Flashback Get back on yer horse!

[Adelaide Sitai]

2nd Autumn 499 Early morning On the Sitai Plantation Seventh Bell “Get up.” Adelaide looked down at her knee, grazed red and stained green from the force of her fall to the ground. She felt the tears surging in her eyes and brought her knee up to her chest, licking it slightly as a veil of dark hair fell over her face. “Get up.” Except licking it made it sting and she winced, pursing her lips together as if she had been sucking lemons and not her own wounded flesh. She felt she was being a baby, but felt safe here, on the ground, in an almost foetal position. Why was this so difficult? She had always thought that horse-riding would be so easy, so fun, but it seemed that she only got on the horse just for it to become agitated and throw her off again. “Get up.” The voice of the riding master, Pendrith, seemed barely to intrude on her little world. She had made herself a nest in her arms, a nest in her hair and there was comfort in this little ball of heat that she had made of herself. A cruel little voice played in her head. Who does this half breed thing he is anyway? Nothing better than a slave - a slave with delusions of grandeur. Put him in his place. Do it. Just because his mother was a dynasty member didn’t make him any less of a slave. There were hundreds of mongrels like him, sired by a dynasty member’s lust. “Get up.” The voice was as cold as ever before, but harsher this time. He had not offered a hand to help her up. Indeed, the first time she had fallen off, he had laughed and said that he had never seen anyone ride so badly, and she supposed he had only dared say it because she was a skinny nine year old. Well one day, she thought, I will be a grown up and you will regret this. At that moment, she felt a foot hit her none too gently in the side. “Get up.” At that moment, she felt her arm being grabbed and she was pulled to her feet. As soon as she felt this happen, she wiped away the furious tears and pulled away from his grasp. There would be no tears in her eyes, nothing to give this slave any pleasure. This slave that had made her cry. “It’s a wonder that the dynasties 'ave any future if yer it.” He said with a laugh. Adelaide wiped her nose and looked at him, her dark eyes angry. She was ready to use the old, “I am going to tell my Father. I’ll tell Papa to punish you.” line, but she didn’t. Sticking her head up, she got back onto the horse. It was a tall, proud beast and Adelaide knew that it must be a good ride for a competent rider, but she was far from a competent rider and she wondered why this horse, with its ferocious looking eyes and temper, had been chosen to serve a soon-to-be-ten year old beginner. It turned its head towards her, and she stared at it, almost like she wouldn’t blink before it did, and wondered if she was being ridiculous. She was quite sure that horses didn’t play mind games. “I’m ready.” she announced more imperiously than she wished to sound, and grabbing the reins, “Teach me.” Then, noting the riding master’s eyes narrow dangerously, the smile which she had plastered on her face faltered and she added, “Please.” “Grip yer legs against the 'orse and don’t hold the reins so tight.” He narrowed his eyes again, “Or he’ll throw yer off 'is back and you’ll deserve it.” Adelaide looked at him, confused. He did not look as if he were talking about the horse at all. Rather, something she couldn’t understand… but then, what could he be talking about? “Don’t 'old the reins so tight!” His voice raised, and he looked angry. “But… if it throws me off again?” “He’s more likely to if yer 'old him like that. 'e won’t like it.” Again he didn’t sound as if he was only talking about the horse. He wasn’t even looking at the horse. However, Adelaide did as she was told, loosening the reins, immediately feeling ill at ease, as if she was going to fall off, and she leant further forward, to compensate for what felt like a sudden loss of balance. “Don’t do that!” he snapped, “Sit squarely, with yer seat bones comfortably in the middle of the saddle. Don’t slouch.” And Adelaide fell off again. This time, though, she ignored the fact that she had now grazed her other knee in a rather painful way and leapt back onto the horse before he could have the satisfaction of shouting or grumbling at her again. He actually seemed taken aback by the look she gave to him as she leapt back up and she saw one of his eyebrows raise. Then he gently shook his head with a small smile. “Right. Now try a simple walk. Squeeze the 'orse lightly with yer legs. And at the same time, push forward with yer seat muscles.” Adelaide did so, but the horse would not move. She looked back and the riding master with a perplexed look on her face. Why wasn’t it working? Maybe this horse just really didn’t like her, though she could not understand why. “Relax! 'e will know if yer tense or nervous. 