J. Souders - Revelations

It’s obvious neither of them believe me. Asher continues to frown and even Gavin is watching me with a strange expression. Guess I’m not as convincing as I hoped. After a minute, Asher turns on his heel, dropping my bag, and runs back into the village.

“ Now where is he going?” Gavin tosses his hands into the air.

I let the bag drop back to the ground and try to decide whether I should sit while Gavin starts his pacing. I’ve just about made up my mind to when I hear the strangest thumping sound. It even vibrates the ground. Nervous, I look to Gavin, who frowns in the direction Asher went. He doesn’t seem scared, only confused.

When I turn back around, I see Asher riding what looks like a cloud of dust, but is actually a giant animal with long legs and an even longer neck. Clamping down on the squeal that wants to erupt from my mouth, I step back into Gavin, who rubs a hand up and down my arm.

Asher drops down off the leather seat and stands next to me. The beast lifts its head and shakes it back and forth, causing the straps on its head to jingle.

Pure panic makes my heart race and I gasp and jump away, bumping into Asher, who chuckles. The beast blows out a breath and I have to fight the urge to flee. The beast is tall, looming above me. Maybe even taller than Asher. It’s silvery, but glows pink in the sunrise. Its eyes watch me with every move and, if I didn’t know better, I’d say they were laughing at me.

“Relax. She’s a good horse. She won’t hurt you,” Asher says, his tone soft and gentle.

I don’t relax, but I do stop trying to run away from it. “A horse?” I’ve heard of horses. I think. The term is familiar to me, at least. I glance at its sides. I thought they had wings, though. There don’t appear to be any. That’s disappointing. I’ve been wondering what it would be like to fly.

“There are no cars outside Rushlake. You want transportation—it’s the horse or nothing.”

“Transportation?”

He gives me a smile. “You really are a princess, aren’t you? Trans-por-ta-tion?” He pronounces each syllable slowly.

I know the word, but it doesn’t fit. I don’t see how this animal could be used for travel. How would you control it?

Gavin fills me in. He always seems to know exactly what I’m thinking. “We ride her.” He pats the large thing sitting on its back. “And she’ll carry us to where we need to go. The city’s a long way from here, you’ll want her to do the walking for you. Trust me.”

He’s always matter-of-fact when he has to explain the obvious to me, but I can’t help feeling stupid every time. It’s always worse in front of other people.

“Plus the best part is she works for hay and sugar cubes.” Asher chuckles to himself and gives the animal a pat on the neck. It makes a soft sound and I catch a glimpse of large teeth under its loose lips.

I swallow hard.

Asher pats something on the back of the animal. “See that seat? That’s how we ride her. She’s also used by the farmers to do … whatever it is they do.” Gavin snorts, but Asher ignores him and continues, “She’s a good girl. Aren’t you, Starshine?” She raises and lowers her head in what I can only call a nod. He pats her neck again and she leans her large head down and nibbles on his hair.

Afraid she’s going to eat him, I gasp, but she pulls away and huffs out a breath as if to tell me to stop being ridiculous.

Curiosity outweighs terror, and I reach out a hand to touch her neck … but curl my fingers into a fist and drop my arm at the last second.

Asher takes my hand. “It’s okay. She won’t hurt you.” He smiles down at me, then turns to the horse. “Evie, this is Starshine. Starshine, this is Evie.”

He places my fist on her neck and my heart pounds. After a minute, though, when the beast does nothing more than stand there, my heart settles and I uncurl my fingers to rub my hand down her neck.

It feels different from anything I’ve ever felt before. The skin is warm, and firm. The hair is soft and thick, coarse. I have to admit I like the feeling. And that she’s very pretty. Tentatively, I step closer. Starshine moves her head and stares at me, the straps over her head jingling.

I’m startled, but I don’t move. Her eyes are the prettiest blue I’ve ever seen. I swear I can see kindness in them. And intelligence.

“See? She’s a good girl. So?” Asher’s eyes sparkle with mischief. “May I offer the lady assistance in mounting her noble steed?”

Before I can say no, Asher bends and nudges my foot into his hand. He murmurs a few instructions to me, but it’s all I can do to hear him, much less understand before I find myself in the seat on the horse’s back, one leg on either side of her wide chest. My skirt hikes up my thighs and I fight the urge to tug it back down. It won’t do any good anyway.

He winks at me. “Probably should have worn jeans instead of that skirt, Princess.”

I ignore that, although Gavin said the same thing to me this morning. But the hand-me-down pants from Ann Marie make me uncomfortable. I can’t really explain why, but I feel out of place in them. Not to mention, they’re a bit large in the hip area, making me jealous of Ann Marie and her figure. Even though my skirt is just as borrowed, it’s somehow more familiar.

“Uh, Asher, I … I don’t know how to ride a horse.” I try to not look as terrified as I feel. It’s a long way back down to the ground and I clutch tightly to the saddle in hopes of keeping myself firmly in place.

He only grins and swings into the saddle behind me, causing me to grab wildly for purchase and shriek when the whole thing tips slightly.

“Not a problem. I’ll be right behind you. I promise I won’t let you fall.”

Before I can even think of what to say, Gavin grabs Asher’s arm and tugs—sending Asher crashing to the ground with a thump—before taking the leather straps attached to the horse’s head and walking forward with her. The horse starts walking and I cling to the knobby thing again, trying not to scream when the saddle shifts with each step.

Gavin looks up at me from where he walks next to the horse’s neck. “You’re doing great, Evie. Just keep holding on to the horn”—he taps the thing sticking up from the seat—“and holler if you want me to stop.” Then he leans back and kisses my leg just below the knee.

My stomach flutters and I smile down at him, wanting to run my fingers through his hair. Actually, I want to do much more than that. But I’m too afraid to let go of the horn.

Instead, I glance behind me to where Asher is just now pulling himself into a sitting position. He glares at Gavin for a second before pushing himself to his feet and limp/running to join us again. This time he stays on the ground.

No one really talks. We’re all probably just too nervous, but as the tortuous sun drags itself across the sky and nothing happens, I begin to relax. The horse’s steady gait rocks me until, between that and the heat of the sun, I start to drift.

I try to fight it, but after a while I give up and let myself float, staying awake only enough to not fall off the horse. It’s not like it matters if I’m alert. There’s nothing worth paying attention to anyway. Nothing to see, except kilometers and kilometers of sand and pale blue sky. There aren’t even any clouds to stare at. Which makes me a little sad. Gavin had taught me, when I was first allowed to go outside, how to pick out shapes in the clouds. We’d spent hours that first day, nuzzled up next to each other, pointing out different shapes between kissing. The kissing was my favorite part. Even now my stomach flips thinking about his lips against mine. Or on the side of my neck. How he held my face between his palms. Or ran his fingers through my hair, just staring at me, my heart beating so hard in my chest, I was breathless just from looking at him.