Sultan tossed his head up abruptly. He heard hoofbeats coming from down the hall.

  “Someone’s coming,” he warned.

  She jumped and snorted with fright. The arena gate slammed open, and in came Chase, holding another long black whip with a copper tip on the end.

  “You really thought I’d let you off?” he said feverishly.

  Laci was wild with fear now. Chase’s expression was murderous. Their last interaction was fresh in his mind. He snapped the whip behind her, and she galloped off.

  “Laci, don’t let your fear of him win. Fight back,” Sultan told her.

  She stared at the whip, waiting for it to drop. As soon as Chase drew it back, she ran to attack him. To her surprise, he held his ground, stepping into her space and hitting her in the head with the whip. She flew backwards, and her anxiety returned. He sent her back out at the fastest pace she could manage.

  They went back and forth for almost an hour. Chase lowered the whip to slow her down, Laci dove at him, he struck back, and she ran away. Every time she hissed or squealed, he struck her. He forced her to back up in front of him, slapping the whip with no mercy when she hesitated. As she raced around him, he lost his temper.

  “I couldn’t care less if you break, Laci of Lebanon! Have it your way! Get thrown in stasis just like the rest of your insane friends!” he shouted. “They’ll send you right back. It’s your choice!”

  He lowered the whip a final time, and she slowed down and stood by the wall, staring down at the sand, sides heaving. He walked over to her and she stayed put, allowing herself to be bridled. Blood spilled out and splashed on the ground when he pried her mouth open. Nathan, Alissa, and a dirt brown rabbit were watching from over the gate. Chase called the rabbit over.

  “Come on, Percy. If she’s not ready now, she never will be.”

  He lined her up with the mounting block. She was so exhausted she could hardly see. Her vision was darkening around the edges, and her whole body was dripping with foaming sweat. Her muscles were shivering uncontrollably from being overloaded. She had no strength left in her to resist him.

  Percy swung a leg over and picked up the reins with a heavy hand. She curled her neck under to evade the pressure, but did not throw him off. He kicked her forward and she stepped out into a low jog, hanging her head in shame and distress. Her eyes were sharper than knives, and her ears were stuck sideways from the pain. Sultan was forced to bear witness to her suffering, but he didn’t do it quietly. He laid his ears back and growled, circling around Chase furiously. Percy bounced around like an amateur, punting her sides with the spurs with every stride.

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  “Get her to collect. Make her work on that bridle. She knows how to ride well. She acts wild, but she’s nothing more than a lazy filly,” Chase said.

  Nathan and Alissa were mesmerized. Even with no energy left in the tank, Laci performed passage and piaffe better than horses who’d been ridden for years. The rabbit rode canter lead changes, half passes, and pirouettes on her flawlessly.

  “I guess the quick and dirty method did the trick,” Nathan whispered.

  Alissa peered at Laci’s face as she passed by, and saw blood running down from her eyes like tears. “Chase, can you see that? I think she’s done.”

  Chase didn’t seem to hear her, and Percy tried to get Laci into an extended canter on the side wall. She was starting to lose focus and coordination, stumbling every few strides and struggling to keep up the pace. Chase tapped her with the whip to try to get her moving, and she suddenly took off sprinting. Percy gathered the reins and pulled back hard, trying to regain his balance. Laci blacked out at full speed and skidded into the ground, throwing him off the side of her as she fell. He stood up and dusted himself off, somehow unharmed.

  The three horses gathered around Laci. Nathan checked her pulse and found it was still strong, but she was significantly overheated. She wasn’t breathing as much as she should. Her eye hung loose in its socket, drifting listlessly.

  Chase shoved his mane back nervously. “What am I going to do? I can’t tell the doctors. They’ll report me and I’ll be off the case.”

  “Put her in the shower and pray to Epona that she’ll be fine,” Alissa said.

  They dragged her by the hind legs all the way out and up two flights of stairs to her new room, and threw her in the bottom of the shower. Alissa turned on the water, adjusting it to the coldest setting. Her chest rose and fell suddenly, and her breathing started to return to normal.

  “Thank the high heavens,” Chase exhaled.

  “You’ve had enough for one day. Come down to the kitchen and eat something. This mare is taking over your life,” Alissa said, putting a hoof to his shoulder.

  The three of them left Laci laying under the shower, pouring on her like rain. They wandered down to the kitchen, and Alissa started heating up a kettle for tea.

  “I’ve got to go move some horses around in the West wing,” Nathan said. “Good luck with your fiery mare.”

  He jogged off, and once he was out of sight, Chase squeezed closer to Alissa. She giggled a little, swishing her tail like a little filly. She took his hooves in her own and pressed them against her waist, then reached up and brushed the mane out of his face.

  “You didn’t come down here because you wanted tea, did you?” she teased.

  He smiled mischievously. “I just like my tea with a lot of sugar.”

  They both dove in for a kiss at the same time, and she buried her hooves in his mane, pressing her body up against his. She paused for a moment, looking in his caramel eyes with wonder. Her face was flushed with excitement and embarrassment all at once.

  “Oh, Chase. You still think you’re in the show ring, don’t you? I bet you’ve done this with a thousand mares,” she laughed.

  “I’ll tell you a secret,” he whispered. “None of them felt anything like this.”