[Suggested song for this Chapter – Halo by Beyoncé]
ili turned back to look at Bai Li, her face lit by the gentle late-winter sunlight, her lips curled upwards in a smile of delight, her eyes sparkling with excitent.
Uh oh, he thought to himself, that looks like the expression she makes before she gets up to mischief!
Sure enough...
"Let’s race, Bai Li?"
The urge to feel the crisp air rushing across her face and speed past all of those red blooms on Tuufy was impossible to quell.
Before he could say no, she pulled on her reins and kicked Tufei into a gallop, speeding off ahead of him, between the low rows of plum trees.
"Hyaah!" Bai Li kicked Rishi into a gallop, riding close behind her, keeping an eye on her rather than racing her and inspiring her to go even faster...
The pristine thin layer of snow on the ground made a delightful crunching noise as Tufei thundered down the path made by the rows of trees.
The wind whipped through her hair sending it streaming out behind her where she could feel it fluttering. Blossoms drifted through the air, bouncing off her cloak and face like tiny butterflies.
Bai Li, always on the alert for danger, saw a low branch ahead of her. He smoothly pulled out his crossbow and shot an arrow ahead of them, where it struck the offending branch, sending it spiralling to the ground and safely out of i ili’s path.
She didn’t even notice, galloping rrily straight past it, leaning in low against Tufei’s neck and urging him onwards. She could hear Rishi close on Tufei’s heels and she laughed with joy.
A pair of magpies were unexpectedly startled by Tufei galloping past, and they flew up from the ground right in front of the stallion.
The horse reared up onto his hind legs, whinnying with fright, and Bai Li watched as i ili started to slip from Tufei’s back, clinging desperately with her legs but slipping backwards, nonetheless.
He pulled Rishi to a sudden stop and leapt from his back in a single movent, sliding across the snow and under Mieli in ti to catch her in his strong arms before she hit the ground.
She squeezed her eyes tight shut in fear, letting out a scream as she slipped from Tufei’s back. She braced herself for the pain that would inevitably co as she hit the ground from that height.
But instead she didn’t feel the expected impact for one heartbeat, two heartbeats, three heartbeats...
It was deadly silent, and she kept her eyes firmly shut as her heart raced with fright.
Had she perhaps landed in the branches of a tree? Was she precariously perched waiting to fall to the ground if she moved? She seed to be wrapped in sothing solid. She reached out and tentatively felt around... it felt firm and hard, but... warm?
"Ahem," Bai Li cleared his throat right beside her ear. "i ili, you can open your eyes now."
Her eyes flew open to find herself in Bai Li’s strong arms, resting against his solid chest which her hands were regrettably feeling, his burning eyes an inch from her own.
She stared at the man with wide-eyed wonder. He had leapt from Rishi and caught her before she hit the ground? Could he perhaps fly? she wondered.
She felt her heart give a clench of an emotion she couldn’t easily identify... perhaps it was affection, maybe even worship, maybe just respect.
Whatever it was, it was so intense, it hurt.
She was fearful for all the right reasons now. A bump to the tailbone was quickly recovered from, matters of the heart were not so easy to heal.
Bai Li watched the girl’s face intently, searching her expression and seeing sothing there he had never seen before.
His heart thudded loudly, sending his blood racing, as he dared to hope for the first ti since she had turned down his proposal.
He closed his eyes briefly, the desire to say the things in his heart, almost overwhelming.
She watched his eyes shut, and she was imdiately drowned in hurt at what she imagined he saw, which caused his eyes to close as he stared so closely at her plain face.
She pushed ineffectually against his chest, her voice catching, "let down Bai Li!"
His eyes flew back open, and he saw her struggling to escape his arms, her face turned from him.
Uh-uh, not this ti little girl, he thought, giving a small huff of exasperated laughter.
Don’t think for a minute that you can look at like that and then run away.
"Let go Bai Li!" she pushed as hard as she could against his chest, but it was like pushing against an iron door that didn’t budge an inch.
He scooped her into one arm and gently reached across to cup her cheek, turning her face back to his.
She stared back into his eyes, through the sheen of tears that glazed her own, threatening to spill over her lashes.
Good lord, girl! thought Bai Li. Is it possible for you to tug upon my poor trampled heartstrings any further?
He gently stroked away the impending teardrops, the intensity of his gaze impossible for her to hold a second longer.
She gently shut her eyes against the force of it, knowing she would not be able to stop herself from crying in earnest if she gazed at him for even a mont longer.
"ili," he called her na for the first ti without a love drug dragging it reluctantly from his lips.
"ili," he called her again, and she opened her eyes one at a ti, to look into his familiar, handso face.
She gulped, blinking up at him.
Why was he calling her like that? Did he intentionally make it impossible for her to avoid her growing feelings?
Bai Li! she thought indignantly. Stop it!
You must stop saving and protecting like a storybook prince, until my heart is dragged inevitably towards an attachnt that can only hurt ...
Maybe it was already too late, she reflected sorrowfully, as she watched his beautiful inky black eyes looking deeply into her own.
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