Search results for query: *

Falcon grows restless, more irritated as the sand beneath us becomes dry again and the grass upon the cliffs edges closer. His body is hot enough that I can feel it through my boots that are not even touching his sides. He tosses his head on multiple occasions, snorts loudly and stomps his front...

He doesn’t make an entire meal of the other aughisky, just samples a few bites. It’s grotesque in every way but I can’t stop watching. He lifts his head, looks at me as I move to stand up. Strips of flesh hang from his sharp teeth. The blood is drying but still runs down his body like tiny...

The young prince wakes to a dog’s frantic barking and just barely glances the cloaked figure as it rushes into his bedchamber. He sits up in time to see a silvery blade diving towards his throat. His hand catches it as blood begins to flow from his palm. Ignoring the sharp burning, the prince...

The King is dead, presumably murdered in his sleep by his previous wife. Filled with hate and jealousy, she turned his people against him and her son now sits the throne as ruler of Ilvoran. He sends the country into devastation, meanwhile, the old King's youngest child runs for his life with...

Falcon’s breathing slows after several minutes and I am ready to let him truly stretch his legs, but then he shifts underneath me. His body becomes stiff, as still as I have ever seen him. His ears point toward the black ocean a good hundred yards ahead of us. The noise that escapes from his...

The following morning finds me with William Grady and his new bay mare. I do not train during the day, things are far too chaotic and noisy, but that’s just what William needs. Though he rode terribly last year, his heart is in the right place when it comes to respect for the aughisky and...

I try to ignore her guards for the most part. They have no reason to protect her from me or Falcon. I’d never hurt her and I like to think her father trusts me in that aspect else he wouldn’t have let her come ride with me. But it is their job, quite possibly a habit for them at this point, so I...

Once back up on the cliffs, I loosen my hold on Falcon. He’s more trustworthy on grass than he is on sand. As the guards move their horses into a trot, my aughisky picks up his pace as well, moving smoothly alongside Neora’s smaller palomino mare. Most of them don’t view horses as prey but it...

“Yes. He won ten out of the nineteen races he was in. Rode a chestnut mare named Firefly.” I notice her demeanor change when her horse shifts. I make a note to avoid asking that question again. Her discomfort becomes more apparent in the way she avoids answering and shifts the topic over to me...

I nod to her in reply, “Yes. My father was a good friend of his.” Falcon walks beside the palomino mare, but his body is tensed. He wants to run again. The sea whispers to him as well, I can see it in the way one ear is always pointed towards the water. How he sometimes edges sideways hoping I...

Silence falls between us as I take her back towards the guards. The tide rolls in gently, brushing against Falcon’s hooves as he walks. Beyond the ocean’s horizon the sun is halfway set, brilliant colors of purple, pink, and orange stretch through the cloudy sky above us. I am very used to the...

“Okay,” I say, smiling. Falcon and I both share a love for galloping. Any slower is almost boring. I make him walk out a bit further towards the ocean, trying to make sure we are in complete sand instead of the uneven rocky stuff that lines the edges between the grass cliffs and actual beach...

I wrap my hand tight around hers, the softness of her palm a welcome change from the course leather and bitter iron I am accustomed to handling. Falcon shifts his feet a bit as he adjusts to the princess’ added weight. I hold him there for a moment so Neora can find where she’s comfortable on...

His gray hide shivers at another person’s touch; he is so used to my hands. He turns an ear towards the princess and I swear to all the gods he actually purrs. It is a sound I have only heard a few times, so soft it rarely escapes a water horse’s mouth. But then she asks me to teach her to ride...

Falcon turns his head immediately, ears pointing towards Neora. He breathes deeply, then stretches his long neck out towards her. Once he is content with her smell Falcon moves away. He lowers his head for his bridle like I taught him, keeps still as I latch the throat and nose bands. Most put...

When I come back from setting the appaloosa mare free, a hoard of protests wait for me. The group of men are all barking at me, calling my foolish and crazy. How could I let go of such a gorgeous aughisky? It’s a simple answer. She was more wild than even this beach could handle. She was made...

The dawn is a freezing, damp thing that struggles to light my room through the haze of thick gray clouds. I set to dressing myself today, grateful to after being hovered over last night. It will have to be heavier articles today for not only protection against the elements but also any aughisky...

“As I imagine many fathers are of their daughters.” I had known plenty of girls back home, both worthy candidates for marriage and lowborn, and the majority were well-protected just the same. Still, Gradlon knew me. I was not after his only child’s virtue nr would I ever hurt her. If I thought...

“You wound me, highness. Of course I would seek your father’s permission first, but I see no reason for him to deny me. I’ve been his champion three years past with strong chance of making this my fourth. Thus, I may become your husband. It is only natural that I should want to spend time with...

She’s clever, this much I can tell. There is a depth to her that intrigues me, a part of her that likely goes unrecognized by everyone else. She needs not to tell me her yearning for the aughisky, it’s all too clear. I was younger once, distanced from the wildness of the beach like she is still...