'orses know when their rider isn’t in control and they will make the most of it. Yer 'ands should follow your 'orse's head as the neck naturally extends.” Eighth Bell A little while later, though it seemed to have taken hours, Adelaide eventually managed to persuade the horse to actually start walking. Thrilled by this improvement and the fact that she could now see a product of the fruits of her labours, she laughed and pushed the horse forward a little more. Over the last twenty minutes, Pendrith had seemed to go through every emotion that was humanly possible but now, Adelaide recognised that they had both registered a victory. “Good! Now pull the reins left t'go left and right t'go right.” Adelaide went right with a smile then, emboldened, kicked her horse a little. It jolted forward, and she hung on excitedly. It was strange, this feeling, of being carried by a living animal. It was different when you were in a carriage and you did not feel attached to the animal, completely dependant on it. This was like being part of the animal, and it was exciting and new. With another little smile, she squeezed her legs together and the animal walked on. Pendrith followed on his own horse, and Adelaide turned around in her seat to see if he was pleased with her. Though it was true that he was just a slave, and she shouldn’t crave his good opinion, she did. She wanted him to congratulate her on her progress. There was no such luck though. His face was completely closed off, completely neutral, and Adelaide almost sighed in disappointment. Then, of course, she wasn’t paying attention as the horse speeded up into a canter then into a gallop. Suddenly, she felt her body jolting forward and she was hanging onto the reins like a limpet attached to a ship, as if her whole existence depended on it. Maybe it did. She might break her neck… and then Pendrith would have his neck broken for allowing her to break her neck. It would be his fault, of course. Still, this speed was very strange, her vision almost blurred over as the trees went streaking past, a blur of brown and red and yellow. As the horse jumped over a log, into a puddle, she got splashed with a tidal wave of dirty water. Spluttering, coughing, choking, she hung on. “Please. I’m scared.” She murmured, her eyes now pressed shut, so much that she was getting a headache, “I want this to stop. Please. I want this to stop.” Only, it wasn’t going to. It went on for what felt like forever, this speed, the wind in her face, the choking, the spluttering. Was she even on the Sitai plantation anymore? It didn’t feel like it. “Make it stop. Please make it stop.” Then it did. An arm grabbed her around the waist and she felt herself being pulled off of the horse, off the running horse. If she had seen such a thing being done at a performance, she would have been amazed. It was a circus act, pure and simple, pulling somebody off a moving horse and onto another. As she buried her face in Pendrith’s chest, she felt it bright red, relief overcoming the fear that was still present. She looked up and saw her own horse running off, free of its small, terrified rider. Then she looked back at Pedrith. The slave was angry. She knew it. “I’m sorry.” she murmured, coughing, her voice quiet, “Please. I’m sorry.” The horse stopped and Pendrith jumped down, Adelaide clinging onto him. He let go of her and pushed her away. “Are yer 'urt?” She flinched at the harsh tone, and dared not meet the cold blue eyes that she personally perceived as cruel and unfeeling. She did not answer. “If yer hurt, you must tell me.” This time, the voice sounded less angry, almost concerned. “No. I’m not hurt.” she murmured, and indeed she wasn’t. Who knew riding was so difficult? Ninth Bell And they were returning to the plantation. Two horses side by side. Pendrith holding Adelaide's reins as well as his own, so that she only had to concentrate on retaining her balance. It wasn't so difficult and she was actually starting to get her confidence back. She was also looking forward to having the breakfast that such an early lesson had obligated her to miss. She smiled happily at Pendrith, whose face twisted into a slight, and seemingly reluctant, smile of his own. "Thank you for showing me how to ride." she said finally then, faltering as he shook his head ever so slightly, "Well, teaching me. I know I still have a lot to learn but I am grateful." Why was she thanking a slave? Adelaide shook her head slightly as if to chase away the thought and, wisely, decided to change the subject. "I feel like you could give up all kinds of things just for the pleasure of doing this." "Like yer freedom?" "No. Not that. That seems like too much to me." Adelaide replied with a smile, not recognising the sadness in his voice, "You'd be crazy to give up your freedom for anything." "What if it wasn't by choice? If yer was tricked..." "I'm a member of the Sitai family. Nobody is allowed to trick me." Adelaide said dismissively, "Father would punish them and Grandfather would have them brought up before the magistrate." "I don't think you understand 'ow the Magistrate's office works. Accordin' to current rules set up by the Radacke family, yer Grandfather wouldn't need his permission to, ah, carry out revenge on any slave, servant or even free-born if 'e felt himself scorned." "I don't think you've got this right. This isn't Sunberth." Pendrith's lips curled into a smile, "No," he said, "It ain't."

[Vice]

Adelaide Sitai :

Skills

• +1 Observation
• +2 Riding
• +1 Persuasion
• +1 Rhetoric

Lores

• Want: To Punish Pendrith
• Riding: Pulling Reigns to Dictate Direction
• Riding: Hold, Loosely grip the reigns.
• Kenash: We are NOT Sunberth
• Arguing with a Slave

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