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He just smiled and tucked the bag into something that resembled a fishing net, which hung from the four corners outside the carriage. “Morning, Teigra. Are you excited for the big day?”
“Of... of course!” she lied, jamming down her fears and giving what she hoped was a reassuring look. Her own nerves weren’t something that he needed to take on.
Jaspar took the last bag—so dirty and scuffed it could only be his own—and pushed it under the footwell of the driver’s seat.
“Wait. You’re driving, Mr. Accola?”
“Please, Teigra, call me Jaspar. And of course.”
“Butshouldn’t you be the one who gets to rest in the shade?”
He considered this. “I suppose so. But I much prefer being out in the free air than cooped up in the dark.”
“That’s unusual for a minotaur,” she blurted, without thinking. She immediately turned red, cursing her nerves for making her to babble such an offensive stereotype. “I didn’t... Of course, minotaurs can... It’s just so many of them... of you... prefer to live in the mines and...”
“Relax, Teigra,” he said, laying a big, soft hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, or that I’ll be driving. After all, I would be very impressed if you knew the way to Ardora.”
Her cheeks blushed even hotter with her own stupidity. “Oh... of course.”
He laughed. “Really, please. Don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to wait on me hand and hoof. You’ll have Ms. Securia for that.”
She couldn’t tell if he was joking and thought it better not to ask.
As he made the final adjustments to the net, the boy kept looking at her with his big, simple smile, making her blush grow even greater.
“Ah? What a beautiful scene,” came an unexpected voice from the gate. It was Aurelius, his arms crossed and bearing a wicked grin. A servant behind him strained under the weight of several bags. Teigra didn’t know the servant’s name, but that was unsurprising—Aurelius seemed to go through a new one every month. “Imagine what your mother would say, finding you alone in the stable with a single minotaur of good breeding.”
Her blush spread so far now that her whole face and hairline must have been as red as wine.
She helped Jaspar pack the final possessions and hitch the horses, thankful for the distraction. They were proud beasts, but just regular steeds, not pegasi. Winged horses were far too hard to catch, and even harder to train, to have them do manual labor. Outside of racing teams in Mestibes, and the famed springs at Emphanisi, about a day’s ride north of here, they were basically unheard of.
But Ardora was famed for its regular steeds. So maybe that would help? Maybe she could use the one area of knowledge she had?
With a gasp, she realized that she’d been too distracted and shocked by last night’s revelations to say goodbye to her darlings in the stables.
And now it was too late!
Oh, goddess, I’m sorry! I’ll find time to come back and visit! And hopefully, you’ll still be here when I...
She pushed that thought away, feeling that if she dwelled on it, she might break in two.
As they climbed into the cabin, Aurelius asked Jaspar for a boost, despite it only being a few feet from the ground. The minotaur obliged, doing a double take as Aurelius “tripped” on the way up, giving Jaspar a full view of his bare ass.
He extended the same offer to her, but she waved it away quickly.
She and Aurelius sat across from each other in the cabin, big enough to fit four at a squash. The interior smelled of freshly oiled pine.
The same smells as the incense? Perhaps it is a fair omen after all?
Then, without ceremony, they were off.
As the carriage clicked down roads she’d walked for as long as she could remember, Aurelius spoke excitedly of the journey ahead, bragging about how easy it would be to seduce the prince.
Teigra nodded along, but her eyes were fixed out the glassless windows.
The Alogo loomed in passing, then became small behind her. Then it was the city gates—at first dominant, then growing smaller and smaller, until the walls were completely concealed by the cloud of white dust kicked up by the carriage.
And then Mestibes was gone.
