Page 6 of The Bookworm and the Pegasus Tamer

She turned blindly toward the call, collapsing gratefully into the chair beside Phoebe.

“Where have you been?” she demanded of her friend. “You’ll never guess what just happened!”

“I saw it for myself, actually.” Phoebe frowned. “Was he rude to you?”

“Rude?” Aurelia straightened, her shakiness receding as the effect of the Earl’s presence faded and the interested eyes looked away. “No, indeed.” One side of her mouth twisted down. “I’m afraid that might have been me.”

Phoebe laughed. “Really? Well, good for you.”

“I didn’t mean to be.” Aurelia sighed. “But then I never do.” She shook her head. “Thank goodness I’m not likely to be asked to dance again anytime soon. I don’t think my poor legs will be ready to support me for at least another half hour after that experience.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Phoebe said in a dry voice. “Because I predict you’ll be kept on your feet for the rest of the ball.”

“Oh no,” Aurelia assured her. “I’m only rarely asked to dance at any ball.”

Phoebe raised her brows, looking over Aurelia’s shoulder at something out of sight. Aurelia twisted to follow her friend’s gaze, only to find two gentlemen speeding in their direction, their eyes intent on her.

“Who are they?” she asked frantically, remembering at the last minute to whisper the words.

Phoebe shrugged. “No idea. But you’ll see I’m right. It’s the Earl Effect. You made him laugh before you even got on the dance floor, so now they all want to find out what’s so charming about you.”

“Oh, Phoebe, no!” Aurelia grasped her friend’s arm. “That’s horrifying!”

Phoebe, who had been looking glum, grinned. “At least Alanna won’t be bored by your recounting of this evening.”

“But perhaps you’re wrong.” Aurelia glanced again at the approaching gentlemen, only to find they had been joined by a third.

“I suppose we’ll see.” Phoebe was clearly fighting a laugh as the first of the gentlemen arrived. “But I think you’ll find I’m right.”

And she was. Entirely so.

Three

Thankfully, the Earl Effect had mostly worn off by the next ball two evenings later, helped, perhaps, by the absence of the Earl himself. A small increase in the number of Aurelia’s partners remained, but that was a desirable outcome given how low the numbers had been before.

Overall, she concluded that the impact of her one dance with the Earl had been a positive one. Since there would be no further attention from him, she would rapidly fade back out of public awareness, but if she was left with a slightly wider social circle than previously, she certainly wouldn’t bemoan it.

However, the rumors mentioned in passing by her new dance partners troubled her more than she would have liked, although she wasn’t the subject of them. She had finished her book on pegasi along with several others, and she couldn’t help a special interest in their well-being.

Hearing pegasi from the royal herd were falling sick distressed her, the issue weighing so heavily on her mind that she turned down an offer to go riding with one of her new acquaintances the following public day. Instead, she intended to find out the truth for herself—even if it meant visiting the stables that housed the royal pegasus herd.

As she strode through the palace gates, she ducked her head, avoiding eye contact with any of the guards. Her logical mind knew her anxiety was foolish, but she couldn’t help feeling that her illicit plans were written all over her face. But the vast palace gardens were always open to the people of Wynkara on public days, so walking through the gates wasn’t the issue. It was only her planned visit to the stables that would draw the guards’ attention if they knew of it.

But she had never been inside the palace gates before, and she couldn’t help slowing as she started down the long carriage drive that led from the ornate gates to the distant palace itself. Between her and the building lay extensive and highly manicured gardens, extending out on every side, so that the palace sat in the center of a sea of greenery.

After the paved streets of the city, the sight of so much open space lifted her spirits, and she could easily see the appeal of losing herself in the gardens for a day. But she had come for a more important reason than personal enjoyment, and she couldn’t be distracted from her purpose.

Hurrying off the main carriage road and into the gardens, she followed the first path that led toward the palace’s east side. It took her twenty minutes, but she managed to keep moving in the right direction, finally emerging into a large dirt courtyard. The palace loomed to her left but a cluster of buildings of a different sort ringed the courtyard.

She took a moment to examine them, identifying the kennels for the royal hounds and the ordinary stables that housed the vast number of riding and carriage horses owned by the royal family. But it was the royal pegasus stables that held her attention.

The quality of the building set it apart, along with its position set back from the courtyard. And that position worked in Aurelia’s favor. Turning back into the gardens, she worked her way around until she could pop back out of the greenery near the back of the pegasus stable.

Glancing quickly to either side, she ascertained no one was watching before slipping through the well-oiled wooden doors. Everywhere she looked, gleaming wood and even gilt edging caught her eye. She shrank back against the closest wall, trying not to be noticed as she got her bearings.

Stalls ran down each side of the wide aisle, but they were larger than any horse stalls she had ever seen. And the latches of the half-doors looked designed to be manipulated with equine teeth.

The outside walls of the stables held windows with fine glass, one giving light to each stall, along with a view of the surrounding gardens. Everything about the building indicated that it wasn’t housing for animals but was instead the home of honored guests of the king.