Dream Guy: the ride with the king

[Guest]

Such strange dreams we weave. The ladies that were left in this little game of the Aether found a little riding dress in their room. It was modest and unlike last eveningtide did fit much better. It would allow them amazone style riding if they were familiar with it.

Once they came down again after breakfast, the horses were waiting, making nervous sound in the early morningtide, frosted air leaving their nostrils. Just as they all had gathered, a roffle of horses feet could be heard in the distance and through the garden the prince on the white horse arrived. Except this was no prince. He was the king.

Sitting triumphantly on his white horse, King Balthasar, a small silver coronet caressing his head, looked at the ladies present, giving them a galant nod. His ice blue eyes were like the count, hinting at adhiel heritage, as was the blond hair streaming down his back. He wore simple clothing fit for riding. No doublet. Just a white shirt and the inevitable black leather pants.

"Miladies.. please be so good as to select a horse. It is time for us to have a littel ride and get to know each other. I think there are some facts you all need to know," the king announced imperially.

[Brionna Galenn]

The riding dress she found on her return to her room intrigued Brionna. She had often seen noble ladies riding horses while growing up in Kings Court, but had never really though much about how their clothing must differ from normal skirts in order to make it possible. She spent a few burns examining the outfit curiously, noting the way the panels were cut and sewn, before donning it and twisting her long hair into a tight plait. It wouldn't do to have it blowing into her face and obscuring her vision, although the thought of riding with it streaming out behind her like a pennant was an appealing thought. Learn to ride before you entertain such fancies, she chided herself. Today you'll be lucky not to wind up covered in mud and leaves as you tumble about the estate!

With that admonition firmly in mind, she made her way downstairs to find the horses waiting. She had rarely been this close to the animals, and she eyed the height of their backs with some concern. "That's going to be a damnably long way to fall," she murmured. The other ladies were gathering, each similarly dressed, and she gave them a nervous smile. It had been one thing to joke flippantly about falling off a horse while they had breakfast, but now that it was becoming an immediate possibility, she found herself not looking forward to it in the slightest.

The sound of hooves distracted her from her fear before she had a chance to work into a complete panic, and she looked up to see the King riding towards them. His clothing was as casual as their host's had been, but his bearing was unmistakably that of someone used to power. As he acknowledged them with a nod, Brionna dipped a polite curtsey. She may have agreed to work against his wishes, but he was still a king and the forms at least had to be observed.

His announcement took her by surprise, enough that it showed in her expression for a few flickers. He'll tell us what's going on? she wondered. Or will he spin more deception? She approached a grey horse that stood nearby and paused uncertainly beside it. Turning to the King, she gave him a sheepish smile and said, "Your pardon, Your Majesty, but I fear that the first fact we all need to know is how to get on a horse! I've seen it done, but..." She trailed off uncertainly. "Is there a trick to climbing onto an animal that's almost higher than your head?"

[Delanedra]

Heading back to her room and dressing quickly, and following the small group of others out to the stables. She shivered a moment in the chill air. She watched the horses and then starred, though she tried to avert her eyes at the king. Delanedra took a deep breath and tugged at the skirt of the dress nervously.

The half-adhiel looked at Brionna and quietly second the motion of knowing how to approach and even attempt to get atop the horse. "Ah...yes, your Majesty, it would be nice to know how to get astride one of these magnificent animals, as I am not familiar with riding at all." she admit. Her eyes wander through the line of horses, then back to the king's magnificent horse. She smiled.

The village girl then looked towards the other ladies, then began to slowly work her way to the horses. Delanedra paused to inspect a black horse, tilting her head and looking into it's eyes as if to judge it's intelligence. Then brushed the horses mane with a small hang. What am I thinking? I've never actually ridden and here I am about to riding with the King. I am going to be riding with his Majesty... and I don't know how to ride. We'll I'll make the best of it. I've done well so far. She let her mind wander to the horse at hand, rather than things that were out of his control. This horse certainly is nice.

[Fialessa Valenstri]

Dressed smartly in the provided riding dress, Fialessa had trapped much of her lengthy locks within a loose braid though tendrils still curled framing her face and neck. The tiny adhiel woman strode out to meet the challenge that horse riding presented, selecting a pretty, for a horse, black one and bravely patting it on the nose. Upon hearing the nervous, timid questions of Brionna and Delanedra she decided another tack...

