Gina's POV.
I woke up the next day with no one beside me. It almost felt like a dream that Dagen had slept beside me the night before. I was not sure what had happened that had caused that to happen but I was sure I was not to strike such luck again.
“My Lady?” Diane’s voice which had seemed happy to receive me last night was not as bright this morning. My eyes narrowed upon hearing the tone of the voice she used to address me. Something was not quite right today.
“Lady Nydia?” I whispered and she nodded her head grimly.
“She has summoned me, has she not?” I asked not feeling so lucky anymore that Dagen had slept by my side the entire night.
“Yes, my lady,” I plastered a smile on my face to cheer her up. I understood her concern and it made me laugh a little when she had told me before that Lady Nydia was a nice woman.
“Is there something I can eat?” experience indeed was the best teacher. The last time I had been summoned by Lady Nydia she had given me a task that had taken up so much time I had been unable to eat.
“Yes, here, my lady,” she responded, pointing to a plate by my bedside. From the looks of it, it had been prepared rather hurriedly. I smiled at her effort and ate my food quickly.
“Let’s go,” I said with a determined note as I ate the last bit of food.
We arrived at Lady Nydia’s room where she was seated rather stoically on her bed.
“You are here, you are to work at the stables today,” she said as soon as she saw me.
“The stables?” had Dagen told her about my fear of horses? Why was she seeking to use my fear to punish me?
“The stables. I want to ride Thunder tomorrow, you are to groom her for me,” she stated.
“My lady, I have no experience tending horses,” came my response as my mind recalled my conversation with Dagen the night before about his horse that was named Thunder. He had said she was more fierce than Baron.
“Then you shall learn,” she said with a haughty tone.
She dismissed me afterwards and a stable boy came to fetch me away to the stables.
We passed through rows of horses standing proudly in their stables. They were all very pretty and ranged in a variety of sizes. They were beautiful to look at from a distance and knowing that their respectable stables were latched.
No one had to tell me that I had met Thunder when I did. She was the definition of snow as her body exuded a sort of calm whiteness. She was beautiful too and managed to look frightening at the same time. She was the sort of sight that held one transfixed both in fear and in awe.
“You are dazed, my lady,” said Pete, the stable boy who had been assigned to me.
“I… She’s beautiful,” was all I could say.
“She is… she’s a strong one too. She will only let Alpha Dagen touch her,” said Pete.
“Only Alpha Dagen? Then?” I was alarmed.
“You’ve been given a suicide mission,” he said, looking at me pitifully.
“What happened to those who tried to get near her?” I asked him.
“Their bodies are buried over there; Alpha Dagen said they are Thunder’s trophies,” I saw the fear written on Pete’s face as he said this.
“Trophies?” my eyes were widened in fear.
“I am afraid my lady, you might as well offer your last prayers,” he said with a pitiful look.
“These are the keys,” he said, dropping a bunch of keys in my hand.
“Why is there an entire bunch of keys to…”
“She once escaped from her stable and…. This is the best we can do to keep the rest of us safe,” he said, nervously.
“Does Lady Nydia ride Thunder?” I asked him.
If Thunder was as fearsome as Pete made her seem, how could Lady Nydia ride her?
“Lady Nydia? The only time Thunder and Alpha Dagen had a rift was when he tried making Lady Nydia ride on her. The physician had to stay up several nights trying to revive Lady Nydia,” Pete said.
“Several nights?” Nothing Pete said helped to calm the fear that welled up inside me.
“Yes, Thunder flung her body off her as though she were allergic to her,” said Pete. I saw him shiver as though recalling a bitter memory.
“I can help deliver your last wishes to any family or friends that you need to reach out to, I am very sorry, my lady,” said Pete. He looked at me as if I were a ghost but I did not blame him, it was very likely that I was about to become one.
“That will not be necessary, will you not help me open the stables?” I asked him and he looked at me as though I was quite mad.
“My lady, can you not see that the stable is quiet? The other boys have fled the place and I should leave now. Good luck!” he said and he left me alone.
I did not know what I was to do. Could I lounge around all day at the stables and report back in the evening that I had groomed Thunder? It was not like Lady Nydia would find out anyway if I had touched Thunder since she could not ride her.
“My lady, Lady Nydia sends word that you should hurry,” I heard someone shout.
This filled me with despair.
They had all left to embark on a suicide mission but they were watching me; there was no way out of this.
I approached Thunder’s stable with apprehension.
I opened the first lock and nothing stirred, Thunder kept calm. I opened the second and all was still calm; the third and things remained quiet.