One Day More - a Sartorias-deles fanfic

Chapter 12

"Your arms look like noodles, Iris.  Hold them steady but keep your arms loose and relaxed."

"How am I supposed to be 'loose' and 'steady' at the same time?  Isn't that mutually exclusive?" Iris's words came out in ragged rasps as she cantered Twilight around the small round pen.  This was her fourth lesson with Alaraec, and she had improved each time—enough so that he thought she was ready for a faster speed.  She liked the canter far more than the trot.  Twilight's canter was smooth and rhythmic, and Iris felt her hips moving with the animal as she sat into the saddle.  Trotting, however, was jarring.  Alaraec tried to talk her through an action he called "posting," where he lifted his body from the saddle using his knees and thigh muscles so his seat would rise from the leather.

He demonstrated once, not even bothering to put his feet in her stirrups to do so.  Iris could barely manage with her feet in the stirrups, but then again, Alaraec was far more muscular than she was.  He rode as if he were born in the saddle; it was more appealing—and attractive—to Iris than she expected.  He rode with grace and athleticism.  She, on the other hand, resembled a full potato sack jumbling on Twilight's back. Or would a half-filled one jostle more? She was probably overthinking the analogy.

Although she would never tell Alaraec, she had practiced her posting at home—before going to bed, as she brushed her hair, sometimes even as she ate.  It made her sore, but it was a welcome soreness.  It meant she was strengthening and becoming more flexible.  And Iris liked riding, almost as much as she liked reading.  Twilight was a very good teacher.

"You don't need to sit up so straight.  Let your body move with her, not against her," Alaraec instructed. "Do you want a hint that helped me?"

"I am certainly open to one."  She leaned back and tugged lightly on Twilight's reins, bringing the mare first to a trot then down to a complete stop.

"Play an instrument with your toes."

Iris blinked. "Pardon?"

"Wiggle your toes in your boots; it will help you to loosen up your muscles."

"That is the most outlandish thing I think I have ever heard."

Alaraec grinned. "Don't dismiss it till you try it.  Go ahead."

She glared at Alaraec for a moment before rocking in the saddle to adjust her weight.  Sighing, Iris straightened her back and squeezed Twilight forward.  The mare moved smoothly into faster gaits—a trot, then a canter—and Iris allowed her shoulders to rise as she pulled in a breath.  Raec wanted her to wiggle her toes?  She would wiggle her toes.  As she focused on that, her body relaxed, and somehow, her movement in the saddle was...easier.  More fluid.  Twilight no longer felt like an extra body beneath her but an extension of herself.  She half-expected the mare to respond to her mere thoughts, so connected Iris felt to the animal.  A smile came unbidden to her lips, and Iris did not restrain it.

"There you go!" Alaraec praised. Iris turned her head to look at him, her heart skipping at the joy and pride in his eyes. "You're a natural."

Iris slowed the horse to a halt. "Don't flatter me. I highly doubt that's the case."

He put his hand on Twilight's neck, her muscles rippling to dislodge a fly that had landed on her skin.  Raec's fingertips were so close to Iris's, she could touch them by only twitching her pinky on the reins.  Instead, she held the leather reins tighter and refused to succumb to the temptation.  She did not want to like him, but it was impossible not to.  Raec was too goodhearted.  And, in a way, she found him too trusting.  Too naïve.  He did not doubt her sincerity; he never questioned her.  He accepted her in a way she had never encountered.  Raec made her feel important. With him, she was an individual rather than a tool.