QueensDowry.PDF by Elemental Alchemy

Author:Elemental Alchemy [Alchemy, Elemental]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-07-01T23:47:02+00:00

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Despite Addy’s misgivings, Mrs. Ginnings proved perfectly amenable to the idea of chaperoning their riding lessons. She’d have rather been able to spend the time with Nume alone, but nevertheless, Addy looked forward to the first session with fierce anticipation. She spent the majority of that day trying to teach Conall how to sit so he didn’t bounce so hard he’d break his poor mare’s back, and patiently coaxing Nume to approach her horse.

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By the time they called an end to it, Conall had made a full lap around the pasture without Addy once worrying that he was going to bounce right out of his saddle, and Nume was standing by her horse’s withers, mostly relaxed as she stroked his neck. Addy counted it a rousing success, and implored Mrs. Ginnings to make time for them to ride every day, so they could be ready in time for the hunt.

They spent every morning that week in the pasture with their horses, and Addy thrilled at the luxury of so much time with Nume in near-privacy. Mrs. Ginnings’s presence made her nervous at first, but she quickly realized why Luke had recommended her.

She was as unlike Mrs. Alcott as Addy could have imagined, and never once scolded Addy for lingering too close to Nume. The two of them had plenty of opportunity to talk while Conall trotted wide circles around the pasture and Addy rode at Nume’s side, leading her in smaller walking circuits. It didn’t take long before Addy was waking even before her maid came to ready her, eager to get her morning ablutions out of the way so she could hurry down to the stables and spend the pleasant morning hours in Nume’s company.

Occasionally, when Conall was at the far end of the pasture, and Mrs. Ginnings was pretending she wasn’t paying them any attention, Addy would nudge her mare up next to Nume’s and lean in to steal a kiss. Or Nume would tap her heels to her horse’s sides, urging him faster so she could catch up to Addy and claim one for herself. It became a game that Addy used to help Nume grow more comfortable with greater speeds, a chase in which the prize for catching up to Addy was another kiss, each one longer and deeper than the last.

They rode until lunch, usually, then spilled into the dining hall as a group to sit with Luke and chat about how Nume had tried out 156

A QUEEN’S DOWRY

a trot today and hardly even shrieked at all, or how Conall had forgotten to adjust the length of his stirrups before mounting and then been too proud to admit it, so he’d ridden around for nearly a full hour with his knees practically under his chin, while Addy and Nume hooted with laughter.

At the week’s end, Addy was in her room when there came a knock at the door. “Come in,” she called, puzzled as to who it might be.

It wasn’t her maid, nor any of the palace servants she knew.

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