A Ride Interrupted

Temmin's "plan of action" quickly foundered on reality. He didn't know any eligible girls, when it came down to it. And the one person he would have relied upon for help, Jenks, already had his heart set on this whole Lovers business.

After dinner, Jenks gave him the Teacher's message that he'd have the next day to himself to ride or read or do as he pleased. It should have been a pleasant prospect, he sighed to himself as he saddled Jebby after breakfast on Neyaday morning. But instead, tomorrow night's dance, and his meeting with Allis, loomed over him.

He briefly thought of asking the grooms if they knew any girls, but that just seemed like a recipe for gossip. He may as well, he thought as he climbed into the saddle, stand on the Keep's parapet with a megaphone and yell, "Excuse me, may I have your attention? Please tell everyone you know, that I am a desperate virgin. Thank you." But then, he reflected as he rode out of the yard, that's what he was.

Jebby could sense his rider's unease, and the big horse danced sideways as they headed out the trail toward the King's Woods. Temmin cleared his mind and patted the chestnut's shoulder. "It's all right, friend, I'm just preoccupied. Let's go." They cantered through the meadow and into the woods, then settled into a comfortable walk.

The trail was wide; three could ride abreast, and even four in spots. At one time, Temmin knew this had been a war trail, but that was before the kingdom had been united and expanded. Now the thought of troops marching either to or from Tremont Keep seemed ludicrous. If there was any real threat of war, Temmin would already be training with the cavalry rather than waiting until he was 18. As it was, he'd had fencing lessons and fighting lessons with private tutors, and of course he could sit a horse very well. He looked forward to the time when he'd be with the cavalry, focused entirely on horses and maneuvers and riding and men, no women to clutter things up and confuse him.

It was just as he was thinking his darkest anti-female thoughts that he heard a girl sobbing. Temmin pulled up short, listening, and turned Jebby toward the sound. Not far off the path on a downed log sat the girl, crying as if her heart was filled to overflowing with tears. Temmin dismounted and led Jebby to where she sat.

"Miss? Are you all right?" he said hesitantly, to no reply. "Miss?"

The girl had hidden herself in her bonnet, but at the sound of his voice, she lifted her tear-streaked face. "Your highness?" It was Arta.

"Arta! What on earth are you doing sitting out here by yourself? Are you all right? Are you hurt? What's amiss!" He hastily pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, glad for once that Jenks insisted on fresh ones daily. Arta took it gratefully and wiped her turned-up nose. "Are you all right?" he asked again.

"Oh, your highness," she said miserably, "It's nothing to concern you. It's my sweetheart, my Fen. I--I don't think he loves me any more!" She began to sob.

Temmin patted her arm ineffectually. "A sweet, pretty girl like you? How could that be so? Why would you think that?"

"Today was our fortnight day off," she hiccupped. "We were supposed to go into town and look at promise rings. But--but we fought, and now--" Another gust of tears cut her off.

"Oh, please don't cry, Arta!" said Temmin desperately. He took her hand in his, and she gripped it so tightly their fingers turned white. "What did you fight about?"

She hung her head and whispered, "Princess Ellika, your highness."

Just what he'd warned Ellika about. "You cannot take Elly seriously, you know, I certainly don't."

"Oh, it's not me who's taking her seriously, it's Fen! He just goes on and on about how beautiful she is, how elegant she is, how gracefully she dances, and on and on and on! And so today. We were to go to town, and instead he came to me and said the princess had asked him to help her move furniture in her room. I said, let the on-duty men do it. He said, no, she asked for me specifically and I can't say no. And I said, of course you can say no!" Arta warmed to the memory, her hazel eyes angry and hurt, and her curls shaking at the edges of her straw bonnet. "And he said, I don't want to say no! And I said, who d'you think you are, that you think a princess would pay you any mind? And he said, you're just jealous because she's prettier than you! And I said, then fine, court your silly princess and see how well you do! And he said, fine then, I will! And I said, then don't expect me to declare for you, Fen Wallek! And then he said--he said--who asked--you to!!" She broke down again, crying into the prince's shoulder.

Temmin put an arm around her, not knowing what else to do, and she threw herself into his arms. He looked pleadingly round the clearing over her shaking shoulders. "Oh, Arta," he said, "it's just a fight! You just had a fight. It happens. You'll make up. Please don't cry."

"I'm sorry," she sniffed, bringing herself under control.

"What are you doing in the Woods?"

"I love it here. It's so beautiful, and even when I'm sad I feel better here. And there was really nowhere else to go where I could have a good cry. I share my room with three other girls, you know, and there's no privacy anywhere in the Keep."

"Don't I know it," Temmin mumbled.

"You're so kind, your highness! May--may I ask you a very impertinent question?"

