Chapter 340: Hold On To Me.

Chapter 340: Chapter 340: Hold On To Me.

​"What, you got somewhere to be?" Loac snorts, swinging over into the stall with practiced ease; fingers expertly working at the various buckles of the light saddle he’s flung over the horse’s enormous back.

He’s somehow already persuaded him into a bridle.

It’s difficult to tell if sugar was involved, or if the beast’s just on his best behaviour.

​I did, Khobi can’t help but think with another small pang of disappointment.

But there’s always tomorrow; he’s waited this long, what’s one more day? How often does the opportunity to go beyond the castle walls present itself? And on a ride , of all things. His first proper ride, even, and the thrill that it sparks in his chest at the realisation is by no means small, and familiar enough by now that Khobi has no trouble identifying it as excitement.

In an effort to stop himself from fidgeting --and more importantly, not look suspicious --Khobi hangs over the gate, watching Loac at work.

It’s hard to tell because he still knows next to nothing about horses, but from how naturally he moves and how little his horse fusses under his deft touch, it’s clear that he really knows what he’s doing; that this is something he’s been doing his whole life.

​"You good to go?" Loac inquires after a beat, and it takes Khobi a moment to realise that it’s not him he’s talking to, but the horse.

The stallion lets out a heavy snort in response, impatiently butting his face into his master’s chest and making him chuckle.

"That’s what I thought." Without further ado, he opens up the stall and uses the gate to swing himself up onto the horse’s back and into the saddle.

Khobi knows from experience that it’s completely not the case, but he looks oddly weightless in the saddle --carrying himself with the kind of easy confidence that comes from years of practice --and even with his furs his horse barely seems to notice he’s there.

​They make quite a striking pair.

​The last time Khobi saw Loac on horseback was the tournament, what feels like an entire lifetime ago. He’d forgotten how formidable he’d looked.

​(Gazing up at him now, it seems impossible that he could forget.)

​"Don’t worry, he can take both of us," Loac states, thankfully misunderstanding Khobi’s dumbstruck expression and jerking his chin towards the empty space behind him, "Hurry up and get on before someone sees."

Swallowing thickly, Khobi has to first remind himself how to exhale before he can address this new problem.

​"...Uh. How ?"

​Loac gives him an incredulous look and Khobi obstinately sets his jaw.

​" I’ve never ridden a horse before ," he grinds out, glaring up at him with heat as he tries to figure out just how on earth he’s meant to get up there.

Up close and out of his stall, the stallion is fucking enormous , and Loac just patting the spot behind him doesn’t fucking help ; he’d made it look so goddamned effortless, because of course he did.

The saddle doesn’t look anything like the heavy ones he’s seen the other soldiers using for leverage, and as far as he can tell, horses don’t come with handholds.

​Once again, it’s up to Binny to save the day.

​" –Seriously, Khobi? What would you do without me?" comes the dramatic sigh from Khobi’s elbow, and Khobi immediately whips around in alarm to find that Binny has once again materialised at his side out of the ether. ℯ

​"Ah, shit ," he says belatedly, and hopes he doesn’t look too guilty right now, because how long has he been there, and how much did he hear? "...We were just..."

​"Dunno what you’re talking about," Binny states matter-of-factly, casually sidling up alongside the giant black stallion, "I didn’t see anything."

Then he hooks his hands together in front of him, and waits. And it’s pretty clear what for.

​A grin fans out across Khobi’s face --big and bright, and grateful --and he gets a wink back as he gets boosted up into the saddle; body pressed almost unnaturally flush against Loac’s back and the powerful shape of a fucking horse beneath him.

It’s a lot higher up than it looks, and when the horse shifts beneath him, it feels very, very strange, and he wobbles precariously.

This doesn’t look like any kind of saddle he’s used to seeing the horses wearing, and with two of them up there he’s not really sure where to put his legs.

Or his hands, for that matter.

​"Hold on," Loac orders as the horse starts wheeling towards the door.

Binny wisely backs up a couple of paces towards the equipment he’d dropped in favour of giving Khobi a leg up, and looks politely offended when the stallion snorts at him.

​" --To what ?" Khobi splutters, because as far as he can tell, Loac’s got the reins and there’s nowhere else to put his hands.

Instead of an answer, Loac just flings him a smirk over his shoulder and Khobi catches the mischievous glint in his eye far too late to do anything about it.

​"To me, obviously."

​Abruptly, the horse rears. The sensation of falling hits hard and fast and before he can go careening backwards Khobi instinctively lurches forwards and hurls his arms tight around Loac’s waist to stop himself from spilling right off.

And then, just as suddenly as he’d lurched into the air, the stallion drops back to earth, whickering playfully, and when Khobi cracks an eye open, there’s something about the way Loac looks like he’s holding back a grin that makes him think he did it on purpose.

​"That’s it," he snickers, patronisingly patting one of Khobi’s arms where it’s clenched tight around him.

It makes Khobi want to spring back from him like he’s been stung, but given how close he’d just come to tumbling off that seems like a bad idea.

But he makes sure to ease up, just a little. "Wouldn’t want you to fall off."

​"If I fall I’m taking you with me," Khobi warns, grip tightening once more as the horse starts to fidget impatiently, clearly eager to get going.

Neither of them see how dramatically Binny rolls his eyes.

​"...At least pull your hood up," he advises, and Khobi hurriedly does as he’s bid; yanking it up over his head with one hand and keeping the other hooked around Loac’s body just in case he tries anything funny again.

​"Thanks, Binny," he states quietly, and gets a good-natured hum in response.

​"Like I said; I didn’t see anything," he reminds him, waving to their backs as Loac wheels them towards the exit.

He knows that horse well enough to steer well clear; as does anyone who frequents the stables. When he takes off, he flies .

​He hopes Khobi’s ready for it.

​"Have fun, you two~"