Marginally the lightest and smallest of the women left, Fia tossed her flirty comment to the King.“Or perhaps your highness would be gracious enough to assist a lady to her mount?” She glanced upwards her warm amber gaze leveled saucily with his icy blue ones. She banked on the fact that the man had etiquette enough to not leave a set of ladies standing about when they're meant to be riding, King or not. “After all as Brionna has mentioned they are rather high...”

[Becca Acerbi]

Becca eyed the horses warily, folding her arms across her chest. "Before we start this, could someone please explain the logic of wearing a dress while riding a horse?" She had been severely tempted to refuse, and come downstairs in the clothes she'd worn to breakfast, but...

Bugger. If she was chosing looks over practicality, then either the world was ending or she'd been hanging around these people too long.

Horses. Huge horses. The ginger-haired girl swallowed slightly and tried not to think about actually sitting that high up, let alone looking down. 'I don't like heights. Gods help us, I hate heights...'

The girl's hands shifted to her hips as the show-off on the white horse arrived, and she frowned slightly. "And does anyone know who Himself is?" She indicated Balthazar with a jerk of the head. Her voice was soft as she murmured to the surrounding women "Nice as his tiara is, I'd still rather someone told me who he was now before I told him that."

[Ilaria da'Margeir.]

Ilaria barely gave her dress a second glance as she threw it on. She was excited to get another chance to walk around outside. Ilaria always felt her best when she was outdoors.

She walked at a slow pace, enjoying the cool breeze blowing across her face. This was one of the times that she was glad that she wore her hair entirely in braids. It made doing things like this a lot easier. Ilaria had been walking so slowly that she missed the grand entrance of the King. Waiting in the back until he was done giving his speech, Ilaria gave him a polite nod as she passed and moved straight to the horses. She agreed with Becca's comment. It didn't make much sense to Ilaria, who thought it would probably be better to ride in pants of some sort. She imagined that there was probably some sort of practicality behind the dresses, but instead she mumbled, "It probably makes a better picture for the men to watch: a beautiful woman riding in a dress with her hair flowing out behind her. Seems like a bunch of nonsense to me."

She wandered through the horses, settling on the one that looked like it would be the most stubborn, like her. She calmly stroked it's nose, more to soothe her own nerves, rather than the horses, and waited for instructions as to how to actually get on the horse.

[Jolanda]

Busy primping and preening the aubergine satin of her riding habit, so many tiny silver buttons, oh what a pleasure it was to get dressed! Forty, forty-one, forty-two buttons! She had never ever had a dress with that many before... oh yes, she was on the way up! Though she had to lament as she looked in the mirror, the excessive modesty in the cut of the riding habit. With such weighty and important distractions, Jolanda found she arrived later than most.

"Your Majesty," she dipped into a low curtsy, puzzling to why none of the ladies were climbing onto their horses.

"Come now ladies, you cannot expect a leg up from the King." she rolled her eyes and walked to one of the horses. They are more useless than if they had been born with noble blood, she thought to herself.

No she had never ridden such a beast before, but she had certainly seen people climbing up. Looking about for a servant to ask for assistance (something she was getting used to doing living at the Embassy), she sternly directed in an undertone. "Now if you let me fall, I'll tell the Count."

[Grey Wolf]

The dresses were not you everyday clothing items. They were made for riding. While they had flat cut sides, both the front and back were made of pleats so that the girls could sit astride the horse. There was still an option of riding side-saddle, but this was more something a certain auburn-haired girl in Islay would call dress-pants. It looked like a dress, technically it was a dress, but it felt like a set of pants.

For a flicker the King remained on his mount looking down towards the ladies. Another nod and a radiant smile, before the man dismounted, bending over his saddle and giving the ladies a fine view of his well toned behind in tight leather pants. Taking the horse's reins he lead the beast closer. Bowing low in the Western fashion before them all, the former Prince flashed a smile at Becca. "Himself is Balthasar, my dear lady. I have a rare honor of being the King. And your companion this morning. Now, if you'll just give me a flicker I will explain to you the basics of riding. Judging from your reactions this will be a new experience to you all."

