Zoe Reed - Breaking Legacies

Nilson had been chattering away behind us from the saddle of his own small horse, but in the midst of his talking, he caught sight of the castle. He stopped midsentence, drawing in a long overdue breath. “Look!” he yelled to our mother, who winced at his volume because she was riding right beside him. “ That’s where Akamar lives?”

“And where you will too,” I told him over my shoulder, “for the next month.”

Ava glanced back at him, adding, “That’s one month to eat all the sweets you can get your hands on.”

Nilson’s eyes widened, and his heels kicked back so his horse would go a little faster, taking him ahead of us. “Come on, then.” He pointed a mile into the distance. “Race you to that crossroads.”

I glanced back at my mother to see if she was up for it, but she waved her hand. “You lot go on, I’ll catch up.”

I looked ahead at Nilson, preparing to tease him and tell him I’d give him a head start because his horse was smaller than mine, but before I could, Ava went galloping by us. “See you there!” she hollered back.

Nilson’s jaw dropped with offense, and as he kicked his heels again to take off after her, he called at me, “She’s a worse cheater than you are!”

I simply laughed, watching as they both got farther and farther ahead of my mother and me. After a few seconds, my mother asked, “Aren’t you going to race them?”

Pulling lightly back on the reins, I slowed my horse enough to ride at her side. “I’ve already got them beat,” I told her, and to further my air of nonchalance, asked, “what are you most excited for about staying at the castle?”

She hummed, thought about it, opened her mouth to answer, and then set to thinking about it again. While she did, however, I watched her eyes go from me to down the road to check where Ava and Nilson were at in the race. She hummed again. “I think…” She paused, glancing once more at the road. “Well…”

It only took another moment for me to realize what she was doing. “You’re trying to make me lose this race!” I laughed. “I’m not sure who’s the biggest cheater of the lot.” I climbed out of my saddle to dismount, and handed my reins to my mother so she could keep track of my horse for a few minutes. “See you at the crossroads,” I told her, taking a few steps back.

In a snap, I was gone. Shot on a flash of sparks a mile ahead and landing at the end of the race while Ava and Nilson still had a quarter of a mile to go. To tease them even more, I sat down at one corner of the crossroads, folding my legs beneath me to make it look like I’d been sitting there for a while. Ava was the first to reach me, only a few seconds ahead of Nilson.

“You!” Ava exclaimed, trying not to let her amusement show as she pulled back on the reins, bringing her horse to a stop.

“What!” Nilson yelled, halting next to her.

“Took you long enough,” I said, rising to my feet. “Been waiting for ages.”

“You’re the absolute worst,” Ava accused, but she was laughing and teased right back, “I think you owe one of our horses a ride for that lazy display.”

“Lazy?” I chuckled, striding up to her and tapping her foot so she’d take it out of the stirrup. “Magic is hard work, you know.” Once she’d removed her foot, I pulled myself up to sit in the saddle behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. “Or perhaps I just wanted an excuse to ride with my wife.”

“Oh, is that it?” she asked, twisting enough to look at me, and she set her forehead against mine. “You could’ve just said so.” I didn’t say anything to that, but took the opportunity to kiss her for the first time in hours , which was surely far too long to go without kissing her.

“MUM!” Nilson shouted up the road, even though she was still too far away to hear him. “THEY WON’T STOP FLIRTING!” Ava’s lips curling into a wide grin pulled her away from me, and I could feel my cheeks heating with a blush even though I was laughing. “ You two ,” Nilson addressed, his voice playfully stern, “admit that I won the race because I’m the only one who played fair.”

“Alright,” I said, smiling. “All hail the champion, Nilson!”

“Take your victory bow,” Ava instructed with a giggle.

Nilson didn’t just bow at us from his seat in the saddle—he rode his horse around us in a victory lap, waving his hand and saying proud ‘thank you’s while trying to keep his face serious because of how amused Ava and I were, however unsuccessfully. We waited there at the crossroads for another few minutes until my mother reached us, and then we continued the rest of our short journey to Midsummit. It didn’t take long with how close we were, and soon we were riding through the gates, being greeted by a small welcome party of staff who led us to the stables. Our horses were taken by some of those staff, and the few others began to lead us into the castle.

Unlike our first time arriving here, we weren’t taken into a tower and upward, but rather were led through a large entrance and to a place that we’d never been to before at Midsummit—the throne room. Our guides pushed open the massive, decorated doors, revealing the long room, at the end of which was a group of people. Nira was the first one I spotted, standing just in front of the large throne and discussing something with an important looking woman in green robes, who was gesturing toward another robed man who was holding the crown on a pillow. Akamar was nearby, staring up at the ceiling with his hands folded behind his back, looking bored out of his mind. He was the first to glance over at our entrance, appearing desperate for a distraction, but his entire face lit up when he saw that it was us.

“They’re here!” he shouted, leaping down the stairs the throne was set atop and sprinting toward us.

He reached Nilson first because Nilson had gone bounding forward, and they met in such an eager hug that it knocked them straight to the floor, where they lay in a giggling heap. Nira had started over too, leaving the robed people behind—and looking somewhat stressed about the delay—as she bypassed the boys to pace to us.

She threw her arms around Ava’s neck. “You’re here!” she said happily, giving Ava an overly enthusiastic kiss on the cheek and then squeezing her all over again. “You’re finally here!” After a long moment of hugging her sister, she let go and threw her arms around my neck. “It feels as though it’s been years.” She let me go, turning to my mother with outstretched arms. “Bibbey,” she grinned.

At the mention of my mother’s name, Akamar finally stopped giggling with Nilson and looked up, as if realizing for the first time that he’d not yet greeted the rest of us. “Bib!” he exclaimed, jumping into my mother’s arms not a moment after Nira let her go.

“Hello,” my mother laughed, smiling wide as she hugged him back. “You’re both looking so well,” she told Nira, so overjoyed about it that there were almost tears in her eyes. For those six months in the caves, she’d looked after Nira and Akamar as if they were her own children, and I could tell that she was as pleased to see them again as Ava and me.

“You’ve arrived on time,” Nira observed, setting one arm over Ava’s shoulders, leaning against her just to be near. “I take it your journey was fair.”

“Indeed,” Ava agreed. “It was…”

“Leisurely,” I provided, because a ride to Ronan was much more enjoyable when soldiers weren’t chasing us, and Nira laughed knowingly while Ava nodded her amused agreement.

“And the horses?” Nira prompted. “How are they? And your cottage, is it luxurious?”

After the war ended, Kingston took the throne in Guelder, and he and Nira had gifted Ava and me a sum enough to last us the rest of our lifetimes. They’d said it was for our services to the kingdoms, but we both knew it to be a generous result of their love. We didn’t use it to rebuild the burned down cottage I’d lived in with Mother and Nilson. We’d moved farther outside of Wicklin Moor instead, and bought a few hundred acres so we could make our living doing something simple, and fun, and safe . So we could raise horses.