Chess stared at the horse with apprehension, it shook its head with a whinny, and she took a careful step back. The horse was a pretty thing, with a dark brown coat with a flower petal-shaped splash of white on its forehead.
This is a problem, she thought, forcing herself to take a step forward and place a hesitant hand on the horse's flank. It turned its head to study her, eyes curious, before snorting in her face, and blowing her hair back.
“Petal is a good girl, you don’t have to worry none, milady,” the soldier assured her, holding the mare's bridle along with his own.
“It’s not her temperament I’m worried about, Steven, it’s just... I’ve always passed up the opportunity to ride before and have no clue how to go about getting on one, let alone ride it. Back home dad always insisted we ride in a carriage as befitting our station,” Chess said thinking fast. Car is short for carriage, right? she thought, shooting a fruitive look at her new minder.
Lynn sat perched on her horse waiting patiently for Chess to mount so they could leave. Her big tail was covering the entirety of the horse's rump and her eyes were bright with mirth. The rest of the troop waited packed and ready. The wounded and Sholer had left hours earlier with the wagon and the extra horses without much preamble. Chess was happy to see her go, despite her new minder, breathing easier when she'd been finally out of sight.
The rain had stopped and streams of bright sunlight did their best to penetrate the thick canopy overhead. The trees still let the odd large droplet fall from their leaves to soak into the people below. One such drop hit Chess in the back of the neck and ran down her back making her shiver.
Ashley rolled her eyes, and came alongside on the gelding Serus had loaned her. Its owner had died and lay stored in Sholer's inventory like the former owner of Petal.
Count Caldur had gifted Petal to her for her help on top of the Pyth she’d already received and because it wasn't right a Lady didn't have a proper mount. The man she’d belonged to hadn’t had any family and Caldur felt he’d be happy she went to the one that saved his brothers in arms.
Her gift was turning out to be mighty embarrassing for her at that moment.
“Hand her up Steve and I'll handle instructing my mistress,” Ashley offered, playing her new perceived role like she was born to it.
Steven looked uneasy for a moment but he laced his fingers together to create a stirrup and Chess gamely put one foot in and used his boost to throw a leg over the horse. Her dress promptly rode up her legs to bunch at her waist, showing everyone her sleek and strong legs. She groaned in annoyance when the men promptly turned away to give her privacy.
Lynn sniggered and Ashley fought laughter.
Chess scowled at both girls and promptly sild from the horse; landing awkwardly on her heels and falling onto her rump with a splash.
The move had Lynn devolving into loud barking laughs. A few of the men took to coughing or chuckling softly. Even Ashley struggled visibly to hold it in before losing the battle.
“Great, laugh it up. When you’re done, you can help me find a pair of pants or a divided dress. Aren’t you two supposed to help me avoid such mishaps?” Chess pouted at the laughing girls.
They looked at her mud-coated backside when she’d climbed to her feet and laughed harder. Kids! She thought but it wasn’t long before Chess joined them in the laughter. She found it impossible to keep her angry mien, as she wrung out her mud-soaked dress.
When the mirth had passed, Lynn produced a pair of divided skirts and after a quick duck behind a tree, Chess found herself once more hefted into the saddle. This time without the uncomfortable bunched cloth.
Holding the reins in her hands uncertain of what to do next and fearful of inadvertently giving the horse directions, she stared at Ashley for help.
“I can’t believe you’ve never ridden a horse before,” Ashley said, traces of mirth still in her voice. “Not being able to drive a team made sense but you’re the first lady I’ve heard of that can’t ride.”
“Different cultures,” Chess shrugged.
“Straighten your back. No...shoulders back a bit more. Now, loosen your knees. She won’t like you if you continue to slouch like that and you’ll be even sorer if you keep your legs tight,” Ashley instructed her.
“Pretend you’re at a formal dinner, proper posture, arms lose but stable,” Lynn added.
Chess followed their advice, tightening her back and loosening her knees so they could absorb the shock better. The horse whooshed out a deep breath relieved at the change in Chess’ seat.
Ashley led her around the clearing, weaving around the large fallen trunk a few times, until Chess was more comfortable with the horse and with riding before Caldur interrupted them.
“Alright, let's move out, she’s got the basics and we will start at a walk to let the horses warm-up,” he said.
The next few hours fell into the same vein. With Ashley, Lynn, and sometimes one of the men correcting her technique and offering advice as they made their way.
Caldur and Serus stayed at the front of the small group with Kan adding to her instruction on occasion. Her natural dexterity and agility let her pick the movement up quite quickly but using new muscles was hard and her legs and back quickly started aching.
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Chess felt morose about retracing her steps of not a few days before. The only consolation was she now did it with more people and with a clear goal in mind; albeit with people she’d yet to trust.
Although she had little concentration to spare for the people around her, she'd noticed Caldur had sent men ahead and a few were riding through the trees flanking the road.
Caldur passed word back to pick up the pace and Chess was subjected to a crash course in cantering. Her body didn’t thank her and she spent an hour doing everything she could to not think about the pounding she was taking; before they once more slowed to a walk.
Walking the horse after the canter turned out to be easier now and Chess settled into the ride, watching the large trees creep by.
“What’s that, Ashley?” Lynn asked from where she rode a few paces behind them.
Chess looked over and saw Ashley rolling the core she’d gotten from the Dryad from hand to hand and her heart lurched in her chest. Ashley guided her horse skillfully with her knees; the reins lose on the saddlebow.
“Hmm?” Ashley asked, when she discovered everyone staring at her.
“I asked what you were playing with,” Lynn clarified.