"Impertinent?" he said, confused. "Well, I suppose so."

"Do you really think I'm pretty?" She pulled back to look up at him. Her nose and eyes were red from crying, and yet, he thought, she was still adorable.

"Yes," he said without thinking. "You are extremely pretty. And you smell absolutely amazing." He blushed at his own candor. Arta giggled, and then looked up at him with serious eyes. Everything suddenly seemed very quiet and still around them, and he found he couldn't stop staring at her. This wasn't what he should be doing, he should be making sure she got back to the Keep and her sweetheart. "Arta, I--" Arta's lips parted, and she dropped her eyes to his mouth.

Temmin's good intentions collapsed, and he kissed her, his hands at her neck, fingers tangled in her hair. Her mouth opened; she ran her tongue over his lips, and he obligingly opened them. Oh, so soft, her lips, her tongue tracing along his teeth and the roof of his mouth, and her hands smoothing along the front of his shirt. He pulled her closer with a little groan and redoubled the kiss, until he realized Arta was struggling gently in his arms. An image of Mattie came quickly to his mind's eye, and he released her. "Oh!" he said, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"No, no, please, your highness, it's my fault, oh, I'm sorry." They sat nervously next to each other, Temmin looking everywhere but at Arta, and Arta twisting his handkerchief in her hands. "I guess I just wanted to feel," she whispered, "that someone thought I was pretty even if Fen didn't any more."

"I'm sure that Fen still thinks you're the most beautiful girl he knows. You're certainly one of the most beautiful girls I know."

"You can't mean that!" said Arta, blushing. "I'm told you're going to chase the Lovers, and that they intend to let you catch them. And no girl in the capital is as beautiful as Allis Obby!"

"Gods, everyone does know," said Temmin, slumping.

"And where's the shame in that, your highness? It's such an honor! Oh, if I were still--I mean--if I were nobility and--" Her blush deepened.

"You wouldn't be embarrassed? Everyone knowing what you were going to do?"

"Your highness!" she laughed. "Everyone does it! How do you think we all got here? Where's the embarrassment in doing what the gods made us to do--what they do themselves every chance they get!"

"So you'd do it. You'd chase the Lovers, chase them both, and catch them if they'd let you."

"I would!"

Temmin looked at her for the first time since he'd let her go. Her face was open and sweet. "Arta, you are a prize, and if Fen doesn't come to his senses I'll beat some sense into him for you."

"Oh, please don't do that," she said, alarmed and delighted in equal measure.

"For your sake, I won't. Come," he said, pulling Arta to her feet. "Let me walk you back to the Keep." They walked companionably out of the Woods, leading Jebby through the meadow, and talking little. When they came to the fork in the path, the right leading to the stable yard and the left leading to the Keep, Temmin took Arta's hand. "Thank you."

"For what, your highness?"

"Your friendship. I hope we'll always be friends, Arta. If you ever need anything, you will tell me, yes?"

"Oh, your highness, I'd never presume to call you 'friend.'" She studied the toes of her boots.

"I don't have many friends, and I would be honored to call you one. You will come to me when you have need of me. I command it," he grinned.

"Yes, your highness," she curtsied, answering his grin.

"Now, off with you. We'll part here so people won't get the wrong idea. Go back to the Keep and make up with Fen." She curtsied again and took off nearly running down the path to the Keep. Temmin watched her go, then mounted Jebby and rode back to the stable yard in a fine mood. He had much to think about, but he felt better about things than he had before he went out riding that morning.

When he got back to his rooms for lunch, he found Jenks already pondering his wardrobe for the Baron's ball. "Don't mind me, your highness, I'm just enjoying myself."

"Go enjoy yourself down to the kitchens, then, and fetch me some luncheon, I'm starving to death."

"Very good, your highness. Oh," Jenks added as he left for below stairs, "the Teacher came by with two books for you. They're on the library table."

Temmin walked to the table and picked up the slim volumes. As expected, one was the Warrior's Testament, the other was the Lovers' Testament. Any other time, he would have been much more interested in the stories of Farr, great battles and greater friendships between men, or so he'd always thought of them. Now, thinking of Arta and of Allis-and, if he'd allow himself to admit it, of Issak-he put down the Warrior's Testament and opened the Lovers' Testament to a random page.

Temmin closed the book. Allis and Issak, sister and brother, the Embodiments of Neya and Nerr. He wondered how seriously they took the Lovers' attachment to one another, whether it was something deeply felt and habitual or only once a year on Neya's Day in the Spectacle. No one else seemed overly concerned about it, at least publicly, and when Jenks staggered in under the weight of lunch, Temmin made a mental note to ask the Teacher more. For now, he intended to eat well and nap better.