Chapter 28

The winged horse’s coat was seal brown, and the feathers of its wings were black. It watched Annalise for a moment with perked ears, before walking forward and snuffling at Helene’s hand. 

Helene giggled, a sound that Annalise would have expected to come from a young schoolgirl, not a dignified chieftainess. 

“No, you overgrown pony, you don’t get treats every time I visit. If I gave you as many carrots or apples as you wanted, you’d be far too fat to fly,” Helene said as she pushed at the mare’s nose with another laugh.

The horse jerked up her head and snorted as if disgusted at the insult, and Helene winked at Annalise before pulling a wizened apple from a pocket. “Fine, you win, but just this once.” 

The apple was gone in two bites. The mare flicked her tail and butted her head against Helene before turning to look at Annalise. 

“This is Brunen. She’s been my rhys for almost thirty years,” Helene said. 

“She’s beautiful.” Annalise had heard of rhys—the wild winged horses that lived in the mountains. Seeing one was said to bring great fortune, but from the way her tutors and books had described it, they were practically a myth. 

“Brunen is the lead mare of her herd, which is one of the herds that makes its home around our valley. I was honored when she chose me, and now she’s my closest friend and confidante.” 

“She…chose you? I didn’t know that they had any relationship at all with humans.” 

“As far as I’m aware, they don’t with anyone not of Murana. We encourage all of our young adults to spend time outside exploring. The mountains encircling the valley are relatively safe, although not tame, and it is our belief that in order to raise young people with strong minds and bodies they should use both as much as possible. Sometimes a rhys will take notice of one of them, and will offer itself in a bond.” Helene chuckled and pet Brunen on the nose. “She’s asking me how I’ve kept my daughter hidden from her for so long; apparently the family resemblance is quite strong.” 

“She talks to you?” 

“After the bonding process, a rhys and their rider can share thoughts.” 

“All the time? Has she known we were here since we started eating?” 

“The bond fades with distance, but before you and I had our snack I blew a whistle that told her we were in the area just in case she couldn’t hear me mentally. I’m glad she came. Sometimes she likes to ignore me.” 

The mare nudged Helene again and stamped her foot, then walked towards Annalise. 

“She wants to get a good look at you. Stay still,” Helene said. 

“What about my curse? It’s never hurt an animal before, only people…but if she can talk to you…” Annalise couldn’t keep the fear out of her voice at the thought of hurting such a magnificent creature. 

“I’ve already told her about the curse, don’t worry. She will be careful,” Helene said with the serenity of someone with utter trust in her friend. 

Brunen approached Annalise in a roundabout manner, looping around to her side. The mare was of solid build and larger than the horses they’d ridden to the outlook, and her winter coat was sleek instead of shaggy. Her wings were folded back nicely, like a feathered black regal cloak. Her legs were straight and clean, and her shoulders and hindquarters bulged with muscle. 

Brunen stopped in front of her. Annalise stood stock still as the rhys stretched her muzzle forward and sniffed at her face, then raised her top lip to get a better smell. Up close, the mare’s teeth and the strength in her limbs were rather intimidating. Annalise had once seen a goose chase a boy away from its nest by using its wings as clubs and imagined that the rhys’s wings could kill her with a single blow. She remained motionless, hardly even breathing as Brunen stared her directly in the eyes. Long after the seconds had stretched into minutes, the mare snorted and pranced back to Helene. 

“She is very complimentary. There aren’t many who would be so still in the face of such a beast.” 

“How could they not? She’s beautiful.” 

Brunen preened her feathers before lifting both of her wings and standing with head high, allowing the stiff breeze to ruffle her mane and tail. 

“Yes, yes, you are beautiful, you hawk with four hooves. I’m not sure I’ll bring Annalise back if she’s going to inflate your ego so much,” Helene said, patting the mare’s shoulder, and Annalise got the sense that Helene was saying everything out loud for her benefit. 

With another headbutt against Helene, Brunen trotted away, unfurling her wings and leaping into the air at the edge of the cliff before soaring away. Annalise watched her go in awestruck wonder. 

“She liked you and told me I should bring you back again,” Helene said at her side. 

“Does everyone meet their rhys here?” Annalise asked. 

