The Un-Rescued Princess; Chapter 16

by Maryam in A Land Of Desert And Sun

One thing Jolinda found out from that night is that a horse's gait is rythmic only for the time it takes for you to get used to it, to nod off sleepily. Then, it starts up, jerking you awake, blushing and wondering how you came to rest on the person in front of you's back.
Sigh.
Oh, bother, she thought to herself, scowling, when she finally reconciled herself to the fact that she could not fall asleep on the horse, no matter how she tried, and braced herself to a long, thoughtful night.

'Right.'
Adair's voice was harsh and raspy from ill-use when he spoke several hours later, and he cleared his throat before speaking again, wheeling the horse around and stopping it, sighing in exhaustion.
'Here.'
Jolinda looked around at where they were. The sun was just rising, beautifully, coming through the trees on their left. She wrenched her gaze away from the sight when Adair dismounted, walked a few paces, and slumped down to the ground. Jolinda let him sit there for a few seconds, then cleared her throat timidly.
'Er.. Adair, could you possibly' -'Yeah, hold on. Sorry,' he waved an arm tiredly over his shoulder, then shook his head and came over, back to the side of the horse, kneeled, and laced his fingers together. Jolinda looked at him quizzlically. 'Er.. Adair?' she asked. He looked up.
'Oh, you don't know how..?' he asked, not being able to resist smiling. 'Here. You put your foot right here, then you swing your leg over and.... Heaven, I need to teach you how to ride sometime,' he finished up.
Jolinda huffed indignantly, dusting herself off, feet firmly planted on the ground. 'Thanks for the compliment,' she said dryly. Looking around, she saw the sun was now higher than when she'd first seen.
Glancing over at him, she saw his hands were firmly stuffed into his pockets, head down. 'It is rather chilly,' she commented, then walked over to a comfortable-looking flat rock covered with moss. Sitting, she patted next to her, and, not looking at her, he sat down.
A few minutes of silence, then Jolinda cleared her throat reluctantly.
'I'm sorry about Jeffery,' she said, tone low. Adair nodded, still not meeting her gaze.
'What do you think we need to do?' 'Oh, I don't know,' he said bitterly, 'Any ideas?'
Glancing over at her, 'Sorry,' he muttered. 'It's just..' 'No, it's okay.'
A few more minutes of silence, though this time it was more companionable than anything. Finally, Adair stood up.
'Well, if we don't have any ideas, we're just going to have to plan, don't we?'