Chapter 6

Several hours after I had my meltdown, Toby and I finally have the horse willing to let someone ride him. He’s a beautiful one with a shiny mane. I’m sure that the duke will be proud to own this one. It’s time to take him for a ride.

I feel hands grab and lift me up as I put my feet in the stirrup. I assume it’s Toby, and turn to thank him, but freeze when I notice that it’s Alrich instead. I blush as I notice how tenderly he is holding me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“I came to check on you. How are you?” He says, giving me a charming smile.

I glance over at Toby, who’s jaw is locked. “I’m fine.” I answer.

For some reason, seeing Toby upset makes me feel guilty. But, Alrich is my friend. I turn my attention back towards him.

Alrich nods towards Tor. “Mind if I ride with you?” He asks.

“Oh, sure.” I say, excitedly.

I remember how swift, and smooth, Tor felt when I rode on him. It would be great to see him.

“Actually, I think that she should be getting home.” Toby cuts in.

My heart drops when I see the deadly look that he’s giving Alrich.

Alrich balls up his fists. “I think that she’s old enough to make that decision herself, Tobias.” He snaps.

Tobias stalks up to Alrich and my eyes widen when he grabs hold of the arm holding my leg and yanks it off of me. Alrich turns to glare at Tobias and punches him straight on the nose. That doesn’t stop Toby though. He throws one back.

I jump off of my horse. If Toby doesn’t stop, he can end up in the dungeon. I jump in between them just as Alrich is about to throw another punch. I close my eyes as his fist gets closer but it never lands. I peek my eyes open to see both boys looking at me with wide eyes.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Rae?” Toby shouts.

His eyes show pure outrage in them and, for a second, I’m scared. He narrows them at me, waiting for my answer.

“You both need to stop!” I glare at him, challenging him.

“Get out my way, Rae!” He shouts back.

“What has gotten into you! Stop this ridiculousness. Alrich is my friend!” I narrow my eyes. “Whatever issue you have with him, you need to back off!”

I lower my voice. I’m seething at the idea that he thought I had to listen to him when I was trying to help him. “Don’t ever shout at me like that again! You don’t own me, Tobias.”

He flinches like I slapped him. He stares at me, anger in his eyes, for a few minutes and, when he sees that I’m not backing down, he sneers at Alrich.

“Whatever, Rae.” He turns and stalks off without another word.

I don’t know why that hurt so much. I watch him walk away until I can no longer see him. It isn’t until I feel Alrich grab a hold of me into a hug that I notice that I am shaking and crying.

“Hey, hey! Are you okay?” He asks. I nod. “Then why are you crying?”

I look up at him. I can see real concern in his gaze. “I don’t know.” I answer honestly.

“It’s okay.” He soothes.

I climb back onto my horse, playfully glaring at Alrich as he attempts to help me. He smirks and rolls his eyes. I glance back in the direction that Tobias left, as he climbs up on his horse, with a strange ache in my chest.

My heart hurts that he’s angry with me but I don’t understand what made him snap like that. He could’ve gotten into a lot of trouble. I feel Alrich beside me and I take off with the newly trained horse. He’s fast, magnificent, and smooth. He sails over a boulder pulling a laughter out of me.

The feeling of flying through the air was freeing. I hear Alrich chuckle beside me and I look to see him looking at me with an emotion that I can’t pin point. He notices me looking and winks. Suddenly a cold chill whips through me, ceasing my laughter. I shudder violently. I pull up on the reins and glance around.

Alrich must have felt it to because he’s glancing with me. He looks at me with wide and frightened eyes. I sit up straighter and look around. I don’t see anything but it feels like there are eyes watching me.

“Stay here!” He orders. “I mean it, Rae. Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

I nod and watch him take off. The feeling of dread gets heavier and I start shivering. Someone is definitely watching me. Why can’t I see them?

Then Alrich’s words come back to me. “The sad thing is, that we don’t know what killed them. No one saw anything. It was like they were battling ghosts, or shadows.”

The thought scares me. I start hollering out for Alrich, fear taking over. What if he gets attacked by the same thing.

I holler out to him until my fear gets so much and all that comes out are squeaks. Tears start falling and I climb down off the horse.

