Riley followed Lissie and said nothing. She refused to break the silence. The tears were hot on her cheeks. Her arm burned and her side throbbed. Her vision swam under the hood.
The smell of horses blew warm on the wind. Riley breathed deep. This seemed to be a part of home that she could keep.
Riley almost tripped over the dog hidden in the grass. It gave her a reproachful look as it walked away. She wondered where Ruskin was.
Lissie kept walking until she got to Peach. The moon was high and full and cast shadows beneath them.
Riley stopped a few feet back, her breath coming sharp and shallow.
Lissie opened her hood and turned. “Shouldn’t you be at the feast?”
“I’m exactly where I need to be,” Riley said, taking off her hood.
Her friend shattered like a mirror. Howling with sobs, she threw herself into Peach’s neck. He looked back and forth, from the girl at his shoulder to Riley.
She waited. The howling fell first hoarse, then gasping. Riley let her settle before speaking again. “There’s nothing I can say. I love you.”
Lissie turned towards her and in her wet eyes, Riley saw the little girl she met all those years ago. “Remember when you first came to the castle? I didn’t have a friend until I met you.”
“I remember you told them that I had to be in your classes. I was supposed to be working. Your father paid my family for me to go to your class.”
“I told them I’d refuse to go without you. I couldn’t stand to go alone. I cut all my hair off in protest. Mother was so mad. I looked ridiculous.” Riley saw Lissie smile.
“She was livid when I got higher marks than you.”
“You always had the highest marks until Cora came.”
Lissie laughed. “Cora is something else.”
“She can’t do what you do. Neither can I. When you fell in the fire, and then you forgave that boy. Just like that. You forgave me.” Riley took a step forward and continued, “Can you forgive me now?”
Lissie’s voice cracked. “It’s not about you. I love you, I’m not mad. I’m…” Her voice trailed off into the blowing wind. Peach snorted and nuzzled her head.
“You don’t need to explain.” Riley took her hand. “Will you come back with me?”
“To the feast?” Lissie asked, looking back toward the tents. She wiped her eyes.
“Not if you don’t want to. Just to my tent?” Riley bent to look at her bowed head.
Lissie straightened up. “No! You have to go to the feast.” She took another shuddering breath and let it out. “I’ll come. No one is going to be looking at me anyway.”
“I’ll be looking at you.”