There were no servants to help Jolanda mount. Only the other girls and the King. The King was.... engaged at the moment. It was up to her to either mount of her own accord or wait for his Royal Highness to become available for assistance. In the meantime the King was just starting his explanation "Now, I will not explain which is the front or the rear end of the horse. Though it had to be explained to some of the people I know." That's right, Balthasar. Keep the tone light. Make them like you.

"I will go over the process rather quickly. So, please pay attention. Approach the horse from the left side. Keep the reins..." Here he shook his horse's reins to emphasize. "...in your left hand. Grab the horn, that is the thin part on the front with your left hand and keep your right hand steady on the back of the saddle. Now, slip your left foot in the stirrup and you are ready to mount. Push yourself up and keep pushing with your left foot. Let go with your right hand and swing your right leg over. Take a flicker to settle down and then slip you right foot into the stirrup." as he spoke the King did just that, lifting himself into the saddle with practiced ease. "There that was not so hard."

He did not remain in the saddle. Swinging his right foot over, this time Balthasar slipped down to the ground and walked to Fialessa. "Your turn, milady. Come now, no fear. I will be right next to you, in case you need assistance." The King waited for the girl to get to the horse, before approaching her from behind and placing his hands upon her waist. "Come now. Just relax. I am sure you will find the ride enjoyable." These were whispered in her ear.

OOC: Dear ladies, I will be covering this thread for a while. Hope you don't mind?

[Delanedra]

Delanedra paused, making small mental notes about what to do to exactly ride the horse. Mount from the left side, reins in the left hand... she repeated the instructions several times before steeling herself, eyes near glaring at the saddle before attempting to mount the horse. She managed to get her foot into the stirrup and begin to pull herself up before... because of a lack of any really developed upper body strength she slipped back to the ground. "I wasn't expecting help from his Majesty." Delanedra told Jolanda politely, after she had touched down.

The horse, startled by the young woman coming down rather abruptly close to it's ear, took a few nercous steps back, will Del's foot still in the stirrup. She hopped attempting to keep her balance. She glared at the saddle again, disentangled her leg, and then attempted to climb into the saddle again. This time she managed- albeit a little less gracefully- there was no smooth execution, she came down in the saddle a little hard.

"Easy..." she told horse, patting the creature's neck gently. She smiled. Then looked at the other women then at the king. "Where will we be riding?" she asked quietly, rocking to and fro as the horse danced beneath her. Delanedra leaned up in the saddle,inside of riding side-saddle, she had chosen to ride astride horse. She'd seen women ride side saddle and that looked dangerous.

The half-adhiel turned her head to watch the others, mount their horses, though she took a few moments to consider the king. For all his royalty... he doesn't exactly act like one. He's not commanding or scary at all. Delanedra commented to herself. Delanedra tried to stifle a laugh at Jolanda's statement of tell on the King if he let her fall, it sounded a little silly- at least to her.

"It probably makes a better picture for the men to watch: a beautiful woman riding in a dress with her hair flowing out behind her. Seems like a bunch of nonsense to me."

"I guess it does... Ilaria, wasn't it?" she asked trying to remember the woman's name. "I'm sure the Count would love to watch this..." she said quietly, sliently wondering where the Count was.

[Fialessa Valenstri]

Her attention flitted between the women and what they all made of the horses and their little commentaries. Becca she found the most amusing, or rather interesting, especially after the little stings she and Jolanda had exchanged the evening before.

Fialessa turned her full attention to the king as he demonstrated the way in which to mount a horse. He certainly looked comfortable upon a horse, as if he had been riding all his life.

Seeing him slide off his mount and move over too her, she was perhaps only a tad surprised that he actually meant to help her as she'd challenged. Perhaps he would not be so formidable after all. “I thank your highness for your gracious assistance, I do hope I shall...” She responded softly with a pretty smile. His hands on her waist gave her the little bit of comfort with the situation to try to put her small foot in the stirrup. She allowed him to help lift her into the saddle. As she didn't know how one would ride side saddle, the little Panling relied on her dancer's balance and positioned herself astride the horse as Balthasar had shown.

[Jolanda]

Jolanda was frustrated by the lack of servants to assist, her uttereance becoming more of a directive to the horse.

"Don't let me fall..." she whispered, watching as the king gave instructions on how to go about mounting a horse. Instructions she did her best to follow. Taking the reins, moving to the left side, then sighing in disapointment as she realised there was lttle chance she could do this gracefully by herself. Delandra proving that point as she took a couple of tries to succeed.

