The Dragon didn’t slow, not even a little bit as my father called and people stopped cheering and clapping and started buzzing with surprise but I had to keep up with him or he’d be dragging my prone body behind him rather than my sprinting one.
We made it to the vestibule and he yanked my cloak out of a waiting girl’s hands, another one rushed to me, shoving my gloves at me. I took them reflexively and we were out in the cold.
Then I was up, thrown bodily, yes bodily, into the back of a sleigh. My cloak was tossed at me, landing against my chest and lap.
I blinked at my new husband in shock, my heart hammering, he gathered a bunch of leather straps, thrust them in my hands and I automatically gripped them. Then, as people poured out of the church, he wasted not a second mounting a glossy, huge steed, twirling it around then he leaned to the side, slapping the rump of one of the four horses fixed to my sleigh and shouting, “Yah!”
All four horses burst forward and the straps in my hands started slipping so I gripped them tight and with my new husband at my side, me in a sleigh, we rushed through the snow of the town or city type place and right the f**k out of it and into a forest.
Oh.
Shit.
Chapter Four
Home Sweet Home
Needless to say, since I’d never driven one, I didn’t know how to steer a sleigh.
And also needless to say, my new husband frowned on this.
So after we cleared town on a fast gallop and kept on going like the devil himself was at our heels and my sleigh kinda went awry a couple of times, necessitating my new husband on his mighty beast circling it closely to right its course, after which, each time, he aimed a ferocious scowl at me that made my heart skip and not in a good way, I learned quick.
Eventually, we slowed to a fast trot and as I got the hang of things, I had a look around the sleigh. First, there were some hooks in the panel in front of me so I secured the reins to them and quickly donned my cloak and pulled on my gloves mostly because it was bitter cold and I was freezing my ass off. My dress was awesome and it was velvet but I’d never experienced a cold that cold and I never thought I’d say it or even think it but I needed fur.
I sat down and saw a big fur blanket on the floor of the sleigh in front of me and also a furry, white hat had fallen there. I exchanged the crown for the hat and pulled the blanket on top of me, shoving it under my ass to tuck it secure as high as I could get it around my body. Then I secured the crown as best I could in the open sleigh.
Better.
Then I grabbed the reins again and took stock.
I had four, beautiful dapple gray horses pulling me and behind me in the sleigh there was a shiny, black piece of fabric with what appeared in the forest-muted moonlight a gold and red crest stitched into it stretched over a bunch of bulky stuff and held down with gleaming, gold, what looked like silk ropes.
My luggage, apparently.
Okay. Well, there you go.
Off I was on my honeymoon.
Ho boy.
It was at this point when I thought I really, really should have listened to Claudia.
We kept riding, and, well, sleighing through the snow and The Dragon didn’t engage me in conversation as we did. I didn’t try either. I concentrated on not steering my horses into any trees. Then I concentrated on my cheeks not freezing off.
We trotted ever onward in newlywed silence that was more than a little disconcerting but I hung with it not sure I wanted the alternative. Early experience indicated my husband wasn’t a skilled conversationalist and considering he gave the impression he didn’t like me much, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what he might have to say.
After some time, we cleared the forest and moved into a vast, snow covered plain that was absolutely gorgeous considering the snow sparkled and the entire vista was blanketed by the twinkling moonlit sky that was filled with what seemed like three times as many stars as any night sky I ever beheld. Then, after some time, we went through a small village that I wished we’d slowed even a little bit as we went through so I could take in more because it seemed mega cool, but we didn’t.
Not even a little bit.
The Dragon led us ever onward through more plain then forest then I started to get concerned about the state of my horses, and his, but he drove us on.
And on.
We went through another town, this one larger, but still no slowing.
That was when I realized I was getting hungry and my hands hurt from holding onto the reins. My body was ensconced in fur so I was actually toasty warm, it was just my cheeks that were cold. So cold, they hurt.