***JAKE'S POV***
I was sitting on top of the horse with Ash in front of me. She was pressed against me as she would need to be while riding double. My arms were wrapped around her as I held onto the reins. This was all going a lot better than I could have planned.
'Thank you, Keeper!' I spoke inside of my head, not needing to let Ash think that I was crazy.
When I had proposed that Ash ride with me, I never thought that she would agree to it. I had hoped, but I had never, in my wildest of all dreams, thought that she would actually say yes. It was amazing though, and it was definitely something that I needed to thank the Keeper for. They were the reason that this happened, I knew that for a fact.
"Nck. Nck." I made a clicking noise in the side of my mouth to signal the horse. The moment that I did, it started to move forward. With that, we were off.
I had come down to the stables this morning to 'reacclimate' myself with my horse. I had told the stablemaster that it had been so long since my father had let me out of the castle that I wanted to make sure that I hadn't forgotten how to ride. He laughed at me, but also agreed that it had been a long time.
Although he smiled a lot and laughed often, the stablemaster had helped me. He 'reminded' me of the cues that my horse needed to get him to listen. And he was patient with me as I got my balance right. I really hadn't forgotten much though, and that was good. And now that I had been given the riding confidence that I needed, I was able to take Ash out for our date.
I also studied a map of the surrounding area last night. That gave me a better understanding of where things were and where I needed to go with my date. Today, we were taking a very easy path through the forest that was strictly castle property. On the other side of that path was a clearing with a large pond, or a small lake. I guess the category for that water mass depended on how you differentiated the two.
"This is beautiful." The awe that was in Ash's voice as she stared at the wonder of the woods was breathtaking. I liked seeing how innocent she could be at times. I knew that she could be cynical and jaded too though. Or was that Alex that I was thinking about now.
When I looked at Ash, I couldn't help but think about the woman that she reminded me of. It wasn't just the way that she looked that made me think about her either. I had admired her for a while, trying to get the courage to talk to that very unapproachable girl. Over that time, I had learned the sound of her voice, the way that she walked, the set of her body. I knew it all, and this woman was mimicking it all. This was one hell of a wish fulfillment that the book was giving me.
"Take a look at that, Ash." I said as I thought fondly about how this story might end. "That there, it's a family of blue jays."
"You're right. Those babies are so small." She was eyeing them with curiosity.
"Are you enjoying the ride?" I asked her, knowing that it had just begun. We had a long way to go though, and if she was not having a good time then I would turn back now.
"Oddly enough, yes. I am not scared of the horse anymore. I think that is because of you. Your confidence and excitement on this day are rubbing off on me."
At that moment, she turned a little to look back at me, her right shoulder pressing against my chest as she shifted. I was given a gift then. I was about to see the beauty of her face up close. The curve of her cheeks, the plush softness of her lips, how clear her skin was. It was all right there, directly in front of my face for me to see.
"W..well, I am glad that you are having a good time. If you are doing OK with it, then I will continue to the clearing."
"Yes, please do." She nodded before turning back to look around us.
The scenery passed us by. Beautiful trees, adorable animals, gorgeous glimpses of the sky. All of it was there, but none of it mattered to me. All that I cared about, all that mattered at that moment, for me anyway, was Ash sitting against me. I was in awe of her reactions to the beauty around us. To me, that was better than anything that I would have seen in the woods.
Finally, after more than an hour of riding at a steady and even pace, we passed through the trees and into the clearing beyond. I will admit, it was almost enough to make me stop looking at Ash. Almost.
There was a perfect circle carved out in the trees. I didn't know if it was natural or manmade, but it didn't really matter, did it? In the middle of the large clearing there was a pond. The pond was several hundred feet wide, and the clearing was at least half a mile wide.
In this clearing, aside from the pond, there were rock formations that would make good chairs, bushes filled with berries, and flowers everywhere. It was amazing, and the perfect place for a date. This was going to be an amazing day.
After I slid from the saddle, I helped Ash down from the horse. She stumbled a little on her way down. That was something that caused me to catch her in my arms so that she didn't fall to the ground and hurt herself. The last thing that I needed was for her to wind up back in the infirmary for who knows how long.
No, I would much rather hold her like this than visit her in a sick bed. This was a lot more fun, and definitely more pleasant. She was soft in all the right places, and felt warm against my chest.
"Careful there." I smiled at her. "We don't want you getting hurt."
"I am sorry. I have never gotten off of a horse before. I didn't realize it was going to be so difficult." She tilted her head up to look at me, that smile of hers was so close to my face that I nearly gave in and kissed her. I didn't though. I needed to be proper and polite right now.
"It's fine. I don't mind catching you. And I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy the way that you felt in my arms right now."
She seemed to realize that we were pressed together. She wasn't able to jump away from me then, because of the horse, but she did stiffen and blush a beautiful shade of crimson. It was actually really cute.
"Come on." I let go of her as I said that. Well, most of her. I took her hand in mine and pulled her along behind me. "You go have a seat by the water. I will tie up the horse and prepare our lunch."
"Are you sure that you should be doing that? You are a prince. And, well, princes shouldn't be doing manual labor."
"I don't mind. It keeps me feeling like a real person." It's not like I could tell her that I had another life in another world. And that in that other world I was a normal man that needed to do everything for myself. She definitely wouldn't understand that at all.
"O..OK. If you are OK with that, then I will do as you said. Thank you, Jake." Hearing her praise and thanks, that was enough to make me happy right now. I guess I was actually a really simple man. It didn't take much to make me truly happy.
I did as I said that I was going to. I tied the horse to a tree at the edge of the clearing. It would be able to eat when it needed to. And there was even a convenient little well of water at the base of the tree for the horse to drink from. I guess this truly was just a fantasy world. There was so much that was 'convenient' here that just seemed to be blatantly written in by someone that just wanted to make things easier on the characters. At least it was like that for me, the prince. It didn't seem like things were like that for my heroine. She had needed to go through all the hard stuff. I would end that though. For this character anyway. I didn't want her to suffer anymore.