Chapter 37 Towards The Capital

Overall, the journey into the capital was rather boring.

Kari was disappointed that he was relegated to travelling in the carriage with Nevis and the other household servants while Ryedir and the guards all got to ride on horses. The only consolation was that once Ryedir had seen that Kari did actually know his way around a horse, he agreed to let him ride one of them one afternoon when they were in between villages. He had even had suitable clothing made for the omega for riding just in case.

Unfortunately, it had been days on the road and it had been village after village. Sure, the scenery was nice but sitting still in the carriage all day had Kari ready to tear his hair out in frustration.

Ryedir had, of course, seen fit to wear him out in the evenings by continuing their hand to hand training then using those very same hands to wring multiple orgasms from his body under the guise of ‘scent marking’ him. Which Ryedir needed to do considering they were travelling to a strange place, and the omega was unbonded. But the alpha was a little too enthusiastic about it.

Kari had to admit that he appreciated the fact that the man didn’t try to push him any further yet, as he was beginning to think if he did, he might just give in. The thought left him with mixed feelings.

He needed to find his own strength first before agreeing to tie himself to another forever. He wasn’t some weak little omega that needed to rely on an alpha for protection. No, he would be an equal partner or nothing at all.

The carriage slowed to a stop and the grumbling of the omega’s stomach indicated that it was time for lunch. The other two servant girls in the carriage giggled at him and Nevis laughed outright. Embarrassed, Kari fled from the vehicle first to find everyone pulling off the road into a small grassy field to break for lunch. It would be a fairly short affair most likely, no more than an hour before they continued on their way. Still, he wasn’t about to complain at the chance to stretch his legs and attempt to burn off a little energy before the monotonous ride continued.

Carefully picking his way over the soft grass, Kari went to help Ryedir with his horse- a giant black war stallion by the name of Addis that was surprisingly mild mannered. Or at least, he was with Kari. One guard nearly had his hand bitten when he approached him the other day but the horse had taken quite the shine to the little omega and would allow him to lead him around without fuss.

He exhibited a great deal of patience with Kari but in return got fed sugar cubes, received extra brushing down, and a great deal of extra attention, so perhaps it all worked out. Every time he saw all the horses, he was reminded painfully of his mild mannered little mare Aster who died because of him but it soothed something inside of him to look after these horses now in her stead.

Kari reached Addis as Ryedir swung out of the saddle and the large horse nuzzled into the omega’s shoulder as he gently patted the horse’s face and neck.

“You really spoil him.”

“Mmm, he’s a good horse. Aren’t you, Addis?” He giggled at the horse’s small snort as he pushed more affectionately against his shoulder.

“While lunch is being prepared, you should go change into the riding clothing I brought for you. We are crossing over into the Ramstain Vesnice and there will not be any more villages today, so we will make camp on the road tonight. Which means you may ride for some of the afternoon. You will borrow Adira because she is Addis’s cousin and he's sweet on her so we shouldn’t have any trouble.”

The alpha nodded to a guard who rode a beautiful chestnut mare and Kari whooped in happiness, causing Addis to snort at him again, apparently displeased with his sudden lack of attention.

After giving a few last pats to the large black horse, Kari zipped back to the wagon carrying their luggage and rummaged around for his riding gear. He was so excited to finally get a chance to ride. If they were crossing over into the Ramstain Vesnice then that meant that they were just under halfway to the capital.

Nevis had given him a lecture about the four Niamrean provinces right at the beginning of their journey.

Mishal was the capital city of the Halshany Vesnice, which Ryedir governed and the second largest city in Niamrea. The capital city, called Disani, resided in the Ramstain Vesnice that was ruled over by Ryedir’s older brothers, one as the king and one as his steward. There were two other provinces that were also run by siblings of Ryedir, although Kari couldn’t remember the names of those.

The climate was also noticeably colder at night now and even the temperature during the day had decreased as they travelled further inland. While Kari didn’t actually feel the cold as such, temperature was still something he was aware of and it was a relief to not be in such blistering heat. He almost wished he hadn’t told Ryedir about his inability to feel the cold if just for an excuse to wear something a little thicker.

Nevis ambled over as he ducked back into the carriage to change and ended up helping him into the clothing.

The soft leather riding pants felt oddly constricting after two months of wearing nothing but knee-length trousers and he almost took the thick shirt off as soon as he put it on as that felt equally suffocating. It seemed as though he had gotten used to the snug outfit and their lightweight maneuverability. Kari wanted to change back right then but was too conflicted over the thought to actually do so. Plus, he wanted to ride today.

Lunch was a quiet affair of pre-prepared sandwiches and fruit. Kari caught himself unconsciously icing over the bottom of Ryedir’s water skin and put it down with an embarrassed flush. Thankfully, no one other than the alpha knew what he was doing, but that didn’t stop the smug smirk from appearing. It was nicer to drink cool water but he had done it before the thought even crossed his mind, much like the ice rose incident. Just because Jaid and Nevis knew about him, didn’t mean that the rest of Lezzker’s staff did.

Finally, lunch was cleared away and the guards were all shooting amused glances at Kari as he hovered around Ryedir, almost vibrating in excitement. Adira’s owner led her over to the omega and handed him the reins after making a quick introduction then walked over to the wagon to take a place beside the driver.

“Need a leg up?” Ryedir smirked at him and Kari was about to scoff at the man when he realized that Adira was taller than Aster had been and he struggled to mount her without a boost or something to stand on.

“Fine,” he huffed out and squeaked as Ryedir bodily picked him up and held him up to Adira’s saddle.

Stupid alpha and his stupid muscles. He swung his leg over and relished in the sense of freedom he got sitting atop a horse with the road in front of them. Ryedir swung himself up onto Addis and then they were ambling onto the road at a sedate pace to allow for the carriage and wagon that were part of their group. Kari slipped back into old habits quickly and was happy just feeling the sun on his face, the wind in his hair, and the gentle rocking of the horse’s gait.

It wasn’t long before he wanted something a little more exciting though. The mare danced underneath him, obviously sensing his change in mood.

“Sooo…” Kari gently guided Adira a little closer to Ryedir. “Can we go for a gallop or something?”

The alpha gave him an amused look that suggested he had been waiting for Kari to bring it up.

“Are you sure?”

The omega flashed him an affronted look and earned himself a loud laugh as the alpha threw his head back. It was the first time he had even seen the man laugh like that- loud and unrestrained. It made him appear at lot more human than his normal stoic mask let on. Mollified by the laugh, Kari let the comment slide and urged his horse forward to pull away from the group.

“Catch me if you can!” he called over his shoulder before pushing Adira into a trot.