A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 605 A Stronger Foundation - Part 7

"Right," Oliver agreed.

"That idea that you were coming by earlier," Verdant murmured. "I would hear it, when you are ready."

Oliver had neglected to share the insight he'd had when he'd made that joke to Nebular earlier. It had required a surprising amount of concentration for him to merely feed Casper an apple or two, and the thought had almost slipped his mind.

"Oh, right," Oliver said.

"Don't distract him, Lord Idris, one thing at a time," Nelson admonished.

It was strange seeing anyone tell Verdant off for anything, least of all a stablehand, but the priest took it with grace and merely nodded. "Quite right, Nelson. My apologies my Lord. We can discuss it once you are done."@@@@

Then it was back to concentrating on the horse for Oliver. Now that he didn't have an excuse to talk while he was hefting himself up, he was forced to acknowledge the situation for what it was. The horse was gigantic. Its back was up above his head as he stood on the floor and somehow he needed to get up high enough to swing his leg over the saddle.

That in itself wasn't impossible, not for someone as agile as Oliver had become, but to do it without disturbing or even alarming the horse, that seemed like quite the trick.

Oliver eyed Casper nervously. He had one hand on the side of the horse's thick neck and could feel the strength of its heartbeat as it ran through its veins. Casper, for his part, seemed as calm as a nursemaid. One would never have thought that it had been years since anyone had last ridden him.

It was through his heels in the horse's flanks and through the reins behind the horse's neck that he was meant to steer it – of course, knowing that and putting it into practice were two very different things.

"That's good," Nelson praised. "Yer sitting right too. You want to keep your toes pointed inwards, if ya can. It's all the same to me, but for a noble rider such as yerself, you don't want to be riding like some common bandit the first time on a horse."

Oliver tried turning his toes inwards, so his feet were flat against the horses' side. It seemed... strange. Especially since he was meant to be controlling the animal with his heels. What of the spurs as well? It was another one of those noble customs that seemed like it looked better than it actually functioned – but Oliver hadn't been riding long enough to make that kind of judgement.

"Good," Nelson said encouragingly. "Now, keep the reins slack and why don't you give Casper a little nudge with your heels, and tell him to start up with a walk, eh?"

"Casper is fond of a full gallop, my Lord," Verdant warned him. "Be careful not to get him too excited. Warhorse though he may be, he seems to have a racehorse's spirit in those legs of his."

"Oh, aye, he still flies," Nelson does. "Still loves a good gallop. I'd take that warning to heart, Ser Patrick. You don't want to let Casper get the wrong idea, not yet."

It was beginning to feel more like he was riding a bomb than a horse. For all the praise that Nelson had given Casper, Oliver thought that he was beginning to sense a mischievousness to the beast. With the way he'd snuffed out the apples before and the way he tossed his tail now merely out of impatience, the horse's personality was shining through.

Oliver nudged the animal with his heels, gently, as he prepared to keep his balance.

Lazily, Casper responded and started walking at a leisurely stroll towards the nearest tree, whereupon he immediately lowered his head and began nibbling on the few straggling bits of grass that the snow had not yet buried.