The Fire Lord's Lover - 1 by Kathryne Kennedy

pleasure while a blush of bright red crept into her cheeks. Then her mount snorted and reared, and her attention centered on the huge beast she'd been given to ride.
       Dominic frowned, wondering what half-wit had given her the black stallion, who was known for his volatile temperament. Even the best of riders had difficulty controlling the horse. He checked himself as he opened his mouth to demand another mount for his wife, feeling a pair of eyes upon him like a heavy shroud.
       Dominic turned. Mor'ded stood on the steps, his black gaze going from his son to Cassandra.
       Women always gazed at the elven lords with lustful admiration and he looked enough like his father to be given the same attention. But Dominic couldn't be sure what his own eyes revealed and if he should show the slightest concern for Cassandra's safety…
       The general turned his back on his wife, indeed upon all the court, and mounted his own horse, signaling his troops forward. Despite the shrill outcry of alarm from a few of the nobles, Dominic and his men pounded through the gates. By necessity they had to slow through the streets of London and many of the court managed to catch up to them. But when they reached the countryside Dominic set a brisk pace for his men, and as he had predicted, most of the fools fell behind.
       A sudden flash of black seething muscle galloped past him, Lady Cassandra clinging to the back of the stallion like a burr. Dominic leaned forward, fully intending to ride after the runaway horse, afraid his new wife would be thrown from the beast and likely break her neck.
       A shadow fell over him and he glanced skyward. Ador rode the winds, his father mounted on the dragon's back. So Mor'ded had come to watch the return of the king as well.
       He cursed beneath his breath and sat back in the saddle. Mor'ded would wonder if Dominic rode after the girl, wife or no. An elven lord should be concerned only with himself, and humans were but dumb creatures to be used at a whim.
       He would kill the half-wit who had given her that horse.
       The general continued the brisk pace he had set, perhaps increasing it a bit as he searched far down the road. When he saw the black speck, with a rider still astride, he grunted with relief. Lady Cassandra waited for them to catch up, patting the neck of the lathered, shivering beast. Somehow she had tamed the black stallion. As his troop passed her, she gently flicked the reins and the beast rode smartly along with the rest of the horses, his ears occasionally flicking back at Cassandra as if eager to comply with her slightest wish. He couldn't help but feel a trickle of admiration for his new wife.
       Dominic straightened his spine and slowed the pace. He didn't see a need to tire his horses any more than necessary. It would take them several days to reach Devizes in the Wilts, the town that lay on the border between the sovereignties of Dewhame and Firehame, where the exchange of the king was to be made. For now the general fully intended to take advantage of the peaceful countryside to calm the anger his wife had managed to provoke by almost getting herself killed.
       He loved the land. The rolling hills and green meadows and quiet ponds. Although he knew that when the elven lords had chosen and conquered each of their sovereignties they had altered the land with their magic, he could still see the original beauty of England beneath the huge elven flame trees with fire red blooms that dotted the green swards of Firehame. Dewhame, where the elven lord Breden ruled with the magic of sky and water, boasted hidden grottos, natural fountains, and enchanted lakes. The eastern sovereignty, where Mi'cal ruled with his green scepter, sported tracks of barely impenetrable forests with a wealth of plants that defied description.
       Dominic hadn't visited the remaining four sovereignties but supposed he would fight battles within them some day. His curiosity