She stared at him blankly, her mind so preoccupied with planning for contingencies that she couldn’t so much as nod.

The charming smile faltered, then vanished as the guy hurried his steps. No doubt counting his blessings that he hadn’t struck up a conversation with the weird girl clutching a horse’s reins like she might fall down without them.

Somewhere to her left, someone cleared their throat.

Gwen jumped, glancing back to find a young woman standing there watching her with one eyebrow slightly raised. Gwen recognized her as the lady’s maid who had accompanied Isobelle the first day they met—the one who had not so subtly encouraged Gwen to inflate her prices because her lady could afford it.

Though she hadn’t exactly been warm and friendly that day, her demeanor had been positively genial compared to the icy stare directed at Gwen now.

“What the— You came out of nowhere,” Gwen blurted, shifting her grip on Achilles’s reins. The horse dropped his head over her shoulder, eyeing the new arrival that his mistress found so terrifying.

The lady’s maid didn’t so much as smile. “I get that a lot.” Her gaze swiveled over toward the horse. “He’s a massive one, isn’t he?”

“What?” Gwen’s heart was still hammering. She glanced at her horse, who was tossing his head coquettishly, showing off the stubborn cowlick that gave his mane the look of a crested Greek helmet. “Oh—yeah, this is Achilles. He, uh, comes from good stock.”

“Well, that’s something, I suppose.” The woman’s tone made it effortlessly clear Gwen’s own stock was rather wanting.

“You’re Olivia, right?” Gwen reached for something friendly, uncertain as to the source of the maid’s clear animosity.

“And you’re the girl my lady’s decided to play with for the next month. She is confined to the castle after last night’s fiasco, so she sent me to fetch you. Come along, I’ve found a place to stable your horse that won’t attract attention from the other knights.”

Olivia turned back toward the castle without bothering to check that Gwen was following her. Gwen glanced at Achilles, who gazed back at her out of one eye, rolling it slightly in an equine shrug. With an inaudible sigh, Gwen turned and followed the maid up into the castle grounds.

Olivia had identified a nobleman who was overseas for the season, leaving his section of the stables—and his stableman—idle. Gwen took an instant liking to the stableman, who without hesitation reached into his pocket for a slightly withered apple and offered it to Achilles. Jeffers had little attention to spare for Olivia or Gwen, his attention immediately and wholeheartedly captured by the stallion.