Page 51 of Fae Tithe (The Cursed Courts #1)

E leanor relished the feel of the breeze blowing over her face as Goliath cantered down the main road that led them away from Solas.

The spring sun above was hot, and she felt the skin on her face begin to burn.

The Changeling did not relish the thought of sunburn.

Eleanor did like the idea of getting her freckles and light tan back.

She had both before the weeks inside Tithe Manor and her change.

She desperately wanted to feel like herself again.

Her captivity under the Fae had not suited her.

She was overjoyed at the feeling of freedom as she drove the Seelie Stallion down the road.

In truth, she did not have to do much driving.

It was clear Goliath was well-trained and easily avoided other travellers as he cantered past them.

He did not waver in his pace and continued despite the lateness of the morning.

Eleanor let the wind tangle her hair as the cart rumbled along the road.

Fields stretched wide around her, dappled with wildflowers in every hue.

Scarlet poppies, yellow daisies, and tiny bluebells accented the emerald grass.

Spring had swept over Seelieland like an artist’s brush, leaving no patch untouched.

Along the swollen banks of Sol River, golden reeds swayed and shivered.

Warblers darted between them, trilling and fussing over their nests.

The trees lining the road wore their blossoms like lanterns, in bright oranges and soft lilacs.

Their fragrance drifted on the air, light and clean.

Eleanor drew in a breath, nostrils flaring.

She let out a contented sigh. Better this than that Faedamn reek of roses.

The steady churn of barge paddles splashed, catching her attention.

She managed a quick study of one before hurtling past. It was heading upriver, bound for the capital, weighed down by heavy crates.

Further out, small sailboats glided towards the coast, catching the gusts of wind in their canvas sails.

Eleanor’s lips curled into a small smile. The King was dead. She was free. Yet, trade still moved, rivers still ran. Seelieland, it seemed, had no intention of stopping.

“How do you know him?” Lance called out over the rattling of the cart.

Eleanor snapped herself from her observations of the landscape.

“Huh? Who?” she asked over her shoulder.

The Merman chuckled. “Goliath. I heard you say, outside of the manor, ‘I know you.’”

“Oh! He, um, he was pulling the carriage that brought me to Solas,” she explained, a prickle of tears threatening to fall at the memory.

Lance’s eyes widened. “El, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“No, it’s okay.” She set her eyes forward onto the hard-working stallion. “The only other good thing that came out of all of this?” She smiled to herself, a small bubble of joy in her chest. “He’s free of them, too.”

Eleanor continued driving Goliath, sporadically glancing over her shoulder at the sleeping Helena.

Her mother was tucked into Lance’s side, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders, her temple pressed to the Merman’s chest. Eleanor watched long enough for her chest to rise and fall.

After seeing Helena take a breath, she let out her own long sigh in relief, a small smile tugging her lips upwards.

“Would you like to swap?” Lance asked the third time she checked over her shoulder.

“No, no, it’s alright. I got this, Dad,” Eleanor called over her shoulder, the corner of her eye watching as his face split into a pointy-toothed grin.

“I can’t tell you what it means to hear you say that,” he said, the lines at the corners of his eyes becoming more prominent as his grin broadened.

“I can’t tell you what it means that I can say that,” she agreed, with a wide smile of her own.

Eleanor continued guiding Goliath until the afternoon bled into the early evening. The sun began to set, turning the sky pink. She heard Lance rustle behind her, and he reached out to tap the her on the shoulder. Eleanor glanced behind her.

“Let’s stop here for the night,” he said, before looking down at Helena and brushing some crusted strands of hair from her forehead.

“Got it.” Eleanor nodded.

She faced forward again and gave a gentle tug on the reins. Within a few of his long strides Goliath, slowed to a walk and eventually stopped.

Eleanor glanced down to the river. It would be nice to be by it , she decided.

She stood down from the driver’s bench, an ache in her rear and legs stiff from sitting for so long.

Eleanor rolled her shoulders and twisted her torso left and right.

She stretched her arms all the way up, ridding herself of all her pins and needles.

Finally, she leapt down from the driver’s seat, shoes hitting the road.

Eleanor watched as the cart bobbed and shifted beneath Lance’s movements. He had unwound his arm from Helena and left her head resting against his folded-up cloak as he stepped down from the cart.

“Since he listens so well to you, El. Let’s see if he will let you lead him down into the soft grass, just before the reeds.” Lance smiled, giving her an encouraging nod.

Eleanor bobbed her head in return and reached her left hand to the bridle.

She hooked her fingers under the side of the noseband and gently led Goliath into the soft spring grass.

She narrowed her eyebrows at the presence of a bit.

Her mother did not use them on the ponies back home, so Eleanor decided that her gentle stallion did not need one either.

She would work at removing it from the bridle once they had settled in for the evening.

The cart bumped its way over the grass. It stopped under the shelter of the yellow blossoming trees that buzzed with the enthusiasm of hard-working bees in the dimming light, frantically gathering nectar and pollen before they turned into their hives for the evening.

“An expert, I see.” Lance grinned. “I’ll unpack the cart and get your mother comfortable while you take care of your horse?”

Eleanor nodded enthusiastically. My horse. It was nice to be excited about something. “Sure!”

As the Merman set to his tasks, so did Eleanor.

She examined the harness that hitched the stallion to the cart.

