The groom frowned. “I can’t run with you, Princess, if you do. It’ll be too fast for my old legs.”
“I’ll be all right,” Aurora said, although she did not feel as sure as she sounded. “Polly and I seem to be getting along well, don’t we, Polly?” Polly blew air through her nose, as though in agreement.
On Rodric’s shout, she sat down firmly in the saddle and kicked Polly forward. The horse leapt into a steady canter, her movements suddenly smooth, a flowing rise and fall. They came to a low-hanging branch. Aurora ducked. Twigs scraped the top of her head, and Aurora laughed. As though urged on by Aurora’s glee, Polly picked up speed, her feet thrumming on the ground.
They reached a corner. Polly turned, leaning to the side to maintain speed. Aurora’s foot slipped out of her stirrup. The metal clanged against her ankle a couple of times, and then Aurora was slipping too, her weight falling more and more to the left. She snatched for Polly’s mane, but by the time she had realized what was happening, it was too late to stop it. The sky blurred before her eyes, and then she hit the flowerbeds with a thump.
“Princess! Princess, are you all right?”
Aurora took a moment to stare at the clouds. Her back was slightly sore, but otherwise, she felt unhurt. She pushed herself into a sitting position.
Rodric had dismounted Shadow and was hurrying toward her, the horse’s reins in his hands. The groom was running to grab Polly, but that seemed unnecessary. The cream horse was standing a few paces from Aurora, looking at her as though wondering what she was doing on the ground.
“Princess,” Rodric said again. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m all right,” she said, and she stood up to prove her point, brushing the dust from her skirts. “It was only a little fall.”
But Rodric still looked pale. “Maybe we should stop for now.”
“I promise I’m fine,” Aurora said, but Rodric was chewing his lip, and she could tell that every possible riding-related disaster was now filling his head. “Another day?” she said. “With Polly? I just got ahead of myself. I’ll be more careful next time.”
“Of course,” Rodric said. “I promise. After—after the wedding, we’ll give you real lessons. And then you can ride out beyond the walls.”
After the wedding. Her happiness ebbed at the thought. There would be many good things to marrying Rodric, she knew that. The freedom to finally leave the castle and ride a horse would be one of them. Rodric’s extreme kindness and consideration would be another. But despite all that, he still only felt like a friend, and the looming wedding seemed like the day when all her possibilities would finally be taken away.
“Shall I help you back to your rooms?” Rodric asked.
“No,” she said softly. “No, you help deal with the horses. I am sure the guards will walk me.”
“I’m happy to—”
“No, it’s all right,” she said firmly. “I would like some time to think.”
Rodric nodded, but she could not help noticing his disappointed expression as she walked away.