AYLETH

Ayleth petted the shoulder of her mount as they rode through the forest near the castle. Next to her, Trystan sat his massive gelding as if he were born there—barely touching his reins, yet the animal danced on a dime to do as he wished.

“You’re very good,” she said with a genuine smile. “Can you teach me how to ride like that?”

He tipped his chin in acknowledgement. “Certainly, but it is in part the training of the animal, and time spent with them. They need to learn you just as much as you need to learn them. But once you do…” he trailed off, but suddenly, without any obvious instruction, his horse turned to face hers, yet continued alongside, walking sideways, its fine legs crossing with every step.

Ayleth’s mouth dropped open. “I didn’t even know they could do that!”

“They’re very talented,” Trystan said with a wide smile, patting the neck of his gelding—a huge, dark bay with black mane and tail, and one leg, white to the knee—as it swung back to face forward and returned to a walk.

They walked on in the scattered patches of sunlight that broke through the trees and Ayleth felt almost content. She would have preferred to be riding with Etan of course, but without him, Trystan was a gentleman and pleasant company. And not… playing games. She appreciated that. Now if she could have just gone without the ring of guards riding twenty feet on every side…

“I have enjoyed our ride,” she said eventually with a glance around them to make sure her voice was low enough not to carry to the men. Trystan nodded his agreement and looked at them too. “This trail will take us back to the castle soon, and… it seemed last night you wished to speak of something. And I would… like to hear your thoughts, I think.”

Trystan’s face went very serious and he shook his near-white hair out of his eyes, obviously measuring the distance between them and the guards. When he spoke, it was with his hand in his horse’s mane, and his eyes on the animal’s neck.

“I did wish to speak with you, though I’ll admit to some… trepidation,” he said carefully, throwing her a look from the side.

Ayleth swallowed. “I assure you, your confidence is safe with me, Trystan.” She looked at the guards and dropped her voice further. “I find I wish to make you an ally and… that is difficult to do in the middle of a feast,” she said plainly.

He nodded. “Very well, but please bear with me. I have been trying to consider the very best way to say this and I’m afraid I haven’t stumbled on it yet.”

“Take your time,” she said.

They walked on a moment longer before he spoke even more quietly. “As I mentioned yesterday, others often believe me to be uneducated, or unthoughtful. Neither is true.”

She nodded.

“But the advantage to being measured so is that it often allows me to observe others without their knowledge or attention. They do not suspect me.”

She nodded again, a tiny trill of nerves twisting in her stomach.

“And among the heirs—the male heirs—there is none as strong, nor as widely distrusted as Lord Summit,” he said, barely above a whisper.

Ayleth’s breath stopped.

“But most wish to exclude him and so… if he is not nearby, they will avoid him rather than seek him out. Which allows him to move about quite a lot without anyone paying attention.” His tone suggested this was a good thing. “But I have found him alone several times, at first by accident, then later to… satisfy myself that I understood his intentions.”

“Intentions for what, may I ask?” Ayleth said calmly, but her voice a touch too high.

“For you,” he said baldly, then turned his head to meet her eyes.

Ayleth’s mouth dropped open. “I cannot know what you mean?”

Trystan snorted. “There’s no need to lie to me, Ayleth. I saw you leave the stable the other morning, and him just half an hour later.”

Ayleth snapped her head forward, her eyes too wide, she knew, but… what should she say? He’d seen them? He had to—Falek wouldn’t have told him, that was for certain. And even if the maid had been telling tales, she hadn’t known about Etan.

She swallowed hard.

Trystan simply kept staring at her. But when she didn’t speak or look at him, he sighed. “I am not trying threaten you, Ayleth. I’m trying to show you that I can be trusted. That we have a… similar regard for Lord Summit, and as such, we should be helping each other protect him—and ourselves—from the plots of others.”

Ayleth blinked. “I… very much doubt, Trystan, that our regard for Lord Summit is… similar.”

“I assure you, Princess, it very much is.”

When she turned, he met and held her gaze, his jaw tight, clearly awaiting her judgment—or hoping for her understanding—and uncertain what would come.

“Oh,” was all she said. Ayleth had heard whispers of these men and women who preferred the company of their own kind. While she’d never seen the attraction herself, her mother waved the whole thing off as “a bit of fun.” Her father was less flippant, yet had admitted during his talk the other day that these men existed. He’d told her that in the more uptight cultures they sometimes tried to take wives to hide their true desires, so if she was offered for by someone she knew little, she should make certain that he was truly interested in her. She hadn’t taken him seriously at the time. “Oh.”

Trystan’s lips pinched and he turned forward. “I am not a monster, Ayleth, I assure you that I would never—”

“No, no. You misunderstand me, Trystan. I was taken by surprise, but… I appreciate your candor. And… while this is not an area of life in which I find myself experienced, I hope you know I would like to be your friend. And ally. I’m… grateful that you trusted me,” she said, then looked at him again.

He turned slowly, measuring her. Whatever he saw, he must have decided she wasn’t lying because his shoulders slumped, and he returned his attention to his horse. “I, too, would like that,” he said finally, his voice small.