Page 28 of Seducing the Sorcerer
Then he realised.
Despite the worple horse firm and steady beneath him, his stomach dropped and he broke out in a cold sweat. Because there was no ground. They were standing on grass that grew on nothing. And they were two hundred yards above the sea. That was why the grass had looked sparkly in places. They’d been riding on grass that grew on nothing for the last ten minutes.
Blaze lifted a slender hoof from a patch of clover and put it down again on—nothing.
“Gods!” Fenn said. “That...that...”
It gave him a sick feeling to look down and see the waves breaking so far below. He looked up again and focused on Blaze’s bridle. It wanted a touch of oil. He’d tell Jasper, or, better yet, do it himself. Thinking about that made him feel better, though the churning in his guts was back. If he’d been on an ordinary horse, he’d likely have frozen in terror.
“Don’t worry the horses, does it?” Fenn remarked, pleased he could keep his voice steady.
“No. They seem not to mind.”
“And you’re sure it’s safe for them?”
“Yes.” Morgrim half-smiled. “And for their riders too.” He removed his feet from the stirrups and dismounted.
Fenn glanced at his red-booted feet standing on a mix of grass and nothing and determinedly looked up again. “You’re very trusting.”
Morgrim quirked an eyebrow. “I assure you, I’m not. But I do trust the spell. The illusion of solid ground is fading in places but the underlying magic is as strong as the day it was made.”
“What if one day it ain’t as strong as you thought?”
“Then I would lock the gates and we would no longer be able to ride or graze animals on the mustering ground. But that won’t happen today.”
Morgrim swung back into the saddle. He did it easy, despite having no block. Graceful, even. Though he always did move nice. Must be stronger than he looked.
“Do you keep the magic going?” Fenn asked.
“No need. This is deep magic. Very powerful. Very rare. It lasts forever.”
“But how do you know?” Fenn insisted. “Just now, say. How did you know it was safe to ride here?”
Morgrim gazed out at the distant blue of the sea and the horizon. “I can feel it.”
“What is there to feel?”
“What do you feel, Mr. Todd?”
Well, Mr. Morgrim, sir, I been feeling that you got yourself held on a very tight rein and I know a trick or two to help a bloke relax.
Fenn wiped his arm across his forehead. He must look flustered. He was flustered.
“Nothing,” Fenn said. “Been concentrating on riding.”
“Is that all?”
“Well, and watching you ride.”
“Oh? And what have you felt about that?”
“Well...”
“You can tell me,” Morgrim said.
“Well...er...you got good soft hands. But...but you want to shorten your reins a bit to get the right contact. And get your leg back a fraction. And relax your shoulders. Um. Begging your pardon.”
The sorcerer’s eyes narrowed. “That’s what you thought. But what did you feel about it?”
