Do not joke

"My king, the horse's horse shoes have been changed as you requested" said the stable man as he smiled and he looked at Liam who was busy feeding Nolan with some hay.

"Alright then, thank you" said Liam as he smiled.

"You are welcome my King, shall I bring the horse here now?" asked the stable master as he smiled.

"Yes, please do so" said Liam as he smiled.

"Alright my King, I will do so right away" said the stable master as he bowed his head and he walked away as Liam smiled at Nolan, he was his favourite horse, among the many horses that he had.

"Good Morrow your Majesty" said Wura with a smile as she walked into the stables, looking as excited as ever.

"Good Morrow Wura" said Liam as he smiled and he turned to look at Wura, he could recognize her sweet voice from anywhere, even though that sweet voice of hers could equally be sweet in insulting him and annoying him.

"I am sorry that I am late your Majesty" said Wura as she smiled and she walked to where Liam was.

"There is no need to be sorry at all Wura, I only just arrived here a few moments ago" said Liam as he smiled.

"Ahh, I see…" said Wura.

"But still, that does not speak well of my your Majesty, I usually never sleep in" said Wura as she did not know why, but she felt like she had to explain herself.

"You do not need to explain anything to me Wura, I understand" said Liam as he smiled.

"Besides, you worry yourself too much" said Liam as he smiled.

"I see" said Wura as she smiled, maybe he was right, she did worry herself too much.

"Ahh your Majesty, thank you for the clothes as well" said Wura as she smiled and she looked down, she was thanking him quite a lot this morning, she was sure that he was tired of hearing her say so.

"No need to thank me" said Liam as he smiled.

"You cannot possibly learn how to ride a horse in a dress now could you?" asked Liam as he laughed, he was sure that the dress would immobilize you, seeing as you needed to be free to get on and off of the horse.

"I guess not your Majesty" said Wura as she laughed, he was right, she would not be comfortable riding in a dress, this was much more better, she felt more comfortable in this.

Although this still felt a bit weird for her, she never wore pants before, she was used to wearing dresses, nothing but dresses, so she felt a little bit exposed with her legs out there in the open, even though they were covered, she felt even more self-conscious on her way here, she could promise you that she was sure that the guards looked at her weirdly on her way here.

"You do not seem to be uncomfortable" said Liam as he smiled, he could see it written all over her face.

"Well I am not used to wearing such outfits your Majesty" replied Wura honestly, she was wearing black leather pants that were not too tight, and she wore a blue chemise.

Liam was wearing his usual clothing, except for the fact that he did not have his crown on like usual, it made him look calmer.

"I have only ever worn dresses" said Wura as she smiled sheepishly.

"Well too bad that horse riding is uncomfortable in dresses then" said Liam as he smiled, he did agree with her, the leather pants on her were not too tight, but too tight for his liking, they showed the shape of her delicate legs, and he was sure that she walked through the Castle looking like that.

"I agree there your Majesty" said Wura as she nodded her head, and in that same moment Nolan neighed as if reminding the two humans that he was still here.

"What a needy boy you are Nolan" said Liam as he laughed and he turned to look at his jealous horse, who just waned more attention.

Wura laughed as she finally looked at Nolan as he neighed once again.

"Hello Nolan" said Wura as she laughed and she patted Nolan on his snout as he neighed once again.

"Do not give him any attention, it will only make him even more spoilt Wura" said Liam as he laughed and he looked at his horse.

"Oh do you not think that you are being a bit mean your Majesty, Nolan is a good boy" said Wura as she laughed and Nolan neighed as if agreeing with what she said.

"Traitor" said Liam as he laughed.

"Oh your Majesty, you are being rather petty" said Wura as she laughed and she ran her fingers through Nolan's mane.

"You just called me petty?" asked Liam as if he could not believe it.

"Well yes, of course, why would a man fight with his horse?" asked Wura as she laughed and she did not look at him at all.

"So you side with Nolan rather than me?" asked Liam with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I side with whoever is right, whether it be man, or horse" said Wura as she laughed and Nolan neighed as Liam shook his head, it would seem that his wife would pamper Nolan too much, Nolan was already spoilt as spoilt could be.

"I see, well I am sure that my horse would be more than happy to teach you how to ride" said Liam as he laughed and that made Wura turn to look at him.

"I thought that you were a man of your word your Majesty, but it turns out that you are far from that" said Wura as she frowned and Liam wondered how she could have changed so quickly.

"I was only joking Wura" said Liam as he smiled, the way she resulted to insulting him so quickly was just amusing, she was like a child who threw a tantrum any time she did not get what she wanted.

"Well please do not joke like that your Majesty… I really do not want you to joke on such a thing" said Wura as looked very serious.