Jolanda looked towards the king - perhaps she should wait for his assistance? But she did not enjoy appearing helpless. What am I doing? Distracted by the challenge in front of her, the plan she'd mentally formed for her cause's advancement slipped away in a frustrating manner. Oh dear, self-doubt grew within her, I want to go home!

But running away was not really an option. Taking a deep breath Jolanda did her best to get on top of the horse.

[Ilaria da'Margeir.]

Before her horse could move, Ilaria decided to climb up into the saddle. The task proved to be a little difficult, but after a few muttered curses, Ilaria was up on the horse. Surprised that anyone had been listening to her, she gave Delanedra a sunny smile. "Oh, I can imagine that he would be highly amused by this whole situation." Ilaria's eyes widened slightly, as her horse was dancing around impatiently, waiting for the fun to begin. "I hope that we're going to get going soon. I don't know if my horse will be able to wait much longer," Ilaria said with a laugh.

[Becca Acerbi]

Becca blinked up at the man, one eyebrow slowly inching itself upwards as she looked him over. "You can't be a king. You're neither old nor ugly enough to be king, and you look like you've got a bit more sense in your head." Not much more, because hell, leather pants? Was he trying to get on the good sides of the butterflies or what? "Pleased to meet you anyway."

The girl's face was a trifle pale as she moved to the horses - going automatically to the smallest one she saw. "Of course it wasn't hard for him," she murmured to it, gently stroking its nose. "He must've been doing it forever. I bet he wasn't that good when he started out." The girl sighed, and whispered to the horse in the softest, most soothing voice she could: "If you throw me on the floor, love, I'm going to turn you into glue and leather and make a pair of boots out of you. I hate heights enough without you deciding to be kind and drop me from one, kay?" The horse wouldn't understand that (she hoped), but it made her feel better and let her prise her fingers from the horse's head.

'Reins... Grab the saddle... Foot...' Becca didn't care about grace. What she cared about was that the horse didn't take off while she was dangling from the stirrup. With that in mind, she dragged herself on, muttering curses in that same soothing voice until she was seated. The girl very, very carefully didn't look down, murmuring curses under her breath.

[Grey Wolf]

Once one had feet in the stirrups it was fairly easy to keep balance. At least while the horses remained stationary. The Count was kind it appeared. All the animals were gentle and calm, while still appearing healthy and strong. Well trained and well maintained, they did not try to fight the reins or to impose their own will on the riders. If the ladies mounted upon them could be called riders? It was a precarious position, and it was pretty high of the ground. Still, for now it was manageable. Barely.

Making sure Fialessa was safe in the saddle, Balthasar turned to see Jolanda struggling to get up and rushed to her side. Two things could go wrong while one tried to mount a horse. You could put too much force into the jump and overshot, leaving you to either fall on the other side or to remain stuck with your belly against the saddle. Or you could put less force than necessary, and fall back to the ground, unless a sufficient amount of upper body strength was available. The Pecunian was not forced to taste either of these as the young King was by her side in two swift leaps. Steadying her with deft hands, the dashing young man placed her safely into the saddle. His left hand did linger a bit too low upon her back, but it was still not quite on her shapely behind.

Nothing on the King's face revealed that he even noticed where his hand was just moments before. Sun glinted of his silver coronet, the clear white crystal on the front catching the light perfectly. Almost. Becca was mounted before he could assist her, so the King rushed to Brionna's side. Helping the lady up in similar way he did with Fia, the King mounted his own steed. A rather spirited animal, the stallion danced under the young man's firm hand.

The Count was nowhere in sight. This was the ride with the King. Flashing another smile at the ladies, the King paused for a few flickers to admire them silently. "Now, that we are all mounted, just a few more advices. The most important thing is to relax. Keep your back stiff and you will be in pain soon. Relax your posture and move with the horse. Keep your feet in the stirrup and apply gentle pressure with your knees to the horse's sides. That will keep you from falling off. Now, I am sure you already know this, but there is no harm in repeating. To make the horse move gently bump your heels to it's sides. To make it stop pull the reins back. To turn, pull one side of the reins."

