Chapter 128 — One Honest Answer

Chapter 128: Chapter 128 — One Honest Answer

~ Raven ~

"Why?"

Dante’s mouth curved. "Come and find out."

He turned before she could ask anything else, leaving Raven to stare after him.

Their last conversation had ended with him laughing off her question and walking out of class. Now he wanted her to go somewhere with him, apparently without knowing where or why.

She should have gone back to Hale.

Instead, she caught up with him at the stairs.

They left through a side entrance and followed a path past the lecture buildings, away from the students crossing between Wings. Dante kept his hands in his pockets and offered no explanation as the path narrowed between hedges.

Raven glanced at him occasionally, waiting for him to mention the combat court.

He didn’t.

By the time she heard hooves and caught the smell of hay, she had begun to suspect where they were going. The hedges opened onto a fenced paddock beside a long stable building, and she stopped.

"This is your idea of a walk?"

"We walked here."

"You know what I meant."

"It was a fairly long walk."

"You’re an idiot," she muttered before she could stop herself.

Dante grinned and opened the gate.

~~~

Inside, he went straight to a stall near the end of the row. A dark horse lifted its head at his approach, then came forward and pushed its muzzle into his waiting hand.

"There you are."

His voice had softened.

Raven watched him rub the horse’s forehead while it nudged at his sleeve. He didn’t turn to see whether she was watching or make a joke about it. His shoulders relaxed as he stood there, letting the animal investigate his pockets.

"You come here often."

"When I can."

The horse nudged him again, and Dante pushed its nose gently aside.

"Nothing today. Stop looking."

Raven almost smiled.

Dante caught the attention of a stable hand farther down the aisle.

"Could you saddle him for me? And bring out something quiet for her."

Then he looked at Raven.

"Can you ride?"

She hesitated.

She had ridden at Blackthorn when there was a practical reason for it. Nobody had considered proper lessons necessary, provided she managed whatever she had been sent to do.

It had also been a while.

"Enough."

Dante studied her, then glanced at the mare the stable hand was leading toward them.

"Enough to stay on?"

Raven lifted her chin. "You’ll find out."

"That’s reassuring."

~~~

It took Raven two attempts to get into the saddle, and she was still adjusting her seat when Dante spoke.

"Relax your shoulders."

"I didn’t ask for advice."

"You look uncomfortable."

"I’m sitting beside you."

Dante laughed, and Raven looked down at the reins before he could see how warm her face had become.

The mare took a few steps, and Raven tightened her legs while pulling at the reins. The animal slowed, turning an ear back toward her.

"You’re asking her to move and stop at the same time," Dante said.

Raven loosened her grip on the reins.

"I know."

"Then stop doing it."

She turned to glare at him. "Keep talking and I’ll find something to hit you with."

"You’d have to get down first."

Before she could answer, he swung easily into his saddle, which only annoyed her more.

They stayed at a walk while she adjusted. Gradually, the movement became less awkward. She stopped bracing against every step, let her hands soften and found that the mare needed much less interference than she had been giving her.

Dante watched her make a turn before guiding his horse toward the gate.

"Ready?"

Raven lifted her chin.

He wisely accepted that as an answer.

Beyond the paddocks, the grounds opened into long grass avenues bordered by flowering trees. Old stone walls divided sections of garden, with broad gaps between them for the riding paths. Farther down, a stream ran beneath a low bridge, and beyond it the trees grew closer together.

Raven hadn’t realised this much space existed behind the stables.

For a little while, she watched the mare’s ears and listened to the steady fall of hooves. After the office and the corridor, being expected to do nothing more complicated than remain in a saddle felt almost suspicious.

"Where are you taking me?"

"We’re riding."

"So there isn’t a destination."

"You complain a lot, Rivers."

"You’re very good at giving me reasons."

Dante looked across at her, smiling.

"Race me."

Raven stared at him.

"You just watched me struggle to get on."

"You’re on now."

"That’s your standard?"

"We can keep walking if you’re worried."

The look on his face made her narrow her eyes.

"What do I get when I win?"

He laughed.

Raven’s grip tightened before she remembered the mare and relaxed it again.

"I asked a question."

"So you did."

Dante considered her for a moment.

"One question," he said. "Winner asks, loser answers honestly."

That was considerably more interesting.

"Agreed."

"It works both ways."

Raven glanced at him.

Cassian came to mind immediately, followed by the memory of Dante’s expression on the combat court.

Is that what this is about?

Dante’s smile widened as he watched her.

She suddenly had a very good idea of what he wanted to ask. Unfortunately for him, she knew what she wanted too.

"Where’s the finish?"

He pointed along the avenue. Beyond the bridge, the path curved through the trees toward an old stone arch.

"Through there."

Raven studied the route, then looked back at him.

"On three—"

Dante urged his horse forward.

"You cheating bastard!"