"This really means a lot to you does it not?" asked Liam.

"Of course it does your Majesty… I have always wanted to ride a horse" said Wura as she was really excited by this entire thing that if Liam refused to teach her, she would be unhappy, it would be like when her mother took away her pony from her, her dream would be shattered.

"Believe me when I say Wura, that I always keep my promises, especially when it comes to you" said Liam as he smiled and Wura looked at him, she could not tell if he was lying, or if he was being totally honest.

"Hmm" replied Wura.

"My King, I have brought the horse you asked for" came the voice of the stable master as he entered into the stables with Ayo's reins in his right hand as he led the horse.

"Ahh Good Morrow my Queen" said the stable master as he noticed Wura's presence and he smiled.

"Good Morrow" said Wura as the frown on her face was replaced with a smile.

"You can leave the horse here now, please clean Nolan, and bring him to me when you are done" said Liam as he looked at the stable master.

"Yes my king, I will do as you have said" said the stable master as he bowed his head and he handed Liam Ayo's reins as he smiled as Wura and Wura moved away as he opened the door to Nolan's stable as he took Nolan by his reins as he led him out the other entrance of the stable.

"Oh hello boy, hello Ayo" said Wura as she laughed and she walked to pet her horse.

"Did you miss me?" asked Wura as she laughed and she patted her horse on his snout, he was just so quiet, so gentle.

"He is awfully quiet, do you not think so your Majesty?" asked Wura as she looked at Liam.

"Well all horses are different, and your horse Ayo here, seems to be a very gentle boy" said Liam as he laughed.

"I guess so your Majesty" said Wura as she stroked the mane of her beloved, gentle horse, who had not neighed even once.

"Besides, it is good that he is calm and quiet, he is the perfect horse for a beginner" said Liam as he smiled at Wura as she was focused on her horse alone.

"Shall we go?" asked Liam.

"Of course" said Wura as she smiled and Liam walked ahead of her as he walked out of the stables and she held Ayo's reins in her right hand as she followed after Liam and Ayo followed obediently after her.

Liam walked into the open ground of the stables, as he opened the little iron gate of the stables as there was more open ground before the clear ground was now bordered by the lush forest.

"We will stay here for now" said Liam as he turned to look at Wura, they would ride out to the forest when she got a proper hang of things.

"Alright your Majesty" said Wura as she smiled and she turned to look at her horse, she could not believe that she actually had a horse to call her own, it was like a dream come true.

"The first thing you need to learn is how to saddle your horse" said Liam as that would have been the ideal way to start.

"But Ayo is already saddled your Majesty" said Wura as she looked at Liam.

"Yes I know that Wura, I asked that he be saddled, you can learn how to saddle him yourself later" said Liam as he knew that she was more eager to ride than anything else.

"Ahh I see your Majesty" said Wura as she nodded her head.

"Before you can ride, you need to know how to mount your horse by yourself" said Liam.

"Oh that is easy your Majesty" said Wura as she laughed.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Liam as he was amused by her sheer confidence.

"Of course I am your Majesty" said Wura as she replied In a matter of fact tone.

"Well then go ahead" said Liam as he smiled, he wanted to see how this would play out, since she seemed so confident.

"Umm…" said Wura as she turned to look at Ayo, and she realized how she was a bit shorter than him, then it dawned on her, she did not know how she was supposed to get on him, he was almost two times taller than her.

Wura turned to look at Liam as all he did was smile he had an "I am waiting" kind of expression on his face, she should not have ran her big mouth, she was so confident that she could mount on him with ease.

"Well here goes your all Wura" said Wura to herself as she turned to look at Ayo as she stood beside him, she saw the stirrups, she knew that they were supposed to help her somehow, but she just did not know how.

Wura turned to look back at Liam who had his arms crossed over his chest as he looked like he was enjoying her display of mockery.

Wura scoffed, it was clear that he was not going to help her at all, so she would show him, of course she could do it, she could get on top of her horse by herself, it was no big deal.

Wura rolled her eyes as she looked at her horse, and she put her right foot in the stirrup.

"Here goes nothing Wura" she said to herself as she sighed and in one singular motion she lifted her left foot into the air as she tried to put her leg across her horse but she failed miserable as she almost lost her footing and she almost fell down.

"That was just a normal mistake" said Wura as she calmed herself down and she turned to look at Liam.

"Mhmm" said Liam as he did not seem to believe her at all, he just had this smile that Wura found annoying on his face.

Wura turned back to face this mountain before her, she could not fail now, she could not make a fool out of herself in front of Liam who looked like he was enjoying seeing her struggle like this.

"Ugh" said Wura as she used all her might to throw her body over her horse but she ended up with her belly flat on the saddle as her legs were dangling in the air on the one side and her head and hands on the other.

