Through the Storms

RIDING THROUGH THE MEADOW

CHAPTER FOUR

The two riders rode out through the streets. Arya hoped she could see the outside of Beolyn. She wanted to see the country side once again. Feel the wind in her face again and ride freely without any restraint.  She felt Midnight shared a kindred spirit with her and didn’t want any restraints on him. Like he wanted to run freely too. He tried to break free from the reins but Arya patted him and chuckled at the trick he was trying to play on her. If she let go she couldn’t tell where he would take off to or what he would do to her so she slowed him to a trot to get a chance to play with his mane a little. He seemed to like it and grunted softly. Nick was still riding ahead and stopped when he noticed Arya wasn’t following behind him. He trotted back to her and watched as she patted her horse.

The horse seemed to be enjoying the princess’ touch and Nick felt a tinge of jealousy. He wished he were that horse. He took a deep breath and told himself to get over his infatuation. The princess wasn’t his and wouldn’t be. He had to stop his fantasies from getting wild.

“We should get going if we really want to make it back in time for lunch.”

That reminded Arya that she hadn’t had breakfast that morning and she was a bit hungry now.

“Then what about breakfast?” she asked Nick.

“It’s all arranged and ready. But if you keep petting Midnight we’ll have a late breakfast my dear” Nick replied.

“You should lead the way, Your Highness” Arya replied as she held her reins

Nick’s hair stood on end when she called him that and he tried to hold himself from reacting noticeably from the name. He cringed inwardly at her use of the title on him, not because he wasn’t His Highness but because it had been long since he was called that. He quietly turned on his horse and rode off with Arya following close behind.

ARYA’S POV:

If I wasn’t mistaken I think I saw Nick cringed when I referred to him as Your Highness. Like he loathed the name. He turned without a word and headed north. Yes, I was good with geographical readings and I had kept a close eye on my bearings since I left the royal stables with Nick. I think I liked him and looked on to the wedding with less trepidation. He seemed to be a nice person and his personality on a whole didn’t seem bad to me.

I followed closely behind and he led us to the gates. I noticed the streets were empty with no commoners around and I wondered how a country with such a population as Beolyn would be sparse. I also noticed there were movements in various houses we passed but why they would stay indoors like this left me perturbed, I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind as we approached the city gates.

The gates were thrown open on Nick’s orders and we headed out. The view outside wasn’t nice compared to my home but I could do with this. I wanted to be out of that castle for as long as I could and I was really grateful that Nick had brought me out for a while.

Like Nick said, all the arrangements had been made and some servants had been waiting for our arrival with a few guards around. We reached them after a few minutes of riding through the meadows that looked not so fresh because of the harsh weather at this time of the year.

I had never had such a sumptuous meal since I arrived at Beolyn and my eyes watered at the sight and memories of home that I missed so much. I really needed to quit being home sick. Father had sent me off without so much of a second thought and I was still angry at him for doing this to me and I didn’t know how I would react if I saw him again. I wondered if he would come for my wedding.

It seemed I had drifted off for a while because Nick was staring strangely at me.

“Are you okay, princess” he asked. My eyebrows were deeply furrowed and to think I had let Nick see me this way told me I had let my guard down.

“I’m okay” I quickly replied. I looked down at my plate and noticed that most of the food was gone. That left me surprised because right now it meant I had done things unconsciously.

“We should head back” Nick said and stood up from his sitting position. He walked towards his horse and I did same. He climbed first and turned in the direction we had come back from before. An idea popped into my head and as soon as I mounted Midnight, I took off in the opposite direction. I looked back to see a surprised Nick staring at me. The servants also looked surprised. I wanted to have a little fun and didn’t want to be all cooped up like some animal.

 Soon I heard horses’ hooves behind me. At the rate I was going, if I turned back I would definitely fall off the horse so I urged Midnight to go faster and to my delight, he did exactly that. Another idea popped into my head and without a second thought, I did exactly what I thought I would do. I let my reins go and let Midnight run as fast as he could. I didn’t try to stop him or restrict him. I also let him feel what I was feeling and how delighted Midnight seemed because he increased his speed once more.