Elyasan's POV
They didn't ask me again.
They just brought the horse closer.
Kaevryn was already mounted.
Of course he was.
One of the guards stepped in front of me. "It's safer this way."
"I can ride my own horse," I said.
"No one said you can't."
That wasn't an answer.
It was a shutdown.
I looked at Kaevryn. "I am not sharing a horse."
He adjusted the reins slightly.
"You are."
I narrowed my eyes. "That is not a discussion."
"It is not meant to be."
I exhaled sharply. "You people don't know how conversations work."
One of the guards coughed.
Kaevryn didn't react.
That made it worse.
I crossed my arms. "I will fall off."
"You won't."
"That is not reassuring."
"It is fact."
I stared at him.
He stared back like that was the end of it.
I looked at the horse.
The horse looked… normal.
That was suspicious.
I stepped closer anyway.
The guard moved to help me up.
"I can do it myself," I said immediately.
No one stopped me.
That was annoying.
I climbed up.
The saddle was higher than I expected.
Of course it was.
I adjusted quickly.
Too quickly.
The horse shifted.
I shifted with it.
Kaevryn's hand tightened slightly on the reins.
"Stop leaning," he said.
"I am not leaning."
"You are leaning left."
"I am balancing."
"On what."
"The horse."
A pause.
Behind us, someone made a sound like they were choking on air.
I turned my head slightly. "Is that funny to you?"
Silence.
Immediate silence.
Good.
Kaevryn started the horse forward.
We moved.
The wind hit immediately, colder than before.
I stayed stiff.
Too aware of everything.
Especially the fact that he was right behind me.
Not touching.
But close enough that I could feel every shift of movement through the saddle.
I didn't like that.
"Relax your shoulders," he said.
"I am relaxed."
"No you're not."
"I am."
"You're holding tension like it's a weapon."
I turned my head slightly. "And you speak like everything is a diagnosis."
"It is observation."
"I didn't ask for it."
"I didn't ask you to fall earlier either."
"I didn't fall."
"You nearly did."
"That is not the same thing."
"It becomes the same thing when the ground doesn't care about your opinion."
I frowned.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic."
"It was accurate."
I looked forward again.
We rode for a while in silence.
At least I thought it was silence.
Then the horse stepped unevenly.
I shifted automatically—
Too fast.
My balance slipped slightly.
Not enough to fall.
Enough to react.
Kaevryn's hand moved instantly on the reins—not grabbing me, just correcting the horse's line.
I froze anyway.
"What was that," I asked.
"Correction."
"To the horse or me?"
"The horse."
"Liar."
That made him pause.
I turned my head slightly again.
"You adjusted before I even moved," I said.
"You moved first."
"No I didn't."
"You did."
"I didn't feel it."
"That doesn't mean it didn't happen."
I stared forward again.
"That is the most annoying thing you've said today."
"I haven't been trying to compete."
"That is worse."
A beat.
Then—
"You are tense again," he said.
"I am not."
"You are."
"I am sitting on a horse with a man who argues like breathing is optional."
A pause.
Behind us, one of the guards let out a sound he immediately tried to turn into a cough.
I ignored it.
Kaevryn didn't.
"Stop listening to them," he said.
"I am not."
"You are reacting to them."
"They are reacting to us."
"They are not part of this ride."
I turned slightly. "Then what is this ride part of?"
Silence.
Long enough that I thought he wouldn't answer.
Then—
"Getting out," he said.
That stopped me.
Not dramatically.
Just enough to make me look forward again.
We rode on.
I stayed quieter after that.
Not because I agreed.
Because arguing suddenly felt like it required more energy than I had.
The horse moved steadily beneath us.
Kaevryn stayed steady behind me.
And for the first time since this started—
I stopped thinking about falling.
Just for a moment.