Chapter 16:

Sadly, it wasn't long before the dragons got up, and we headed out once more. Half the day we were on Bane's back, but the second half would be on horseback. When we landed in a clearing outside a dense, snowy forest, causing the huge black and white horse to start prancing around the tree that it was tied to, I could sense the immediate change in Xavier. His whole body seemed to tense. The closer we had gotten to landing, the quieter he had gotten compared to the constant teasing banter that he had goaded me into practically the whole morning. Even his tone had changed back to having that hard edge to it, more like what I was used to from when we were at the academy.

"Have you ridden before?" He asked as he handed me my backpack before taking his own, along with all the other supplies off Bane's back.

"Once or twice, but I grew up on a dairy farm, and the village was small enough that you really didn't need a horse to get around anywhere," I answered as we climbed down from Bane, and Nova jumped up onto my shoulders. Xavier didn't have any room on his shoulders with the amount of gear he was carrying, so even though it wasn't a far walk, I reached towards Bane, who, in his smaller form, was now buried about halfway in the snow. He watched me for a moment, looking at my backpack along with Nova on my shoulders, before tipping his head to the side. "Okay, look, I may not be him, but I'm sturdier than I used to be, and it has to beat trudging through this snow."

"Ari, you don't have..." Bane had already apparently made up his mind as he leaped into my arms, cutting off Xavier's warning as I tipped forward with his weight. Stumbling forward a couple of steps, I finally found my feet as I hefted the huge dragon into my arms. It instantly made a lot more sense why Xavier's frame hadn't given in the slightest, even as I was thrown back against him, considering Bane, in his small form, had to have easily weighed somewhere around half of what I did, and was easily triple Nova's weight. To my credit, I righted myself before hefting him further into my arms. I had to hold him more like a toddler than a dragon, as he wrapped his long tail around my waist to keep it from dragging the ground, and tucked his neck over my shoulder, on top of Nova, as his claws gripped onto the leather plating on my shoulder. Xavier just raised an eyebrow at me as I started slowly making my way over to where he was slinging bags over the horse's back, clipping them onto the saddle. The second I made it over to them, Bane climbed from me, up Xavier's arm, and over his shoulders.

"You know, it makes a lot more sense why you didn't even so much as flinch when I was thrown back into you every time Bane took off," I told him as I looked up at the heavy dragon now happily draped across Xavier's shoulders.

"You mean, because between him and all the gear I wear on a daily basis, it probably weighs just as much, if not more."

"Hey! I'm small, but I'm not that little." He just raised an eyebrow at me, making a show of slowly looking over my small frame.

"A stiff breeze could knock you over, Ari."

"No... okay, maybe, but I'm gaining muscle." He just raised his other eyebrow now, too, before just turning and going back to what he had been doing. "Men," I huffed under my breath, and Nova giggled at me.

'I'm not taking your sass either right now.' I warned her, but she just laughed harder.

'You know, I'm on Lexi's side. This is rather entertaining, but I know how you really feel.'

'I thought I said that I didn't need your sass.'

'I don't know when I ever gave you the impression that I cared.'

'Okay, that's it, they're rubbing off on you too much.' She just snickered as Xavier took my bag from me, clipping it behind the saddle with the rest of them as the horse continued to prance. Then he untied the beast, holding onto its bridle as he motioned for me to get on. I just looked at him for a long moment before looking back at the horse. She was huge, just a few inches shy of Xavier's height at the shoulder, and the stirrup of the saddle came up to about the center of my chest. There was no way I was getting up there on my own. Even if I jumped, I wouldn't be able to reach. I would have to climb a small tree to get up there. I looked back at Xavier before looking pointedly at the stirrup of the saddle. He just grinned at me before throwing the reins over the mare's neck and coming back towards me while still keeping hold of her with one hand.

"Where are those muscles at now, princess?" He whispered to me, ducking down as he tapped my leg for me to pick it up before he took hold of my foot and practically threw me up onto the saddle. The horse scooted sideways, but he caught me with a single hand on my back as I scrambled for a hold on the saddle before I was finally able to throw my leg over and sit up.

"I'm no princess," I replied as I glared down at him, but he just grinned at me before effortlessly mounting behind me.

"You act far more like a princess than a warrior."

"No, this is just a really tall horse, and I'm not that tall. I can't help that I'm physically challenged." I huffed at him, but he just chuckled at me as the horse pranced once more, causing me to frantically take hold of the front of the saddle.

"Sure, we'll go with that... princess." I sighed as he guided the horse off onto a narrow trail through the woods ahead of us while I white-knuckled the saddle just to stay on the thing. Xavier, just like always, seemed perfectly at ease, one hand on the reins as his other just rested at his side, not even holding on as we trotted down the narrow trail through the dense, gnarled woods. Nova even abandoned me for him, saying that I couldn't keep my seat good enough for her, and I sighed as I accepted defeat. If I kept having to hold on like this, I wouldn't have fingers left and definitely wouldn't be walking anywhere with how tight my legs were clamped to the saddle. Leaning back against his chest, I looked up at him with something that I hoped was pleading enough to get his help once more.

He barely looked down at me, but I saw the grin that graced his lips before his arm came around my waist, once more holding me back against him, allowing me to relax as I sat back. "Now, as much as I generally find your sass amusing, you can't do it here unless we're completely alone. If you talk back to me, they're going to expect me to publicly punish you here. I don't want to do that, but if it came to it and I didn't, then they're all going to come at me, and therefore you. Essentially, just hold your tongue while we're in public because situations like that never end well for the woman. Carry your swords at all times, especially when I'm not around, and do not hesitate to use them. If you end up in an altercation, do not hesitate, strike to kill. It's far easier to explain a dead soldier or staff member in this camp than it would be for me to find you if someone takes you, and trust me, if that does happen, and I have to find you, it's already going to be too late. I told you before that you're essentially going to have to act the part of a scared little girl, and once we get there, I doubt you're going to find that so difficult. Your best bet is to just keep your head down and don't look at any of them, it only takes something as small as a look for them to think that you're not under my control. The only thing you're required to do while we're there is tend to the horses. You'll get up with me in the mornings, feed them before the warriors get there, and get breakfast afterward. Wait until they leave to clean up after them, and put their dinner in before we return for the night. Avoid the soldiers at all costs when I'm not directly beside you, and keep your head down around the staff just to be safe." The teasing tone his voice had taken on earlier was entirely gone now, and I could feel his tension growing with every step we took closer to the camp.

"Okay, I understand," I whispered, looking down at my hands for a moment. Everything about this had me absolutely terrified, but I really didn't have any other choice other than to trust him.

"Look, I know I haven't exactly given you much reason to trust me, but I won't let them hurt you as long as I can prevent it." He brushed his thumb over my ribs from where his hand had at some point made its way between the folds of my cloak, but honestly, I didn't mind, rather I took comfort in the small gesture. I couldn't place exactly what it was, but I did trust him. He was right; he really hadn't given me much of a reason to, but at the same time, he's also never broken his word to me.

"Thank you."

After that, the rest of our ride into camp was spent in a tense silence as I took in the view of the dense, snowy woods surrounding us. After a long while, it started to disperse slightly, and a very rough-looking camp came into view.