicked into place. Lorayna had been the one to send the groomsmen away, not the prince. It was her wrath that the stablemaster had risked by helping me, not the royal's. The old man bowed his head as his knees began to shake. "I'm sorry, my lady. I had no idea Lady Bianca was going out riding, or I would have saddled her horse for her. But alas, I was here with the prince."

Bianca tossed her hair and glanced back at me. "Don't worry, sister, your new maid saddled the beast for me. The feral little thing seems to know a thing or two about horses."

My stomach dropped as Lorayna turned a murderous glare on me. Whatever hope I'd had of escaping this debacle disappeared like smoke in the breeze.

"The stables are part of the household, and that girl is my servant. You presume too much upon your position," Lorayna said, ice-cold.

Bianca snorted. "I think the word you are looking for is initiative . Good evening, dear sister." With that, Bianca dug her heels into Gwen's side and raced after the prince.

Before I could escape, Lorayna jerked the reins of her gelding and rode over. "So, you think you can be one of the groomsmen, then, you treacherous little wench?"

Yup. I was going to die.

Rather than cower like the stablemaster, I raised my chin. "Lady Bianca pulled me from my duties and made me saddle her horse, as the stablemaster and groomsmen were not around. I only helped her out of respect for you, my lady. She is your sister."

Whatever happened, I wasn't going to take the kindly old man down with me.

Lorayna's deathly expression didn't waver. "Well, if you think you're a groomsman, then we'll see if you have what it takes to handle the rest of their chores. I want the entire stables mucked out and refreshed before I return from my ride—by yourself."

"The entire thing?" I blurted as I looked back at the massive building.

The sting of her riding crop lashed my shoulder. "Of course, the entire thing. Have it finished, or I'll flog you skinless in front of the staff." She turned to the stablemaster. "As for you, I want you out of my sight. You'll work the next month with no pay for this lapse, and if I hear you've helped her in any way, I'll drain you myself."

"Thank you, my lady." He bowed. "I'll leave now."

Lorayna spun her gelding around, and bending low, spurred it into motion and galloped after the prince and her sister.

The stablemaster shook his head. "I warned you no good would come of it."

"I'm sorry for getting you into this mess. You can have my pay. It may not be as much as yours, but it'll be something."

"It's not me you should be worrying about. Lorayna has given you an impossible task, and she knows it."

My heart sank as I stared at the open gates of the castle and the dark night beyond. "What am I going to do?"

"You could run, but she'd probably hunt you down and make an example out of you." He scratched his chin. "I suspect it's better to do what you can and take the beating. The sisters might be devil spawn, but I doubt the prince would let it get too far. He has a sense of justice, even if he's one of them. A good trait in a king, I suppose."

Oh, so he'd just let them beat me a little for obeying their orders.

"Any king that would employ those two to run his house is a monster," I muttered.

The old man shook his head. "You'll get yourself killed for talking treason like that."

"It's the truth."

He glanced over his shoulder as the castle guards closed the main gate, then lowered his voice. "There are two sides to every story. Those vipers are the daughters of a powerful duke. The old king appointed them to ease tensions between the families, so Prince Cassius can't sack them without reigniting a blood feud—although I'm certain he's considered risking it. The fact that neither of them has been staked in the hallways is a miracle, or at least a testament to their canniness." He clapped me on the shoulder. "Too bad they didn't make you a groomswoman from the start—you did a right fine job with that saddle. I hope you're just as good at cleaning." His expression wavered, and the jovial wrinkles of his face fell. "I am sorry about all this, lass. I'd help, but…"

I nodded. "I understand. You'd better go."

"Right. Well, good luck." He looked around sheepishly, then headed to the front gate, leaving me on my own with an impossible task as the only thing keeping the whip from my back.