His laughter carried back to her as she sent the mare after him.

~~~

Raven regretted several decisions almost immediately.

Dante was already pulling ahead, moving so easily with his horse that it made her own struggle feel worse. She had to think about her hands, her legs and where she was sitting, while he apparently had enough attention left to look back and enjoy himself.

She asked the mare for more speed.

It only made her bounce harder.

Stop fighting her.

Raven forced herself to loosen her grip and looked at Dante again.

His hands stayed low, following the movement of the horse’s head. He wasn’t bracing his shoulders the way she was, and when the horse’s stride changed, his body adjusted with it.

She tried to do the same.

Ahead of the bend, Dante shifted his weight and guided his horse around the stonework. Raven watched his hands and legs, trying to understand how he made the turn look so easy.

As she concentrated, the wind seemed to grow quieter. The path remained clear, but every small movement Dante made drew her attention until she could barely notice anything else.

She recognised the feeling from her assessment.

Dante adjusted his posture, and Raven moved with him before she realised she was doing it.

The mare’s stride stopped jolting through her. Raven settled into the movement, her hands giving instead of pulling, and suddenly she could feel just how much she had been getting in the animal’s way.

Dante glanced back.

His smile faded.

Raven barely noticed. Her awareness had spread beyond him to the horse beneath her, to the expansion of its ribs against her legs and the gathering of its muscles before each stride.

She felt its balance shift and moved with it.

The mare’s ears flicked back, then forward again. When Raven asked for more speed, it responded without the earlier hesitation.

The distance between them began to close.

Dante turned as she drew near.

"Raven."

Her eyes were burning.

She knew that sensation too.

"Your eyes," he said.

She glanced toward him. He was staring at her with wonder, his amusement gone.

"They’re glowing white."

For a moment, she considered slowing down.

She ought to stop and work out what was happening. There were enough unexplained things going on inside her without discovering another at speed on a horse.

But she could feel the mare moving beneath her, every stride clearer than the last, and for once her body seemed to know exactly what to do.

Raven leaned forward and asked for more.

The mare surged past him.

Dante swore.

She looked ahead, startled by the empty path in front of her.

Then she laughed.

The sound escaped before she could contain it, bright and breathless as the wind pulled loose strands of hair across her face. She had passed him. Dante Prymont, who had laughed when she asked what she would get for winning, was behind her.

The avenue narrowed as they entered the wilder grounds. Grass thinned beneath the trees, exposing roots along the edges of the trail, and the ground sloped toward a bend.

The mare hesitated beneath her.

Raven felt it immediately.

The turn was coming too quickly. One bad step on the descent could throw them both, and she knew with a sudden, unpleasant clarity how far she would fall.

Her heart hammered.

But she could feel where the mare needed room, where its weight was shifting. Raven steadied herself, guided it away from the broken ground and let it take the wider line through the bend.

They swept around it together.

"RAVEN!"

Dante’s shout followed them through the trees.

She laughed again, partly from relief.

"You’re losing!"

"Slow the fuck down!"

"Ride faster!"

"You’re going to break your neck!"

Raven was grinning too hard to answer.

The mare’s stride lengthened as the ground levelled. She could feel each small adjustment beneath her and answer it without thinking, keeping her hands quiet as they returned to the broad trail.

The stone arch appeared ahead.

Raven urged the mare on for the final stretch, and they passed beneath it before Dante could reach her.

~~~~

She slowed the mare gradually beyond the arch, bringing it down to a walk before finally stopping.

Her hands trembled on the reins. She loosened them and rested one against the mare’s neck, feeling the warmth beneath its coat.

Her own breathing was nearly as heavy.

She couldn’t stop smiling.

For the length of that ride, she hadn’t thought about Harrow or the prisoner, the Circle or the room she would eventually have to return to. There had only been the path, the horse and Dante somewhere behind her.

She had beaten him.

Hooves approached, and Raven turned just as Dante drew alongside.

"What the fuck were you thinking?"

His expression startled another laugh out of her.

"You said you could barely ride," he continued. "Then you took that descent at full speed. Did you even see the roots?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn’t you slow down?"

"You were catching up."

He stared at her.

Raven tried to press her lips together. It didn’t help.

"If she’d stumbled, you could have gone straight into the stonework."

"I didn’t."

"That is not the point."

She knew it wasn’t, but she was still shaking with the exhilaration of the ride, and watching Dante lecture her about recklessness was making it impossible to compose herself.

He looked absolutely furious.

"This isn’t funny."

Raven bent forward slightly, laughing harder.

"Rivers, I swear—"

He stopped.

She took a breath and looked up, expecting him to continue.

Dante was staring at her.

There was no teasing in his expression now, and the anger seemed to have lost its urgency. His gaze lingered on her eyes, then moved over her face.

Raven could feel how flushed she was. Her hair had come partly loose, and the faint heat behind her eyes hadn’t entirely faded.

She waited for him to say something.

He didn’t.

Her smile faltered under the attention, and she raised an eyebrow.

Dante blinked and looked toward the trees.

"You’re fucking crazy," he muttered.

Raven’s smirk returned.

"You lost."

"That race doesn’t count."

"Oh?"

"You nearly killed yourself."

"And you started before the count. Apparently, we both had our methods."

Dante gave her a flat look.

"I stopped trying to win because I thought I was going to have to explain your corpse to the Headmaster."

"Whatever helps you sleep."

"You are unbearable."

"You offered the race Dante."

"I’m beginning to regret several things."

Raven straightened in the saddle.

"One honest answer."

Dante’s hand tightened on the reins.

She watched his expression change and felt her smile widen.

"You haven’t forgotten have you?"

"No."

"Good."

He looked at her for a moment.

"If you’re about to ask what I think you are, pick something else."

"Why would I?"

"Because whatever happened to your eyes wasn’t part of the agreement."

"Neither was you cheating at the start."

"Rivers."

He really didn’t think he could lose.

That made this better.

Raven leaned slightly toward him.

"So...Were you jealous?"

Dante looked away.

She waited while he rearranged the reins in his hand, then reached down to straighten a strap beside his leg. He muttered something she couldn’t hear.

"One honest answer," she reminded him.

His fingers stopped.

Then he nudged his horse forward.

Raven followed at an easy walk, still smiling.

"You’re enjoying this far too much."

"Immensely."

He shot her a look.

She had endured being thrown around the court, having her hair ruffled in front of everyone and then watching it all become material for Bellringer. She could enjoy this much.

"Were you?"

Dante turned toward her.

His jaw tightened. For once, he seemed unable to find a remark that would get him out of answering, and Raven had no intention of helping him.

She waited, her smile growing.

"Yes, for fuck’s sake!"