Once more all these points were demonstrated. Step by step. In the end the King was in their midst, that same charming smile still upon his lips. "Shall we? With a flick of his reins the King was moving. Slowly at first he waited for them to catch up before speaking once more. "I believe that proper introductions are in place. I am Balthasar. And while I am the King, we shall keep this informal. Balthasar will do. Or any other charming nickname you ladies find for me. Now, would you care to introduce yourselves." He knew their names, but proper protocol had to be followed. You could not be the King without proper protocol.

[Jolanda]

"Thank you," Jolanda mouthed the words, the sincerity of her gratitude for his help sat uncomfortably within. She couldn't help noticing how considerate he was, not at all like the Count had described him...

I shall ride with a King, she marveled silently to herself as he assisted the other women. Now here was a man with real power, and as such Jolanda discovered attraction towards him. Covertly she watched him, It was deliberate wasn't it, he likes me does he not? I am better than some healer tart, would he kill a crew of men for me perhaps? It seemed quite a compliment now she thought further upon it, she had never had any men killed for her attention. Yet appearances are so deceptive she had learnt, and though she did not want to doubt him, she could not repress the reluctant doubt, If he really is a king... if the Count's story is true.

Following his instructions, she gave a light laugh as he jested of nicknames, "Why, is that an invitation? Why if you are not careful we shall come to call you Balty" she grinned, deciding there and then she could tolerate sleeping with him. I wonder what sort of presents Kings give their lovers? She imagined they would be very sparkly and bright. "I am Jolanda."

Still it niggled in the back of the mind that she'd some genius plan the night before, a plan that would gain her everything her heart could desire. But the plan was still frustratingly beyond mental grasp... she could only wonder at what it might have been. She was fairly certain that it hadn't involved flirting with the king...

[Becca Acerbi]

Becca was getting steadily paler as the horse moved. Her body was relaxed - or as relaxed as it could be when you were in fear for your life - but her knuckles were going white on the reins.

"Don't - don't suggest we give you nicknames, milord." The girl managed a smirk, however wan it might've been. "Some of us can be rather... creative, I suppose is the best way to phrase it." Although right now, she wouldn't think of any nicknames for anything. Unless you counted swear words - she was running through her rather extensive list, applying them in every conbination possible to the idiotic bastard son of crackwhore who'd decided that this would be a good idea.

"My name's Becca. Becca Acerbi." She glanced across at the man, and carefully tried relaxing.

[Delanedra]

Taking a few deep breaths and focusing her attention on the King, Delanedra listens to the advice, He's quite charming...but he still doesn't look like a king. Maybe that's a good thing. She ran her hand over the horse's neck, admiring color and shape of hairs, and tracing swirls on the neck of the beast. As the king asked for their names Delanedra chanced a glance at Jolanda, She's too cocky and too presumptious, give the King a nickname like... Balty? I could do better. she thought coldly.

She relaxed her posture, a bit-she didn't want to be sore yet. "I'm Delanedra, though I guess since we're being informal, Del will do just fine, or Songbird..." the last was said as and afterthought, with her eyes focused on the horse's mane. "Perhaps, I will give you some sort of nickname." she said leaning forward and looking at Balthasar with a careful consideration in her eyes. "Though perhaps we should just stick to politeness." And save ourselves some embarassment. The village girl thought.

[Fialessa Valenstri]

A gracious smile played at her lips in gratitude to the king for his aid. Fia watched him leap off to help some of the other ladies that looked in need of his assistance. And soon enough he was back on his own horse asking after their names and inviting them to make up nicknames for him.

Something rang a bit odd to her about that. Whyever would a monarch such as he wish to be this charming and this friendly. Granted from her vantage point all six of them were relaitvely attractive women and there were of course no other men present. She considered again the mention of the bet, she wondered what he was going to attempt while on this ride...

Taking heed and remaining relaxed upon the horse, she followed along with his instruction and urged her horse to move forward as he began their ride. “Fialessa...” she added into the group of names that were tossed out. Occasionally she was called Fia or some other derivative of her name but she didn't offer them up. She wasn't sure if she wanted to invite that much informality with this king that she was not so sure of.

[Ilaria da'Margeir.]

Ilaria immediately relaxed in her saddle, and could almost feel the horse underneath her relax as well. She sat back and let the girls introduce themselves. Ilaria loved to people watch. One could learn a lot by watching someone interact with other people. Ilaria slowly moved her horse up with everyone elses after most of the introductions were finished. "Ilaria," she said with a bow of her head. "So, Sir, why exactly are we here? I mean, there has to be something more to this than a simple problem of marriage." Ilaria got the feeling that she had missed out on something while she was galavanting in the gardens with Neit and Falina.

