The fever returned to him as he felt the warmth of Elizabeth’s cheek draw closer. All the lingering anger and angst in his soul melted away as she closed her eyes and inched closer and closer. If there was heaven on this earth, Wil decided, this was it. Without any conscious thought he began to do the same.<br/><br/>Just as their lips were about to brush against one another she pulled away. Wil’s eyes shot open to see what was the matter, revealing to him the most amazing sight. There before him was his horse, riderless yet safe, walking towards them with its long, powerful gait. Wil jumped up almost instantly at the sight and raced towards his horse, laughing.<br/><br/>“Ah knew 'at thief cooldn’t ride ye, an' ye wooldn’t follaw heem either! Gawd! Ah am sae happy Ah coods kiss ye too!” he said as his hands gently fell on the Morningstar’s head and began to rub and scratch its jowls the way the horse enjoyed. For his part, the stallion whinnied loudly at the touch of its longtime master before he began sniffing Wil’s pockets for something to eat. Not having anything handy, Wil took the horse by the bridle and led it back to Elizabeth, beaming.<br/><br/>“We ur saved, Elizabeth. Ah suggest ye ride an' i’ll leid frae th' groond. Thes is mah saddle sae yoo’ll need tae ride loch a man – raither than oan th' side – but don’t worrey. We’ll goang slowly tae be safe.”<br/><br/>As he spoke Wil gathered their things and began loading up the horse for travel. In the process he managed to find an apple and feed it to Morningstar as he worked. As he did he thought over their next steps and came to a realization.<br/><br/>“Ye micht be a wee nervoos abit ridin' alone coz ay yer ankle, but anythin' else wooldn’t be proper.” He looked at the oversized saddle as he continued. “Ah know it looks big enaw fur us both – it was meant fur a man wi' armor. But together we would be… in very close quarters. I’m afraid it would be intimate…” he added with his voice trailing off.<br/><br/>Truth be told he would have given anything to ride that close to her, their bodies touching along their entire length. His feelings for her weren’t the issue; instead he wanted to protect her from feeling taken advantage of even indirectly and in the slightest of ways. His objections were out of his sense of duty and decency, though, not stubborn principle. If she insisted that she wanted to ride with him then he would not object any further.<br/><br/>Once the horse was saddled and all was in readiness he stepped over to help her up and into the saddle.