‘It would be a help to know why he hates me,’ replied Gaise. ‘But we should not speak like this, Mulgrave. The Moidart is the law. Your words could see you hanged if reported to him.’
‘Aye, sir, that is true.’ He chuckled. ‘You are not the first to offer such a warning. The truth will be the death of me yet. Come, let us find the apothecary.’ Mulgrave gently heeled the chestnut forward.
Time to ride!’ shouted Gaise Macon. The palomino surged into a run, thundering along the shores of the lake. Mulgrave’s chestnut followed, and for the remainder of the short gallop the swordsman’s burdens fell away.
Gaise cut to the left, racing towards a fallen tree. Fear touched Mulgrave. It was not that the palomino couldn’t jump the obstacle, but that Gaise could not possibly know what lay beyond it. There could be jagged rocks, or rabbit holes, or twisted roots. The palomino could snap a leg. Mulgrave had seen riders crippled or , killed by such falls, their backs snapped, their limbs flopping. The palomino rose majestically. Mulgrave’s breath caught in his throat. It seemed as if the golden horse hung in the air for an eternity. Then it sailed over the fallen tree, landed smoothly and ran on. Mulgrave’s chestnut followed. As Mulgrave leaned into the jump he saw that the falling tree had broken several saplings, which now jutted from the earth like spears. The chestnut – as had the palomino – just missed them. Furious now, Mulgrave rode to where; Gaise waited. ‘Did you see the broken trees?’ he raged.
‘Yes,’ said Gaise.
‘That was monumentally stupid! You could have been killed.’
‘Aye, I could.’ The young man shrugged. ‘Did you not say that our lives were fleeting and of little account? So what would it have; mattered?’
‘Your life is of great account to me, sir. I do not like to see you. risk it for so small a matter as a moment of recklessness.’
Gaise shrugged. ‘It was not a small matter, Mulgrave,’ he said. ‘I needed that jump.’
‘Why?’
Gaise did not reply instantly. Instead he leaned forward and ran. his fingers through the palomino’s white mane. Mulgrave sensed the sadness in the young man. Gaise looked up. ‘Last night, as I returned to my bed, I could not sleep. I began to tremble. I felt feax~ as I have never felt it before. You complimented me for saving my father. Yes, I did that. I did it through instinct, not through any con — sidered courage. You understand? The fear came later, and with it a terrible doubt. I came close to death. If I was faced with the same situation again, would I react differently? Would the fear unmain. me? Would I run? Would I cower and cry like a babe?’ He fell silent.
‘So, with the tree, you were facing your fears?’ Mulgrave prompted.
‘Aye, even so.’ Gaise smiled. “He either fears his fate too much, or his desires are small, that dares not put it to the touch, to gain or lose it all.’
‘Fine words, sir, but I’d sooner have seen the poet make that jump than yourself. In my experience poets are like politicians . They talk like lions and live like weasels.’
‘Let us hope they are not all like that,’ said Gaise, ‘for I wrote the: words myself last night.’
Mulgrave saw the young man laughing at him. ‘Ah. Give me a moment, sir, while I prise my boot from my mouth.’
‘Do you still think me foolish for making the jump?’
‘I have to say that I do, sir, though I better understand the reasons. for it. You doubted yourself, but you did not have the confidence -or the patience – to wait for a better moment to test yourself. It was reckless and unnecessary. Had you asked me I would have told you that you have all the courage a young man could desire. And I would have set you tasks to prove it to you. You have a fine future ahead of you, sir. Yet, but for a stroke of fortune, I could have been kneeling beside your crippled body, your legs and arms useless, your life ruined. Within a day the Moidart would have had me hanged for failing in my duty. You think the risk was worth it?’