“Once pairs are bonded they can link up anywhere, but it’s widely accepted that any unbondeds are brought to the overlook so the rhys can get a good look at them and decide if they want to meet.” 

“Did my mother have a rhys?” 

“No; if she had she probably wouldn’t have left.” Helene sighed, and Annalise followed her back to the stumps where they’d eaten, waiting for her to continue. “The rhys are a secret we try to keep as much as we can. There are always rumors, of course, but we limit our contact with the outside world as much as we can. We certainly don’t use them to fight…although that was one of the first things your father tried to change.” 

“He wanted the rhys and their riders to go to war against Rhinnea?” Annalise guessed. 

“He did. He’d heard the stories and the rumors and, from what he told us, had spent months searching these mountains for our little valley. We’re able to keep ourselves relatively well-hidden, and any merchants we deal with are paid handsomely and guard the secrets of their trade routes like a guildmaster guards the secrets of their halls.” 

“Was my mother not worthy of the rhys if she was never bonded?” 

“It’s not quite so simple. Rhys are very picky, and it’s not uncommon for them to mentally pick a rider but wait years, if not decades, before they actually initiate the bond. I think the current record holder is a sixty-year-old woman who was a grandmother before she was a rider.” Helene shrugged as she packed up their meal. “As I said, it is a great honor to be bonded, although anyone who isn’t is not viewed as any less. Brunen chose me in my twenty-third summer, which is considered very young. Sometimes I wonder…” Helene trailed off as she stared down at the ground, then she shook herself like a dog drying off after swimming. “But it’s no use wondering about the past. We should continue; we have plenty more to see.”    

Helene mounted her shaggy pony and led the way around the valley, showing Annalise hidden waterfalls with water so pure it tasted sweet, caves with massive stone columns, and several hot springs clustered together that were quite busy. A small shack was built partially over each spring, so that the men and women could protect their modesty when getting in or out, and Annalise noted that the spring for the women was mostly obscured from sight by a fence made of heavy brush. 

“Everyone likes to relax in the hot springs no matter the weather; the huts built over each one stay plenty warm to give people a chance to dry off before changing back into their clothes even on the coldest of winter days. As you can see, the men didn’t care to put up a fence, and the spring just down that path is for the children. Both men and women may accompany their kids, although usually they remain at least partially clothed,” Helene said with a nod.  

Annalise smiled at the faint sounds of screams and laughs echoing through the forest. “It certainly sounds like that hot spring is the liveliest.” 

“It’s certainly something. Definitely boisterous…not necessarily clean. Normally I would offer the chance for you to take a turn in the women’s spring but considering the nature of your curse, I don’t think it would be wise,” Helene said. 

“I agree.” Annalise forced a smile onto her face just in case anyone saw her frown, but she couldn’t keep the wistfulness out of her voice as she glimpsed a calm pool with steam wafting from the water through the brush fence. “That being said.. It looks quite relaxing.”  

They turned away from the hot springs and headed back into town, and Annalise asked the question that had bugged her ever since she’d met Brunen. “If you’re bonded to a rhys, why not fly everywhere with her?” 

“Well, for one, because Brunen isn’t always available. Our times together are more like taking a walk with a dear friend than having a stable hand bring you a horse. Another reason is, as I said earlier, we try to keep knowledge of rhys to a minimum among outsiders. Of course, some rumor and speculation always slips through the cracks, but we Muranans tend to be a secretive lot, even more so in recent years after what happened to Elvira. The last thing any of us want is for our young men and women to be lured away by the promise of love only for unsavory characters to try and get a bonus rhys out of the deal. If King Evert had cherished her…well…perhaps things would be different.” 

“You’re only worried about the young men and women?” Annalise asked with a teasing lilt to her voice. 

Helene’s eyes glinted with mirth. “At a certain point, full-grown adults must assume responsibility for themselves, and I have yet to see a foreign bachelor try to woo a granny, no matter how impressive her bonded rhys.” 

It was only later as Annalise got ready for dinner that she wondered why her aunt had taken her specifically to the spot the rhys liked to haunt and told her of Murana’s most closely guarded secret. It was almost as if Helene thought she deserved to know.

It was almost as if Helene thought she belonged.