[Brionna Galenn]

Brionna listened to the King's instructions and eyed her chosen horse speculatively. It sounds easy enough, but... She looked at the stirrup. How in the Nether am I supposed to get my foot up that high?!

She was saved, in a fashion, by the King himself. He had been slipping amongst the group giving aid where it was needed (which was almost everywhere). Before she could embarrass herself by attempting to mount on her own, she felt strong hands grip her waist. She just managed to stifle a yelp of surprise as she was lifted up and deposited in the saddle. Looking down into the King's face, she felt her cheeks heat. "My thanks, Your Majesty," she murmured.

It was strange to owe personal gratitude to her King - a man she'd never expected to so much as see in the flesh, much less meet. It was even stranger to feel grateful to a man she had agreed to conspire against. Yet she couldn't help being glad that he had saved her from disgracing herself.

Glancing down at the ground proved to be a bad idea. Her head swam for a moment and she gripped the reins with one hand and the front of the saddle with the other. So high! she marveled silently. It wasn't an experience she relished, but now the group was moving out and she nudged her horse into following them.

The King's casual attitude surprised her a little, but not nearly as much as Jolanda's response. She bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud, but her eyes were sparkling as she looked across at her friend. One good thing about keeping things informal, she decided as she listened to the others give their names. I won't look odd for not supplying my surname. But perhaps he already knows that anyway? Certainly, if he had as much to do with this competition as had been hinted then he was likely to know a fair amount about each contestant.

Ilaria's question set her on edge a little. The woman has nerve, she decided. But since she's opened the topic... Smiling at the lone man in their midst, she smiled and said, "I'm Brionna, and I'd be very interested in you answer to that question as well. The Count mentioned something about a bet during dinner yesterday, but..." She let the sentence trail off invitingly.


OOC: Ugh... apologies for being slow - my spam filter got overzealous and ate the notifications.

[Grey Wolf]

The King giggled. He actually giggled at Jolanda's nickname. "Well, you know, Balthy was the name my mother used. Now, you would not want to remind me of my mother each time you say that wouldn't you?" The smile she flashed her, was more a mischievous grin than a proper smile. He did not truly mind being called Balthy. Besides, his mother DID use to call him such. "But, as they say. The lady is always right. And I DID offer you the chance to find me a suitable nickname."

He did expect Ilaria's and Brionna's line of inquiry. Maybe not so soon, but it was natural. "Oh my, such curiosity. well, I suppose it won't hurt to give you a bit more details." Leaning back in the saddle, demonstrating his riding skill without thought, the King pondered his ext words for a few flickers. "I can't give you all the details, but I can explain. See, my cousin is a rather charming fellow. Has a way with the ladies you might say. His exploits in that field are rather legendary in certain circles, if you know what I mean."

Pausing once more, the Monarch flashed a conspirator glance at the girls before continuing. Lowering his voice somewhat, he continued in a husky whisper, albeit one that was easily heard by all the girls. "Well, needless to say, I was not allowed such freedom. So, one evening as the two of us relaxed marriage became the topic of our conversation. He jested about my shackles of prearranged marriage, so I had to retaliate. You might say you are my retaliation." His hand touched Becca's at this in an almost apologetic gesture.

"For that I apologize. See, we were in the cups a bit, so I commented how he could not marry even if there were dozens of ladies competing against each other for him. This is where it brought us. Silly as we are when we are tipsy, cousin and I, with the help of few others fleshed out the rules of this competition of sorts. So here you are. Lovely ladies competing for his affection. He DOES have to marry the winner, no doubt about that. So don't worry about being just a pawns in a silly game. Of course, the winner has to want to marry him of course. You can still win and walk away. I think this is it. I if you have any more questions, I will be happy to give you the answers you seek."

[Delanedra]

Urging her mount a bit closer to king, Delanedra nodded slowly. "Well that explains a great deal of this. So we're here on a bit of dare." she laughs,a quiet soft laugh, more of a chuckle. "We'll I'm rather glad that you two were a little tipsy at time, or else I probably would be enjoying myself so much." she smiled. "Now are we going to stand here chit-chatting like a circle of old people or are we going to ride?" she asks, her voice isn't impatient and neither is her body language.

