Rebel's Honor(32)

A perplexed frown settled on her sister's face. "If you don't own her, what's she doing on your wrist?"

"I found her orphaned in the forest." Tao lifted his arm, bringing Bird  to his mouth so he could brush his lips across the slate-gray feathers  on her back. "I hand-reared her and spent months training her to hunt  with me. We've been together ever since, but she stays with me because  she chooses to, not because I demand it." Tao fixed Kestrel with a  beseeching look. "We find the relationship mutually beneficial."                       
       
           



       

Guessing at the importance of this discussion to Tao, Lynx looked away,  giving him some privacy, but she couldn't help overhearing Kestrel.

"Huh. If I had put that much effort into something, I wouldn't trust it enough to let it fly."

"Wouldn't you?" Tao asked.

"Of course not," Kestrel said, as if that was obvious. "What if she never comes back?"

"I guess that's better than trapping someone in a relationship they  don't want to be in." Without waiting for Kestrel to answer, Tao walked  over to the waiting high-born. "If your horses are ready, let's get  going."

Lynx saw her sister frown at Tao's back. With troubles of her own, she  couldn't stop to address it. She needed Tao's help, so she trotted over  and grabbed his arm. "What about Lukan? Should I be going on this hunt  without him?"

Tao's forehead creased in thought, and he shrugged. "I don't know. It seems all you've done today is ask about my brother."

"I know. And I can't say I'm ecstatic about it. It's not like I was lining up to marry him."

Tao grinned at her. "I think the line for arranged marriages was very  short, actually." He looked over at Kestrel with longing. "Let me get  her onto her horse, and then I'll give you a hand."

Lynx suppressed a laugh. "Thanks, but I can manage on my own." She took  the reins of a bay mare a groom held out to her-and clicked her tongue  in dismay.

A sidesaddle.

How the heck do these work? Not bothering to find out, she swung a leg  over the horse's back and climbed up. The fact that only one foot was  supported didn't matter; she was used to riding bare-backed.

A few of the high-born twittered. She noticed Kestrel rolling her eyes  and was reminded of her sister saying everyone would think them low-born  savages because she didn't know how to use the bath oils. Had she done  that again? Lynx closed her eyes, wishing life here wasn't so  complicated. What had Mad Mott been thinking when he chose her to be an  empress?

Still, it was too late to do anything about it.

Pretending she wasn't blushing scarlet, Lynx explained, "I've never  ridden with one of these saddles. I don't even know how. All I need is  to fall flat on my face." She smiled disparagingly. "Winds know, this  magical moment is bad enough. I definitely couldn't cope with that  humiliation."

A few of the women smiled, all sympathy, while a couple of the men grinned.

"I'll be happy to catch you, Your Highness," a man with a goatee beard  and a sparkling emerald said. He bowed. "My name is Lev." He gestured to  his companions and rattled off a number of names.

Lynx studied each face, determined to commit them and their names to  memory. To cover herself, she added, "If I get your names all mixed up,  please don't curse me."

"Curse someone with your unusual dress sense? Unlikely," one of the women-Katcha-said.

"Thank you." Lynx smiled again, surprised by the warmth and admiration  in Katcha's voice. Didn't they hate her the way she hated them? "Even  though Norin are known for our individuality, I just happen to be even  more individual than most."

Tao's voice rang out. "If everyone is ready, let's go."

He led Lynx and the rest of the party out onto a path next to an  ornamental lake. It was surrounded by tended formal gardens filled with  roses and a mass of other plants Lynx had never seen before. From the  way Kestrel swooned, her sister knew all the names.

A team of gardeners trimmed topiaries of fantastical creatures she had  only heard about in legends. They stopped what they were doing to bow as  she and the riders went past.

Lynx frowned. It didn't matter how deceptively pretty the gardens, at  the end of the expansive lawn, she saw treetops poking just above ground  level. They had reached the wolves.

"How does that work?" Kestrel asked, also studying the strange feature.

