While what remained of Kira’s armlette made a fairly disgruntled attempt at escape, many miles hence three riders moved at a smooth trot across a grassed plain. They rode sturdy battle chargers, tall horses with fine heads and strong bodies. At the head of them Queen Cadentis jostled and bounced atop a much smaller bay cob, a broad backed sturdy mount which was jigging between a trot and a canter and occasionally, a frustrated walk.
“What’s wrong with this beast?” Cadentis flung the question over her shoulder.
The cob was the only horse in the royal stables able to stand up to the rigors of being ridden by the queen, not because the queen was overly large, but because she was not in any way an equestrian. She preferred her clockwork carriages to beasts of flesh and blood and it showed.
The riders looked at one another. It was not their place to correct a monarch, but the cob was growing impatient and it seemed that sooner or later there was to be a falling out between queen and horse. As horses tended not to honor the monarchy, it would not go well for Cadentis.