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She turned away from us and waved a hand at the door. “Then get out so we can start this job.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY
Benand I left the pair to their devices and climbed into the carriage beside me, leaving the box unoccupied except for the reins.
“Home, Ferox, and for you to the stables,” Ben called out to our steed. Ferox threw his head back and neighed, but Ben shook his head. “It can’t be helped. You are as fast as the wind, but we need something even faster to reach the arena before dark.”
The horse scuffed one hoof against the ground before he shot forward. We were thrown back against the seat and Ben looped an arm around the backside of my waist. A bemused smile graced his lips.
“It appears Ferox wishes to show us he’s faster than the wind,” he mused.
We rolled over a bump in the road and the carriage caught some air before we tumbled back to the cobblestones. “I just hope this carriage is stronger than the earth.”
“Ferox wouldn’t be so reckless as to-” At that moment Ferox took a corner far sharper than he should have and two of the carriage wheels were lifted from the ground. I yelped and clung to him as we careened forward on only two wheels. The airborne ones clattered back down a few moments later, but it felt like a lifetime.
I whipped my head up to glare at Ben. “You were saying?”
He cleared his throat and disengaged himself from me. “I was saying I may perhaps need to take matters into my own hands.” Ben climbed onto the box and snatched the reins from the seat. He gave a hard yank on them. “That’s enough, Ferox! We know you’re fast! You needn’t ensure our deaths to prove it!”
Ferox slowed his pace and nickered. I swore that was a laugh.
Ben set the reins on the seat between his legs and frowned at the amused horse. “If you frighten her again you may find yourself missing a few meals of grain.”
Ferox threw back his head and neighed.
Ben climbed down from the box and plopped himself in the seat beside me before he folded his arms over his chest. “The choice is yours.”
Ferox snorted and stared ahead, but he didn’t resume his break-neck speed.
I breathed out for the first time since Ferox’s bragging began. Ben looked down at me with concern on his face. “Are you alright?”
I gave him a shaky grin. “Yeah, but I could use a stiff drink.”
He chuckled. “I have just the thing at the house. Or do you prefer the tract?”
I gazed up at the sky and the sun which was nearing the horizon. “I think we’d better get that drink at the tract.”
We reached the house and Tully met us. The sisters had vanished, but the butler still had a worried look on his face. Ben frowned as he helped me down from the carriage. “What’s the matter?”
Tully patted his hand over his heart and his eyes flickered over his shoulder.
A little color drained from Ben’s face and his voice was a little shaky. “I see.”
I whipped my head to and fro between the men. “I don’t.”
I did as the rear door opened and Lady Sofia Rookwood Castle stepped out. She wore a thick black veil over her equally black hair, and a black dress with silk lace on the cuffs of the long sleeves covered the rest of her. The regal woman walked over to us, but I had the feeling it was more of a march as Ben seemed to shrink at her approach.
She pointed one finger at the thunder while her steely gaze remained on her son. “Ben.”
That single word was full of a wellspring of emotions. I sensed anger and disappointment, but the most prominent one was fear.
Ben’s shoulders sagged a little and a sigh escaped him. “I’m sorry, Mother. I hadn’t meant for you to find out.”
Her eyebrows crashed down and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Hiding that information from me is not the lesson you should be learning from this scenario.”
He tried a sheepish grin, but it withered under his mother’s silent fury. “I-”
“It’s my fault,” I spoke up as I stepped forward to stand between mother and child. “I should be the one apologizing.”
