My Royal Pain Quest (The Lakeland Knight series, #2) Read Online Free Page A

the ground. The animal was tied to a pole, with a rope long enough to allow some prancing and kicking, and he did both as soon as anyone ventured to come a bit too close.
    “Well? No one else wants to try for a golden coin?” asked a short bald fellow, the only one who stood within the stallion’s reach, obviously the proud owner. “A nice, round, heavy golden coin. A copper to play, gold to win. Stay in the saddle as I count to ten, and it’s yours.”
    The crowd murmured, but nobody volunteered. I checked the stallion again. Yes, it was one fierce horse. Strong, muscular, with the wild look in his eye that said he was still being broken. I probably could handle him, but I doubted that it would count as one of my valiant deeds, and I wasn’t interested in anything else. So I dismounted, tied Onyx, and went to the tavern door.
    “What, nobody’s got the guts?” the fellow teased. “Ha, ha, I’m not surprised! I guess I’ll keep my gold to myself, then.”
    “I’ll do it,” said a woman’s voice.
    The crowd murmured louder. I halted and turned to look.
    The slender dark-haired young lady who stepped forward wore a wide black skirt that was actually a large piece of fabric tied around her waist, a sleeveless leather jacket over a red shirt, and a kerchief on her head, pirate-style. A curved blade on her belt and two daggers would have suited a pirate as well.
    “You?” The fellow regarded her and grinned. “If you manage to get in that saddle, I’ll give you two golden coins, not just one.”
    She looked back at him with challenging boldness.
    “Excellent. Two if I get in the saddle, three if I stay in it as you count to ten, and five if I subdue the horse enough to ride. Deal?”
    The crowd cheered. More spectators came out of the tavern. I stepped closer as well; this was going to be interesting.
    The stallion’s owner looked the young woman over again.
    “I’m not responsible for any injuries.”
    “Just have the gold ready.” She flipped him a copper coin.
    He nodded, catching it. “Very well. Go ahead, show us what you’re worth.”
    The pirate girl untied the skirt and threw it aside, revealing dark leather pants. She slowly approached the stallion and walked around him, sizing him up. He noticed her and probably guessed her intent; his eyes focused on the perceived threat, nostrils flared as she continued to circle, humming softly under her breath.
    “You do realize it’s a horse and not a merry-go-round,” the owner quipped.
    Either this girl was green and about to become black and blue, or she had developed her own approach to taming wild horses. I noticed she slowed whenever the stallion became restless.
    And then it happened in a blink of an eye.
    She dashed forward and flew up in the saddle so fast that no one was able to grasp how exactly she did it—including the stallion. He jerked, let out a furious neigh and began bucking and prancing like mad.
    You’ve lost two coins, buddy.
    The owner forgot to count, but the crowd did it for him.
    “One! Two! Three!”
    The young woman clung to the stallion’s neck, clutching his mane, holding so tight that she and the horse seemed to have grown into one. This was where the battle would be won or lost. A horse with its head up cannot buck, and the way she held the stallion’s mane discouraged him from putting his head down.
    “Four! Five! Six! Seven!”
    She held on.
    “Eight! Nine!! Ten!!!”
    Make it three coins.
    The stallion raged and kicked so hard that even the owner stepped aside.
    “All right, that’s enough, somebody help me to hold the horse!” he shouted.
    “Stay away!” returned the pirate girl. “Break the deal and I’ll break your neck!”
    Now, that was one spunky young woman. I liked her language, not to mention her courage and skill.
    I thought she would be thrown off at one stage when she tried to reclamp her legs around the horse, but she managed to turn the stallion in tight circles and reposition herself. Once