Chapter 21 – An Insufferable Knight
“Why?” asked Viola, brows furrowed together in suspicion, as Lune led him by the elbow to the tree where two horses were tied to.
With a seemingly practiced shrug, as if to convince her of his words, he said, “No reason, really. I was just curious where you went at such a late hour so I asked him.” Before she could respond, Lune changed topics, saying, “How about we test your skill on horseback with a small wager? If you win, I’ll consider a request from you.”
‘And what do you get if I lose,’ thought Viola.
Mistaking her silence for assent, he led her to one of the steeds, milk-white and placid. She stroked it on the snout and it neighed appreciatively. The other one, midnight-black, had been snorting while tugging against its rope, promising a temper equally dark with its appearance.
Without a warning, Lune put one foot on a stirrup, bounded onto the saddle, and dug the other on its ribs in one fluid motion. Already untied, the horse broke out into a run. Expecting some sort of underhandedness from the Arpen knight, Viola untied the rope holding her stallion with one tug at the knot and quickly mounted it as well. With a loud shout, she urged him towards him and the apparent finishing line of their race, the Judith River.
‘You are going to rue the day you even thought of challenging me, little boy,’ thought Viola as her horse seemingly felt the princess’ thoughts and began to gallop even faster without any urging. Aside from the usual animosity the warriors of Koronis felt towards what they considered were their soft counterparts from Arpen, she thought that the knight made a mistake. He was so sure of victory, he did not even consider that she was going to use her win to force him into providing information about Princess Guinev.
“You’re not going with a canter,” shouted the knight, mockingly, in front of her. Yet the princess thought she detected a hint of nervousness as the white horse began gaining on the black one with no apparent effort on its rider.
‘Predictably, he underestimated me, not just because I’m from Koronis, but also because I have a cunt between my legs,’ the princess thought to herself. But despite the fact that she was a Crown Princess candidate, she had also been subjected to training in martial arts: swordsmanship, archery, and most importantly, horseback riding.
“There’s a hurdle right ahead!”
“I’m more worried that you’ll crash into it than I am for me,” shouted Viola back, confident in her training. Even though her horse was a stranger, their breathing, and hence their movements, were in sync with each other. If anything, it was her dress who was distracting her as its lace was threatening to fly into her face because of the wind.
From out of nowhere, a large beast loomed in front of her. ‘Impossible,’ her mind shrieked. There was nothing but flat grasslands for miles around them. Either of them should have seen it before it even got close to them. Before she could react, as the distraction due to the lace had temporarily dulled her warrior-like reflexes, the white horse leapt sharply to its left to avoid the menacing creature.
Unprepared for the sudden movement with one hand free of the reins, Viola shouted once in alarm as she was thrown off while the other hand lost its grasp. Time began to slow down as she imagined crashing onto the hard ground below. She would be lucky to leave with only bruises. Then, she would have to contend with the lurking animal itself.
As if from out of nowhere, one of Lune’s arms wrapped itself around her waist while in mid-air. With amazing strength, she was pulled to one side, breaking her fall. Daring to open an eye, she gasped in surprise to see him holding her with one arm while the other held the reins to the black stallion. Unbidden, she felt goosebumps at the sensation of his thick arm around her waist.
“What happened? You’re bleeding,” she gasped, as her eyes went to his chin where blood was beginning to drip from.
“It’s nothing. Probably a pebble that bounced off the horse’s hoof.”
Now that she was up close to him, she realized that Lune was indescribably beautiful. His breath, sharply coming out of those luscious lips that were close enough to touch the tip of her nose, reminded her of a flower which she could not name just now. With an embarrassed blush, she realized her breasts were now brushing against his chest as he held her even closer.
Lune must have felt, or heard, her thoughts for his eyes strayed down to her bosom. He laughed uproariously, saying, “Don’t worry. An uncultured female knight is not to my liking.”
She replied, “Please. Do not flatter yourself that I would even look at you.” But then she noticed that he was still staring at her in an unfamiliar manner.
“My skin. That burning sensation. Did you pick up a Judith flower while we were walking?” he asked.
‘What a weird thing to ask,’ she thought to herself. Viola shook her head. She could see Lune was unconvinced as his piercing gaze went all over her from head to toe. Unable to help herself, the princess’ gaze kept going back to the knight’s lips. Suddenly, one hand of his shot out and grabbed the brown hair on the back of her head, drawing her closer. Her heart began to pound in anticipation.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please, let go of my hair,” she managed to stammer. But she was only met with silence.
She was about to ask him again, when he playfully responded, “Why not make me? You’re supposedly trained in swordsmanship. Let’s see how a swordsman of Koronis moves against the best of Arpen’s.” Viola wasn’t surprised in the very least, since the Arpen Royal Family was known to treat hostages as little more than objects for the satiation of lust.