Page 99 of The Kingdom of Flames

If that meant being loved and adored, that was a great thing. If it meant bearing the bruises of a man who never lived up to what he could be or lost himself in women or drink, such was fate. Tales were sung by great warriors who bore wounds, and men sang their choruses. No one sang for the valor of the woman who picked up her crying child and soothed them while her splintered ribs encased an abandoned heart.

“Horses are safest in their stables,” Azure said. “But that is not what they are for. Imagine Ferro never taking to the sky.”

“I don’t want to own him,” Celestine said. It was truth. “Nor bridle or bind him.”

“Nor should you, nor can you.” Azure stepped forward, brushing Garo with her. “Most men enslave beasts. The greatest riders join with them. They guide one another. It is time to try, Celestine. You cannot flee from what happened to you, nor should you.”

“Then what?” Celestine turned to him. Lustrous brown eyes stared at her. Encarmine had been rugged and tragic to behold. Tristien; beautiful and enticing. Azure was the ease that came with confidence that needed nothing. Graceful, true, and utterly inviting without anything concealed.

Celestine found she coveted him most when he laughed. When he laughed, it was the truest thing she had ever heard. Of late, as the wall crumbled each day around her soul, she caught herself looking at him. His beautiful dark flesh, his practiced hands, how he held himself. He was Lord of these lands, a Season in itself, not as its master. Azure was its steward.

Her steward.

He had taken her from Tristien’s manor, wounded and dying. Azure had carried her, literally, from the brink of death. The nightmares faded, ceasing in their intensity. They worked constantly, carrying water, hunting, and gathering.

Celestine reached out to her protector, her guide, and touched him. It was the first time they had touched since he had tended to her wounds or he had comforted her that one day she wept. Even then, that had been a healing touch.

She made a choice. Celestine ran her hand over his as his lingered on Garo. His strong hand interlaced from under hers, holding it.

“Are you ready?” Azure asked her.

“Yes,” Celestine said. She felt the energy of the earth beneath her. The presence in this moment. There was no staring at the past, no fear of the future. There was only grass and soil, his guiding hand, and Garo’s rippling flesh.

That choice was an offering, she knew, as she touched him. But Lord Azure did not take her offering for himself. He did not pull her down into an embrace. He did not pull her clothes off there in the fields and take her or command her to worship him.

Rather, he lifted her up. Giving her to another.

She reached for Garo’s mane. Her leg swung over.

Celestine sat upon Garo, petting him, feeling his strong flanks between her legs. For a moment, she felt off-center, far away, ungrounded.

“Be one with him,” Azure guided her with his voice. “Feel his hooves upon the ground. Your legs on either side of him. When he gallops, he doesn’t run from the earth. He runs with it. Using it.”

Celestine nodded, closing her eyes. She could feel Garo’s pulse, the shift of his gait. He whinnied, looking to the horizon. There was no bucking or breaking. Somehow, in their relationship, where they drew closer and closer to one another, she had earned this by joining him.

“He wants to run.” Azure looked up at her. “Not away from here, but to somewhere else. Do you see the difference?”

“Yes,” Celestine breathed out the words. She opened her eyes.

Yes.

Garo took off, trotting faster and faster. He tossed his muzzle in a large whine, the excitement building in her as well. She had no tack, no saddle. Never had she seen anyone ride bareback on anything but a donkey.

Don’t think of that. Think of him. Be with him.

Azure laughed behind her as Garo ran, not quite a gallop yet. The wind flew from behind her, racing to catch up to their pace. Celestine grinned. She laced her fingers through his mane. The bones of his spine flexed up and down, and it was painful, so she leaned forward, laying across him, gripping her legs and heels, barefoot, into his flesh.

Garo snorted and ran. The plain thundered underneath them. She tried to match his movements. The balance was hard, but he seemed to sense this and tried to take her with him.

They broke into a gallop, the plain and mountains rising and falling beside them. Celestine felt such a closeness with his body. Every muscle moving and flexing told her where to shift, lean, and evade.

The wind sailed through her clothes. She glanced up at the sky, rocking above her, watching her, riding far from Azure.

She was laughing.

That night, Celestine sat with Azure around their campfire. She was thankful for the cushions because half of her body was a gigantic bruise. It had felt like an eternity, but she had eventually slipped from Garo’s. The ground might be soft in the plains, but when she tumbled into it like a crashing storm, she had feared her bones would break.

Her body had changed in its time here. She had left Encarmine’s realm strong, sturdy, with more muscle. She had left Tristien’s more a whisper than a woman.

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