The beautiful creature, that he is, notices that something isn’t right and sits down beside me. I lean against his side and try to hold myself together.

Get a grip, Rae. He said that he’ll be right back. He will. The wind picks up and I swear that I hear laughing in it. The horse stirs beside me.

Strangely, I can feel it’s fear. Now, I know that I’m not imagining things. With courage that I don’t really feel, I stand up.

“What do you want?” I scream out into the air. No response, obviously. “Who are you?” Nothing, again. “Why did you kill my father?”

“Rae? Who are you yelling at?”

I glance up and see Alrich sitting there on the back of his horse. I didn’t hear him return.

“No one.” I whisper. “I just feel like someone is watching me.” I look up and see that he’s looking at me with sympathy. “Did you find anything?” I ask.

“No. It must just be my imagination.” He gestures towards my horse. “I think that we should get back.”

I nod my head. As we walk home in silence, he keeps stealing glances at me but I’m not in the mood to talk. Something is wrong. I can feel it. I don’t know why I can feel it and I’m confused. I thought that Alrich felt the same thing but he doesn’t seem to be as affected as I am.

Maybe my father’s death is bothering more than I thought. It doesn’t help that later tonight, we will be sending him off to the gods. When we reach the stables, I’m too shaken to climb down by myself so I allow Alrich to pull me down. He cradles me in his arms, princess style, before he releases me.

“You know that, no matter what, I am here for you right?” He asks, quietly.

“Yes.” I whisper.

He places me down on the ground gently but doesn’t release me. Feeling nervous, I glance up just as he leans down. I stand rooted to the spot as he very slowly leans in to kiss me on my cheek.

My eyes widen. It’s such a gentle gesture and my heart beat rises. When I don’t push him away, he smiles.

“Goodnight, Rae.” He whispers. Then he turns around and stalks out of the stable.

I hear something behind me so I turn around quickly. I see a shadow leaving out the back door and my heart plummets. I’m not sure if I should be scared or follow after the shadow. If they wanted to harm me, wouldn’t they have? Taking a deep breath, I gather my courage, and take off after the shadow. I slink around the stable as quiet as I can.

When I get to the back of the stable, I peek outside. My heart sinks when I realize who belongs to the shadow. It’s Toby.

I run out to him. “Toby!” I holler out to him. He doesn’t stop so I pick up my pace. “Toby! Wait!” Anger stirs within me when he doesn’t stop. “Toby, I said wait!”

I see his muscles tense as he comes to a sudden stop. He spins around. The menacing look in his eyes has me stopping in my tracks. “What do you want, Rae?”

I freeze, unsure of the reason behind his anger. “I..” I clear my throat and try again. “Um, I”.

I sigh, realizing that I don’t know what to say. I glance down at my feet before taking a deep breath for courage. “I just wanted to check on you.” I say quietly.

“I’m fine, Rae.” His voice loses some venom but his anger is still there.

“Oh, okay. How’s your hand?”

He glances down. “My hand?” He chuckles. “Oh, my hand is fine. His face is too soft to do any real damage to me.” He jokes.

I gasp. “He’s my friend, Toby.” I complain. I cock my head to the side, studying him. “Why do you hate him so much? Has he done something to you?”

He looks at me a little sheepishly. “No.” He stares at me for a few seconds, before he sighs. “I don’t know why I got so upset. I didn’t mean to upset you, Rae.”

Glancing away, I see him swallow hard. “I just don’t trust him for some reason. I don’t want to see you get hurt like you did with Chris.”

I flinch. That still hurts. He must have noticed because his eyes change to understanding.

“I think that it will get better over time.” He says.

“What will?” I ask, distracted.

“Your pain."

He looked like he wanted to say more but, suddenly, I feel the coldness again. Toby tenses and looks behind me. Startled, I glance behind me to see what he sees but I don’t see anything. He looks at me with a serious expression.

“It’s getting late. You need to head back home.” He says sternly.

He doesn’t need to tell me twice. I start to head back but, the feeling of being watched, stops me in my tracks. I glance around and offer a timid smile to Toby who has started walking behind me.

He gives me an encouraging smile. Thinking that I am losing my mind, I head home. Mama is waiting for me at the door. I can tell that she’s been crying. I rush to her and wrap her up in a hug.