The Duke's Bed Warmer-Chapter 17: Ride With The Duke

Austin stood at the stable entrance, his gaze fixed on the stablemaster, and his expression unreadable. He was dressed for riding himself.

The stablemaster turned pale.

"Your Grace. I didn’t...I wasn’t..."

Austin stepped inside and the man flinched with each step he took. The horses went still and suddenly the air felt tense.

"Aplogize to Miss Ashworth," Austin said. "Now."

"Your Grace, I didn’t mean..."

"Apologize," Austin repeated, "or I’ll make sure you leave Ravenmoor and never return. The choice is yours."

The man swallowed.

"I apologize, miss," He muttered. "I was wrong. Please forgive me."

Instead of saying something to return the humiliation, to make him feel small as he had made her feel, she just nodded.

Austin turned to the stalls.

"Sapphire," he said. "Saddle her for Miss Ashworth."

The stablemaster hesitated.

"Your Grace, Sapphire is..."

"I know what Sapphire is." Austin cut him off. "Saddle her."

Alina watched the stablemaster go to a stall at the far end of the stable and saw him bringing out a horse so beautiful that it stole her breath.

She was white and very beautiful.

Austin handed her the reins. His fingers brushed against hers, briefly and unintentionally.

"Thank you," she said.

He didn’t respond. He was already mounting his own horse, a black stallion. He rode out of the stable without looking back.

And Alina followed. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

They rode east, away from the castle, into the hills behind Ravenmoor.

Sapphire was fast, and responsive. Alina felt like she was flying. Austin rode beside her.

After riding for half an hour in silence, he finally spoke.

"You ride well for someone who hasn’t ridden in years."

She glanced at him.

"My caretaker believed a lady should ride as well as she dances. She hired a tutor for me when I was ten."

"Your tutor must have been good."

"He was," she said. "He was a retired cavalryman who believed a horse should be treated with respect, and discipline, and that if you fell, you had to get back on before the horse forgot you."

"Strict.."

"But it was effective." She guided Sapphire around a fallen branch. "I fell off twice. The first time, I cried. He made me get back on while I was still crying. The second time, I was too angry to cry."

He nodded slightly.

They rode a little further, when Alina broke the silence.

"He also taught me there are three things you never trust: a calm sea, a smiling priest, and a horse that won’t meet your eyes."

"That’s good advice."

"I think it applies to dukes as well."

He turned to look at her.

"Dukes?"

She kept her eyes on the path ahead.

"Dukes who won’t meet your eyes are particularly dangerous. You never know what they’re planning...usually something that involves grain tariffs or military campaigns or..." She glanced at him. "Chess games they play three at a time."

For a moment, there was silence. Then he made a small sound. It took her a second to realize it was laughter.

He was genuinely laughing. She stared at him in surprise. He caught her staring and stopped laughing.

She smiled and looked ahead, without saying anything.

They rode for another mile before she spoke again.

"Will you marry me off?" She asked.

His hands tightened on the reins.

"What?"

"After you marry Audrey." She kept looking ahead. "Will you find me some minor lord in the north who needs a wife? Will you marry me off like you married Rosilyn?"

The silence that followed was sharp. He didn’t answer but she continued.

"I don’t want to be married off to some stranger who will own me the way you own me now." She said. "If you’re going to discard me when you marry, I’d rather you just let me go."

"Let you go?"

"Yes. Let me leave. I’m tired of being property. I’d rather be nothing than be owned."

His jaw tightened.

"It’s my decision what I will do with you," he said. "So keep your suggestions to yourself."

The words landed like ice. Whatever had softened between them moments ago disappeared, replaced by something colder.

They rode the rest of the path in silence.

When they returned to the stable, Alina dismounted before he could offer help. She swung her leg over Sapphire’s back and landed on her own feet.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a slight embarrassment on his face. He had been about to offer his hand, to help her down, and she had shown she didn’t need him.

"Thank you for the horse," she said, taking Sapphire towards her stall. "You gave me a fast horse."

"You knew?" He asked, surprised.

"I know a racehorse when I ride one."

She didn’t want his reply. Instead, kept moving with Sapphire towards her stall, leaving him standing in the yard.

They walked back to the castle together in silence. The corridors were filled with servants, and as they passed, the whispers began. Maids stopped working and servants exchanged glances.

Alina heard them as she walked towards her room after Austin left in another direction.

"Did you see them? Riding together?"

"Riding together, alone, for hours."

"She’s different."

"He has never been alone with any of his previous bed warmers in public but with her..."

Alina didn’t react. She kept walking, her chin up, and her back straight.

Let them whisper.

Elsewhere, in her chambers, Audrey sat by the window, a book open in her lap, and her tea growing cold beside her. She had heard the whispers too. The maids had been talking all morning.

Her maid appeared at the doorway.

"Your Highness, I heard..."

"It doesn’t matter to me." Audrey picked up her tea, took a sip, and set it down.

The maid hesitated.

"But Your Highness..."

"I’m going to be his wife." She said as she looked out the window. "He can ride with anyone he wants and can do anything he wishes." She smiled.

"At the end of the day, I’m the one he comes home to." She smiled. "I’m the one he is going to marry."