She grinned, eye glinting. "I actually won Nightmare in a contest," she said. "She was full of fire, and before she'd learned to accept a rider, they'd hold this competition down in the town square most evenings. The person who'd bred her wanted rid of her but wanted some money for it. Of course, no one wanted to pay, so he made a game of it. Whoever could stay on her got her for free - but it cost you some dough to enter. So, I came in, got my horse, so on and so forth. But one time, I'm out riding down by that town again, and the guy I got her from comes up to me and we start talking and I'm a cocky kid, right? So I'm bragging about what success we've had and how good she is and all it took was a bit of this and a bit of that when Nightmare spins around, rears up, and instead of simply landing on all fours actually goes to her knees and rolls over, promptly unhorsing me. I thought that was going to be it but as I reached for her bridle she bit me in the fingers and dragged me towards her before shoving a hoof into my foot."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"One time I was in a market loading up food in a basket. My hands were full and I had to fumble around to get the money off my belt, but as soon as I reached for it, Elliot had nabbed it. I turned around to take it from him but he ran away. So there I was, running through the market after my dumbass horse, and I had to leave all the food there at the booth too."
"Nightmare took my money once. Right after I got paid, too. Took off and it took me hours to catch her."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
She chuckled. "They really are somethin', aren't they?"
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
She fell silent for a few moments, gaze wandering over the woodlands. James was awfully talkative this evening and it took her a few minutes before she finally put it together. He was still shaken, and probably still a bit panicky; he wanted a distraction. It did explain the awkwardness.
Well, she might as well not leave him to try to keep up the conversation.
There was also something she still needed to say, as much as she hated it.
"I, uh, meant to mention earlier, that, uh..." she paused, her stubbornness making it difficult to get out. "Sorry for trying to kill Amy."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
She grunted noncommittally, uncomfortable. "Yeah, well, I'm about to put my neck and my career on the line to save her, so, that should speak for itself."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Her hand came out reflexively, fingers clamping around his wrist as his palm made contact with her shoulder. She looked him straight in the eye and slowly and deliberately moved it back towards him and off of her. "It has nothing to do with courage."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
The moment her hand shot out to grab his wrist it took all of his self-control not to retaliate. His arm quivered, ready to fight back. He'd only meant to tease, not to trigger her.
She released him instantly as she felt him tense, disengaging. "Sorry, reflex," she said quietly.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