“Oh,” Ashley frowned down at her plaything, “this is the core Yhyslimron gave me for my parents' bodies. She promised to make sure their rest was peaceful and wanted to give me a funeral gift,” Ashley explained, holding it up for Lynn to inspect.
Chess inspected it too, to refresh her memory.
Name: Core
Type: Amber
Rank: 3
Rarity: Rare
Properties: A complete and concentrated Amber Core
“It’s beautiful,” Lynn said in admiration.
Ashley smiled faintly.
“You’re what 11?” Lynn asked thoughtfully.
“Almost 12,” Ashley corrected.
Where is this going, Chess thought, it can’t be good. She was doing her best to follow Ashley’s instructions but her groin and thighs felt bruised from the canter and it was taking more focus than she wanted.
New skill learned Ride: Horses +1
A smile split her face, she’d gotten her first skill point in riding, confirming the instructions were paying off and she was doing something right. It boosted her mood somewhat, encouraging her to continue her efforts.
“So, you could awaken at any time,” Lynn said, clearly excited a moment later. “Could I interest you in hearing a proposal?”
“Sure?” Ashley asked warily.
“Let me ask you a question first. Do you know how magical adoption works?” The teen asked with a smile.
“I think so. If someone's parent's body couldn’t be returned for them to get an inheritance from, sometimes a relative adopts them so they can give them an inheritance still. Happened to a boy I knew; his great aunt took him in and left him a Deep-Fishing Pyth,” Ashley said.
“Exactly, but it doesn’t only work for distant relatives. Anyone who has a vested interest in a kid's future can perform the rite,” Lynn explained, edging her horse closer to Ashley and Chess.
“Where are you going with this?” Chess chimed in.
Lynn shrugged at her. “I just want to propose an idea,” she said, turning back to Ashley.
“I could adopt you and you give me that core to take and I’ll leave it to you as an inheritance. That way it will take an inheritance slot and not one of your free slots. It would also improve your first level ability options instead of waiting until level 5 to have an effect. That is if you have a free inheritance slot,” she explained, shifting in her saddle. "Or you could have someone else do it," she added quickly.
“Aren’t you a little young to adopt anyone? Besides, how does she know you won't renege on the deal?” Chess asked suspiciously.
“What’s in it for you?” Ashley asked.
“The Core is rank three. When a living relative, adopted or natural, leaves an inheritance to a child they can only reduce their held Pyth, Core, or Gem to rank 1. So, I would get to keep it at rank 1 and you'd get it at 2. But you get the benefits of the extra open slot and the better first level abilities would more than make up for it. It's rare to see an actual physical core like that, they are usually buried deep in a family line,” she explained to Ashley; ignoring Chess' outburst.
“Oh, I can see how that would be good,” Ashley concluded. “How do I even rank up a core? I never thought I’d get more than the pyth my parents left me, so I never thought to ask. Pyth are easy. You just get more of the same pyth but I've heard all kinds of rumors about cores,” she asked.
“It’s similar, but there are more ways to go about it. First, and the most obvious, is by getting more of the same cores. The amounts and increases often depend on the rank of the new core. For instance, if you had it at rank 2 and got a rank 1 it wouldn’t be enough to raise it alone but if you got a rank 3 it might get you to 4 especially if you work on the other methods. The second way is to get Pyth that fall under the larger umbrella of your core. Take Abbess Sholer, she is always asking dealers and the harvest clerks for iron, steel, heat, and coal Pyth. All Pyth that are the same as the core, or used to create the material of a core. This is a much slower method however, as first, you have to determine the associated Pyth for your core, then you need an amount for each equal to what it would take to increase a Pyth of the same rank. For instance, for Sholer to go from rank one to two with her steel core, she would have needed two full measures of iron, steel, heat, and coal," Lynn said in a lecturer's voice.
“So, why bother? It seems to me that Pyth still give powerful abilities and level faster,” Chess asked regretting the words as they left her mouth.
She shifted in her seat to combat the pounding impacts from the horse.
Lynn stared at her for a moment, lost for words.
Should have kept my mouth shut, stupid leading questions. Chess thought.
“Because when cores are inherited from a dead relative, they are received at one rank below the dead relative’s rank. And if the child was given it at their awakening and got a few ranks themselves, they are often raised to the same level as the parent. The only thing better are gems which don’t lose anything. But no one outside of Kings, Queens, and some powerful clergy have those. Well, there are rumors about a few delvers too,” Lynn said, continuing in her teacher mode.
“So, she’d pay four of each necessary Pyth for this deal and you don’t know how many Pyth make up the core nor how rare they are,” Chess clarified.
“Well, the list could be in the church library; I could add looking up the requirements to the deal. But I can guess at a few of them already: Sap for one, everyone knows sap is part of making amber,” Lynn said.
“Time is needed for amber to form, is that a Pyth?” Chess asked.
Lynn shook her head, “not that I know of.”
“Pressure, heat, and resin?” One of the nearby men said. The three girls looked at him, he shrugged. “Heard once that some of the Gemstone cores need pressure and heat Pyth. Resin just makes sense to me,” he said unapologetically.
“I’ll think about it,” Ashley assured Lynn, cutting the conversation off before hiding the core in the folds of her clothes.
“It’s a good offer, I understand if you're hesitant and need to think about it," Lynn said, as she let her horse fall back.
Later, once the tedium of the trip started to settle in and Chess needed a distraction from her pains, she directed her horse closer to Ashley’s.
“I’d also be willing to adopt you, if you want to avoid getting involved with the church or Lynn,” Chess offered quietly, and left it at that, letting her horse resume its place in the column.
Ashley didn’t respond, continuing to study the trees and road ahead.