Wura counted herself lucky that her horse was very gentle and that he did not move at all, because she herself was in discomfort like this, she wondered how she even got in this position.

Liam stifled a laugh as he looked at Wura's feet dangling in the air, this was just hilarious, could she look any more ridiculous? She was obviously stuck and struggling, but her pride would not allow her to ask for help.

"Ughh" said Wura as she groaned and she slid off the side of the saddle as she landed on the ground on her feet luckily.

Wura's upper body was hurting her right now, she did not know that it required so much strength, Liam and all the other knights made it look so easy that she was fooled, yes she was fooled by them all.

Wura turned to look at Liam, no, she would not bring herself to ask him for help, not when he looked like he was enjoying her suffer like this, Wura hmphed as she turned back to look at Ayo and with determination, she put her right leg in the stirrup once again as she lifted her other leg to go over and she failed miserably… again.

"Ugh, this is so annoying" said Wura to herself as she groaned.

Liam sighed, he was sure that she had, had enough of fooling herself, so he lazily walked forward as he held Wura's waist, which caught her by surprise as he lifted her up and he sat her on top of Ayo as she snapped out of her surprised state.

"If I had let you go on any further, we would have stayed here until you got yourself hurt" said Liam as he laughed and he let go of her waist.

"I was getting the hang of it your Majesty" said Wura as she would not admit defeat.

"Of course you were" said Liam as he sighed and it made Wura frown.

"If people mounted on horses the way you do, then I am sure that horses would be scared of humans" said Liam as he laughed and Wura scoffed at him, he did not have to rub it in, she did admit that she had made a fool out of herself, but he should have just left it at that.

"Anyway, let me help you down, so I can show you how to mount a horse properly" said Liam as he smiled.

"I can get down by myself your Majesty" said Wura.

"Alright then" said Liam with a smile as Wura managed to get off Ayo by herself.

"You see" said Wura proudly as she smiled.

"I do see" said Liam as he laughed.

"Anyway, when you want to mount a horse, you must first put your right leg here" said Liam as Wura moved aside as Liam demonstrated his actions as he put his right leg in the stirrup.

"And then you pull yourself up like this" said Liam as he did so in one swift motion and he was on top of Ayo.

Wura was in awe, she had to admit that he made it look very easy, he did it with so much ease to the point that she was jealous of his strength.

"There" said Liam as he got down from Ayo.

"Now you try" said Liam as he moved aside.

"Okay" said Wura as she put her leg in the stirrup and she held Liam hold her waist.

"You pull yourself up and I will help you" said Liam as Wura nodded her head and she did as she was told as Liam pushed her up and she was on top of Ayo.

"There you go" said Liam as he smiled.

"You need more practice" he said as Wura nodded her head, how could she ride if she could not even mount her horse by herself, she really needed to learn how to do so herself.

"Let us give it few more tries, and then we will see" said Liam as he smiled and he helped Wura down as she nodded her head.

After a few more tries, Wura was now able to at least help herself up, she gave a mighty pull as she heaved and she got on top of Ayo all by herself, she was overjoyed.

"I did it!!" said Wura in absolute Joy as she was proud of herself.

"Yes you did" said Liam as he smiled at her, how could she be so proud and get so childish.

Wura held on to Ayo's reins as she looked down, she was towering above the ground, she felt like a giant, she had to admit that she was a bit scared at first from the height, but her fear turned into thrill that not too long from now, she would be riding her horse.

"My King, I have brought your horse as you requested" said the stable master as he walked to where Liam and Wura were with Nolan following behind him as he held his reigns.

"Thank you" said Liam as he smiled and he collected the reins from the stable master.

"Wura I will teach you how to ride in a moment" said Liam as he looked at Wura.

"Okay" replied Wura in happiness as she did not pay attention to Liam at all as Liam laughed, it was clear that her attention was elsewhere.

Wura put her feet in the stirrups as she smiled and she patted Ayo's mane.

"You are such a good, boy, a very good boy" said Wura as she smiled and she patted him as the horse made no sound at all.

"Have you brushed his fur?" asked Liam as he looked at the stable master.

"Yes my king, I have" said the stable master as he replied swifltly.

Wura was happily petting away, when suddenly out of nowhere, Ayo neighed as if he had been frightened as he lunged into the air and Liam and the stable master turned to look at what had happened, and before they knew it, Ayo went galloping away.

"Ahhhh…" screamed Wura as she held on tightly to Ayo's reins as he went running as fast as he could.

"Wura!!" called Liam in total shock as he saw Ayo gallop away with Wura on his back.

"Your Majesty!!" called Wura as she held on as tightly as she could.