It had taken both herself and Beth to attach Goliath to it back in Solas.

The Changeling only knew how to drive the horse, from her practice with the ponies and cart back home, but she was not sure how to unhitch him.

Eleanor closed her eyes. She recalled how Beth had harnessed the Seelie Stallion. Now do that, but backwards. Start with the traces.

Opening her eyes again, she was met with the view of Goliath’s velvet muzzle.

He had lowered and turned his head. The stallion was snuffing at the sweat on her skin.

His deep puffs blew the loose strands of hair around her forehead.

The horse then stuck out his large, pink tongue, stark against his black fur, and ran it along Eleanor’s face from chin to temple.

“Yuck!” she squealed, wiping the saliva off with the back of her hand and whipping it away with a flick of her wrist into the grass.

“You okay there?” Lance called out from behind her with a ring of alarm in his voice.

Eleanor looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened in surprise.

The Merman had not wasted any time. A comforting campfire was already taking onto the kindling he had gathered.

The bags had been removed from the floor of the cart.

He had even settled Helena into a makeshift bed of cloaks and a folded-up cotton bag for a pillow.

“Yes! All okay,” she replied, before turning back to Goliath. Get on with it, Eleanor.

The Changeling set about her task. She stepped the length of his body and stood by the horse’s rump.

She began by unbuckling the traces that attached to the central tree at the cart’s front.

Eleanor then moved on to unhooking breech straps from the stallion’s hindquarters.

Finally, straining, she lifted up a shaft on one side.

It was heavy, and part of her considered asking Lance for help.

No, I can do this. She stuck out her chin. “Now, be a good boy for me, Goliath. Step forward and pull out of the tugs,” Eleanor encouraged.

The Seelie Stallion gave a snort through his nostrils and took a strong step forward.

He yanked himself free. His huge hooves squashed the emerald grass beneath them as he plodded forward a few more steps.

Eleanor lowered the shafts to the ground.

She followed after Goliath. The Changeling fiddled with the buckles of the leather harness around his hindquarters and belly, letting them drop.

“Good job!” she praised.

The Changeling hooked the long driving reins that trailed along his back with her fingers. She pulled it forwards with her and she walked the length of his body to his head. Goliath shook his head and snorted. Eleanor wondered if he was excited at the prospect of having the bridle off.

“Can you lower your head?” she asked.

Even with her new height and longer limbs, the stallion was tall compared to the Changeling.

The horse curved his neck and lowered his head.

Eleanor no longer had to stand on her toes to reach.

She gathered the driving reins behind his fluffy ears and bundled it with the head band.

The Changeling then lifted it all over his ears and pulled it the rest of the way down Goliath’s face.

The horse chewed his jaw several times once the bit had been removed.

He pressed his nose to Eleanor’s face and gave her a grateful snort before turning towards the river.

The stallion blundered playfully into the reeds. The teenager giggled as her horse splashed into Sol River until he was knee-deep. Goliath gave a joyful nicker as he pawed at the water with a front hoof, before finally lowering his muzzle to the water to drink.

After Goliath had sated his thirst, he clambered his way back up the riverbank.

Eleanor watched as he wandered over and playfully butted his wet muzzle into her chest, leaving a damp stain on her shirt.

After receiving several scratches on the soft spot between his nostrils, he lowered his head to the tender spring grass and began to crop at it enthusiastically.

Eleanor eventually wandered over to Lance. “What are you doing?” she asked, watching him unpack and run his gaze over their remaining belongings.

“I am figuring out what we do and don’t have,” he said, sitting cross-legged on the grass next to where Helena slept. “It’s great you got more rations and water bags from Beth. It will be a big help. Your mother and I had water and food ready to go, but it’s wise to have extra.”

“She said that it was the least she could do, with how much I paid her.” Eleanor smiled down at him.

“We probably don’t have enough,” Lance admitted.

“The journey home will be a bit slower with your mother’s injuries.

We won’t be able to travel as far in one day as we would if she was well.

If she was well, it would be us begging to stop for the evening.

” He looked up and gave the teenager a conspiratorial wink.

“I brought our clothes and the bundle I got back at Bright Sun Inn, so that should be alright.”

Eleanor watched as he gathered the wrapped cheese, flat bread, and dried fruit, and repacked them into the rations bag. Lance picked up the cheese knife and eyed it. He rifled through the bags and found a second one.

Lance pinched the bridge of his nose. Eleanor stifled a giggle.

She had seen her mother do that gesture often.

She wondered who had picked up the habit from whom.

He gathered the knives in one hand and stood.

The Merman stooped down again to brush his fingertips over Helena’s cheek.

He tucked some escaping strands of hair back behind her ear.

“Is she okay?” Eleanor asked, her eyes dropping to her mother’s sleeping form.

“Her heart and breathing are fine. She’s just exhausted,” Lance responded, straightening up. “I… I think she went through a lot, El. I know you have too. Please, if you need to talk about anything that happened, know that I’m here for you.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Eleanor grinned.

Lance quirked his lips up in response. He gestured around his daughter. “Don’t you need to tie him up?” he asked.

The Changeling looked over her shoulder. The Seelie Stallion had wandered a short distance away from them, eagerly grazing on the tender grass. “No, he’s been tied up enough in his life. Goliath won’t be going anywhere. He really likes being with us.”