Her smile says she's just ready to see what riding on a horse is all about. We're a part of some slightly drunken marriage bet, the Count certainly does have a way with ladies... she sighed to herself on that thought, allowing herself a long languid smile. I could win, and walk away from him if I chose... no I can't do that, he's too nice and too much a man of dreamed off. All this..... If I win... she stopped thinking as the horse beneath her began to dance again, as if he was impantient to get moving.

[Fialessa Valenstri]

Making no move to crowd the monarch as they all positioned themselves, Fialessa relaxed more as the ride started in earnest. Listening to the questions Ilaria and Brionna posed the king. She knew only that Guy was not exactly as he said to the whole of them. But what she was really curious of was how much each girl knew and what light the king might shed for them.

That 'the count' was charming and had 'a way with the ladies' was easy enough to see without it being pointed out. But it was the fleshing out of this bet that held her interest. Others? She wondered at who those others might be. But more so, “What is at stake, if I might be so curious, as it is a bet? Besides of course the possible marriage.” Fia wondered if the marriage was indeed the whole of the bet or if it merely masqueraded as something else. Why else would women be brought together and whittled away by numbers as moments passed.

Sport was one thing, but the little bits she had gleaned from 'Guy' – if indeed that was his name, which she doubted – why the lies? This was not straightforward at all. She wondered if despite the deception if indeed the option to marry the man came about, if by some strange miracle she managed to win this game, would she do it.? Would any of the others if it were they? And what of him, would he honestly be required by the bet to try to marry one of them? As more ended up revealed, the stranger it seemed. How she hoped 'the count' would keep the promise he'd spoken and let her know more of what truly was going on when next he might have a chance...

[Becca Acerbi]

Becca just managed to stop herself grabbing for Balthazar's shoulder as he leaned back, eyes going huge, then squeezing shut for a few seconds. "Men," she muttered to the horse. "Always have to show off. No thought that they might give anyone a heart attack." Glacing back at Balthazar, she raised an eyebrow and asked "Did they teach you the art of the understatement specially, or were you born with it?"

And then he said 'You are my retaliation,' and touched her hand. The appropriateness of it made her laugh, bringing a hand to her mouth, and ducking her head in an entirely unsuccessful attempt to smother it. "That, milord," she giggled, when she had herself under control again. "Was far too apt to be a coincidence. Were you two comparing notes last night or something?"

Becca sighed, still grinning slightly. There was a touch of colour in her cheeks now, and she seemed a little more relaxed. "Someone explain to me - why's he apologising? I thought Himself," she jerked her head back the way they'd come. "Already explained that. Or was I imagining that part?"

[Jolanda]

Jolanda flashed a playful smile with the kings giggle. "Then I shall put my mind to ridding you of such a notion." she replied, "a task that shall be rather pleasurable, I think."

What am I doing? Again she wondered why she was flirting like this!

Yet all too quickly the others broached sober questions of the king. There was little tact in thier method, Jolanda winced slightly and hoped he would not take affront. But fortunately his spirits seemed too high to be bothered, and he expanded on the same story 'the count' had told at dinner. She listened to the other ladies responses...

Dalandra's tack was to pretend she hadn't known about the dare - she seemed eager to halt the talking and urge her horse into a run. While Fialessa continued to suspiciously quiz the men's motives. Then Becca's controversial manner had her telling Balthy he was a showoff! But at least she revealed to him that they already knew of the dare.

"But are we really the retaliation?" she addressed Balthasar, then turning towards Becca she explained, "his apology is that we are but pawns in this game," then continuing with the conversation at large, "I do wonder though milord, if a better retaliation towards the count might involve a measure of conspiracy between us ladies and yourself?"

Seemingly unconsciously, Jolanda's fingers lingeringly adjusted the lace at her neckline. "One cannot choose one's relatives can they?" she commented, "though in the case of wives, wouldn't it be beneficial if you could influence his choice. Your cousins wife, shall become a relation too no?" she played along with the game, "Now tell me that hasn't occurred to you too."

At last she was recovering her mind, for she had been a little awestruck over the kings debonair presence, but it was coming to her now... how she might manipulate things into her favor.