"I appreciate it, thank you." She said, giving him a soft smile. She was used to dealing with too much, but the backup was always nice. "And you're quite the enigma to anyone who doesn't know you. Part of the reason so many women are obsessed with you."
He snorted, paused, then snorted again. "While you may be right most of the time, I'm going to have to disagree with you there. Women are so obsessed with me—and my siblings—because we're royalty. Being the crown prince is just the cherry on top." He paused, then said, "And, ah, no problem. It at least gives us a destination."
"I did say part, did I not?" She pointed out, wrinkling her nose playfully. "And when did you decide I'm right most of the time?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, half out of confusion and half out of curiosity.
"May. But most of what you've said so far is at least partially true, in that I'm having a hard time with coming up with a counterargument." He shrugged. "That, or I'm just dumb." He lifted his head as a nice breeze came by, carrying with it the lovely scent of the wildflowers. He closed his eyes, just enjoying the sweet scent of nature in general.
"Not dumb. I just know how to argue." She said simply, stretching her arms up above her head. She'd been right, the fresh air had cleared most of the exhaustion from her mind. She grew quiet again, content to study her surroundings with a small, happy smile.
"Then I'd like to see a debate between you and Cinthia if that's the case," he said opening his eyes as Kaspa yanked at the reigns. The stallion was itching to go for a run, but Rhydar knew that that would be pushing their luck with Danzing's cooperation.
"I might be able to hold my own, but beyond that, I think she would win." Lily said, shaking her head. She eyed Kaspa for a moment, before looking back up at Rhydar. "You two usually run, right?"
He looked back over at her, turning in the saddle so that he was sitting backwards and looking at her full-on. "Yeah?" he said, arching a brow. "But I know that you're super lucky that Danzing's even letting you go out on a ride, let alone going on a run."
"I don't want to get in the way of your routines. Why not go on a run? Danzing and I will be fine hanging out." She said, fiddling with the ring again as she frowned. "I know both of you enjoy the runs."
He waved his hand dismissively. "Taking it easy won't hurt anything. The big baby will get to blow off steam later." He remained sitting backwards on the saddle, seemingly unaffected by the lack of control he has over where Kaspa was going. But he knew these hills, and he would know if the troublesome stallion strayed off course.
"Are you sure?" She asked, tilting her head as the guilt flashed across her face for a moment. "I really, really don't want to be a burden." Her voice had regained the soft uncertainty that it did occasionally, most notably last night.
He shook his head, looking at her in earnest. "You're not a burden. This change of pace is nice—I can actually appreciate the great outdoors without it being a green and occasionally rainbow blur." He tried for a warm smile, trying to ease her worry and uncertainty.
She studied his face for a moment before nodding, if a bit hesitantly. "If you decide you want to run, don't let me stop you." She said softly, biting her lip as she looked down at her hands.
"Trust me, I won't. I hardly ever let people stop me from doing what I want," he said, referring to his thieving habits. His face seemed to fall slightly at her change of mood, not liking how…quiet and small she suddenly seemed.
"Gods, I'm sorry." She said, shaking her head as she still kept her eyes on her hands. "I'm quite the mood dampener, apparently." She said, spinning the ring around her finger as she looked up at him, not quite meeting his eyes.
"No, it's just…I like you better when you're smiling." He silently cursed himself for not having a better response to that, but he wasn't exactly the best at verbal comfort. She wasn't necessarily a mood dampener, but he was slightly concerned with her change of demeanor.
She blinked, her fiddling coming to a halt. She'd been, if anything, expecting him to agree, not say that he liked her smile better than her attempts at receding into the shell she'd built for herself. Hesitantly, she straightened her back, chewing on her bottom lip. "I-you do?"
He opened his mouth, the usual denials or jokes that waved it off queueing up at the tip of his tongue, then falling away as soon as he went to speak. He pursed his lips and licked his lip ring, saying a "Yeah, I do," softly.
"Oh." She obviously wasn't too sure what to do with that information. She reached up, tucking a loose tendril of hair behind her ear as a small, faint smile played on her lips. "I'll…try to keep that in mind?"
He offered a lopsided smile. "Please do. You're a lot cuter when you look happy," he said right before he turned back around in the saddle—it was getting really uncomfortable.
Something warm bloomed in her chest at the sight of his smile, and her fiddling with the ring was less anxious and worried now as they fell into a comfortable silence. Cute?
Rhydar stood up in the stirrups to get a better look at how far they had to go to the pond. It wasn't much farther now, he could see, just another one or two minutes of steady riding. From the snorting and huffing coming from Kaspa, who was now throwing a childish tantrum, Rhydar would have to let the stallion loose for a bit while they stopped at the pond. Remember to take off his saddle. You've learned your lesson from the last time.
"We getting close?" Lily asked, tilting her head as she watched Rhydar stand. Kaspa's fit hadn't gone unnoticed, but she managed to shove done the small spark of guilt threatening to return.
"One or two minutes," Rhydar said, sitting back down and looking over his shoulder to look at Lily as he spoke. He patted Kaspa's side as he said, "I'm gonna let Cranky here run around for a bit when we get there." Kaspa turned his head to playfully nip at Rhydar. Rhydar stuck his tongue out.
Lily pressed a hand to her mouth, muffling the quiet laughter bubbling up at the two's antics. Danzing even seemed slightly amused, snorting softly. "That would probably be best. Does he get…cranky often, when unable to run?"
"He gets cranky when he can't do what he wants, just like a child," Rhydar explained, lightly batting at Kaspa's muzzle to get him to turn back around. It didn't work, and Kaspa then proceeded to yank on Rhydar's shirt playfully. Rhydar sighed and left the horse be as he leaned back to talk to Lily. "He's just a big baby if I'm being honest."
"I think he's adorable." Lily said, eyes crinkling slightly with her smile as she shook her head. "Just like a child." Watching Rhydar and Kaspa goof off was somewhat entertaining, as she'd never seen anyone bond with a horse quite like that.
Rhydar chuckled, then grinned when he saw her smile once more. Atta girl… "He's cute when he's not throwing a tantrum and trying to bite my hand off when I'm not giving him his treats within 5 seconds." He scoffed. "And I thought the twins were bad when it came to sweets."
"Ah, yes. Your fingers are quite important, right?" Lily teased, quirking an eyebrow slightly as her smile widened just a bit. "You just have to hope the twins and Kaspa don't figure out a way to team up."
"Yes, yes they are. How else am I supposed to steal stuff?" he said with a smile, his eyes brightening just a tad. He then scrunched his nose at the thought of the twins and Kaspa teaming up. "That would both be interesting and a nightmare on my part."