"The wolves I told you about," Lynx replied, speaking Norin. "That's  their enclosure. The trees give you an idea of how deep and wide it is."

Tao must have guessed what they were talking about because he paused.  "It used to be the moat, but my grandfather didn't fancy the smell, so  he had it emptied and stocked it with wolves. The trees arrived on their  own." He pointed to a contingent of guardsmen working a large,  steam-driven pulley. "You can only reach the palace at appointed  drawbridges."

Or leave it, Lynx thought darkly.

Amid a belch of smoke and steam, the guardsmen lowered a wooden platform  across the wide expanse of the enclosure. Lynx looked down at the  foliage as her horse clattered over the drawbridge. She didn't see any  wolves, but that didn't mean they weren't there.                       
       
           



       

Once clear of the palace grounds, Tao kicked his horse into a canter and  then into a gallop, leading them along a tree-lined avenue, curling up  the lower slopes of the Serreti Mountains.

Lynx lost herself in the rhythm of the ride. It was so enjoyable she  barely felt the tug of her dress as it rode up above her thighs.

The cobbled road finally ended at an impenetrable wall of scrub and  deciduous trees. Autumn had started to turn some of the leaves, but few  had yet vacated the branches. Being a girl from the steppes, the forest  looked dark and claustrophobic. She sucked in a panicky breath, looking  for a path into the gloom. There was nothing obvious.

Then, she spotted a narrow opening, just wide enough for a horse and  rider to pass through single file. If this was the main track Chenayans  used for their beloved hunting, then the forest growth was as aggressive  as all the hunters combined. It seemed fitting.

Tao passed though the opening first, followed by Kestrel, who seemed unfazed by the oppressive atmosphere.

Payback for the train, Lynx thought. She smiled wryly at the memory of  Kestrel throwing up in a sick bag. Maybe she should have been more  sympathetic. Too late now. Making a show of adjusting her reins, she  lingered at the back of the queue, hoping to delay plunging into the  murk as long as possible.

A movement in the trees on the other side of the path caught her  attention. Axel, mounted on a blue-gray stallion, broke cover from the  deep shade. He pushed his horse through a tangle of creepers, stopping  next to her.

"A hard ride brings out the best in you, Lynx. It's even thawed your  eyes. If I really try, I can even fool myself into believing that you  don't despise us all."

Lynx cursed the pounding of her heart, nothing to do with either exercise or fear of the forest.

An appreciative grin spread across Axel's face.

She followed his eyes as they swept the length of her leg, exposed by  galloping in a silly dress. A quick tug, and she pulled her skirt down  her thighs. As to be expected, she blushed. Trust her face to betray  her. "You had your chance on the train. Now my legs are off-limits-to  you at least."

"Pity."

"Speaking of people who are allowed to see my legs . . . do you know where Lukan is?"

"Sorry. He's proving elusive. Even my father's lost him, and that says  something, given his, shall we say, unique ways of tracking us all."

That sounded ominous. Axel's expression made Lynx wonder what he was  hiding. Whatever it was, it made the hair on the back of her neck stand.

To cover up her treacherous thoughts, she said, "I didn't know vanishing  into the ether was a trait you Chenayans bred into your crown princes."  She stared pointedly at Axel's ruby. "But then, who knows what you're  capable of?"

"I'd very much like to demonstrate my capabilities, if you'd let me, Princess."

"At breakfast, you said I smelled bad," Lynx said, refusing to engage in  sexual innuendos with him. "And how am I supposed to hunt without a  weapon?"

"And here I thought you'd stopped scrounging for weapons when you left  the train. Silly of me." He smiled provocatively as his horse pranced in  front of her. "And you don't smell bad, just overpowering. But I'm  getting used to that. We'd make a good team, Princess. We both like to  own the room."

The urge to smile back was overwhelming. She suppressed it. Axel had no  right flirting with her like this when she was marrying his cousin. Or  when he knew the peril her family was in. The memory of Mott's threat  curdled her stomach, making her nauseous.