Three French Hens by Lynsay Sands Read Free Book Online

afraid of horses, are you?”
    “Nay, nay,” she gasped.
    “Nay, of course not,” he murmured to himself. “You rode here on this beast.”
    “Ahhhaye.” The lie came out as a moan.
    Royce nodded almost to himself, then cleared his throat and murmured, “Then, if you are not afraid, my lady, why is it you are clutching me so tightly?”
    Brinna blinked at the question, then shot her eyes to her hands. They had tangled themselves in the material of his golden tunic and now clawed into it with all the determination of someone who was positive that should he release her, she would surely fall to her death. Lady Joan would not do that, of course, she told herself firmly. Forcing a smile that felt as stiff as wood, she forced her hands to release their death grip and smoothed the material down. “ ’Tis fair soft material, my lord. Quite good quality.”
    “Ah.” Looking unsure as to what to make of her behavior, he released his hold on her waist and started to move away, only to step quickly back and catch her once more as she immediately started to slip off the sidesaddle. “I am sorry, I thought you had already braced your feet,” he muttered, easing her back onto the saddle again.
    Swallowing, Brinna dug about the animal’s side with her feet under her skirts in search of whatever it was he thought would be there to brace her feet. She found it after a moment, an inch or so higher than her feet fell. Of course, Lady Joan was a couple of inches shorter than her, and of course that would have been the perfect height for her . For Brinna it meant bending her legs more than she should have had to and resting at a most awkward position. This time when he released her, she managed tokeep her seat, and even summoned a wobbly smile as she accepted the reins he handed her.
    As he turned to mount his own horse, Brinna wrapped the reins desperately around her hands to be sure she did not lose them. Only then did she risk a glance toward the ground. As she had feared, it appeared to be a mile or more away. Aye, the ground was a long, long way down, and she could actually almost see it rushing toward her as if she were already falling off the beast. Shutting her eyes, she sat perfectly still, afraid to even breathe as she frantically wondered what the order was to make the animal move when the time came to do so. She needn’t have worried. The moment Royce urged his own mount forward, and his man Cedric followed, the mare fell into line behind them.
    They started at a sedate pace, but even that was enough to make Brinna wobble precariously in her seat and tighten her grasp on the reins desperately as they moved through the bailey. She was positive she would not make it out of the gates, but much to her amazement she did, and even began to relax a bit. But then they crossed the bridge and reached the land surrounding the castle and Royce suddenly urged his mount into a canter.
    Brinna’s horse followed suit at once, and she began to bounce around on the animal’s back like a sack of turnips in the back of a cart on a rutted path. Every bone in her body was soon aching from the jarring they were taking. Still, she held on, her teeth gritting together, as she told herself that it would soon be over. It seemed to her that they had been riding for hours when Royce and his man suddenly turned to glance back at her. Forcing her lips into a tight smile, she freed a hand to wave at them in what she hoped was a careless manner. They had barely turned forward again when her foot slipped off the barbrace and she slid off the horse. All would have been well had she not wrapped the reins around her hands as she had. She would have tumbled from the horse into a nice pile of snow and that would have been that. Unfortunately, the reins were wrapped around her hand and she didn’t at first have the presence of mind to unwrap them. She hung down the side of the mount, shrieking in terror as her feet and lower legs were dragged through the