Chapter 73

"Ladies and gentlemen: All rise. It is a great honor for the Edinburgh Horse Show to welcome Elizabeth II, Queen of Scotland!"

At the announcement, Elizabeth entered the Royal Box, specially constructed for the occasion. She remained standing as the band played God Save the Queen. Then, instead of taking her seat, she remained standing as Karla, Mary, and Ann entered, followed by Princess Anne and then by the Duke of Northumbria. Although she had invited Barbara, Ali, and the others to join her in the Royal Box, they had begged off, taking an adjacent box instead.

When everyone was present in the Royal Box, the Queen addressed the crowd: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure tonight to welcome to Scotland my dear friend, Queen Karla of Bohemia, along with her sisters, Ann, Duchess of Suffolk, and Mary, Duchess of Norfolk. They are now princesses of the Kingdom of Bohemia, as their sister, the Queen, is also Duchess of Newcastle. In addition, my daughter, Princess Anne, is with us in, for her, a very unaccustomed rôle as a spectator at a horse show.

"Unfortunately, she has been diagnosed with a back problem that precludes her riding competitively. Finally, it is with the greatest pride and pleasure that I welcome to the Royal Box His Grace, Donald, Duke of Northumbria. As most of you know, aside from everything else, he is Great Britain's greatest living hero and one of the greatest heroes of all time. He is here tonight to watch his wife, Duchess Marion, compete.

"In addition, full disclosure compels me to add that Her Bohemian Majesty and her sisters are not neutral observers. If you should see them on their feet cheering for Duchess Marion, I can only assure you that it is a perfectly normal reaction ... for daughters to cheer their mother.

"With that, let my thank you all for your very warm welcome, and let the show begin."

Meanwhile, in the paddock area Marion was waiting with John Fox and Satan. It had originally been planned for Duke and Sheena to come along to keep Satan company. But they elected not to bring the tigers when they thought about the possible panic created among the other horses in the show.

For his part, Satan just seemed to watch the goings-on with some interest, but more accurately with disdain. Occasionally he would nuzzle Marion's shoulder and once she gave him another apple.

She was pleased with her crimson jacket while the remainder of her riding habit that Nita Lucas had sent along was coal black. All of Satan's tack was black leather, too, and even his saddle blanket was black. The only notes of color were the ducal arms of Northumbria embroidered in full color and with gold thread on each side of the blanket. Marion thought it looked lovely, and it was clear that Satan was quite proud of his appearance. His coat had been groomed to the point that it gleamed blue-black under the arena's lights.

With a fanfare, the band signaled the start of the parade of riders. Competitors rode into the ring in numeric order based on the random numbers they had been assigned. Marion's was number one, so she eased up smoothly into the saddle.

The instant she did, Satan's head rose even higher as he displayed his pride at once again having his beloved mistress on his back. With just the slightest pressure from Marion's knee, Satan walked out into the ring and began to circle it, followed by each of the other competitors in turn. Reaching the Royal Box, Satan stopped, turned and then bowed to Her Majesty while Marion doffed her riding helmet. Rising, he resumed his stately walk around the ring.

With her lips moving imperceptibly, Marion whispered that his movements had been perfect — almost as smooth and flowing as the tigers would have been. By now they were three-quarters of the way around the ring, and both Marion and Satan could easily see the other horses that were following in their wake. While some remained under perfect control, others were obviously high-strung and were dancing sideways and otherwise acting up in ways their riders were not able to fully control.

Completing the circle of the ring, Satan took his position in what would be the beginning of the line of riders that would stand facing the Royal Box. At that point, Satan stood as still as a statue with his head up high. When all the riders were assembled, there was polite applause from the crowd, and again led by Satan, the horses filed out of the ring.

The first scheduled event of the evening was show riding; show jumping was the last. To Marion's surprise, Satan indicated he wanted to watch the show riding. There were four-, six-, and eight-gaited horses competing, each showing its accomplishments. Satan appeared to be very interested in the whole process, and she noted that he shook his head slightly every time a mount made an error.

In fact, it was soon apparent to Marion that Satan's eyes were far sharper than the judges'. While they missed a number of minor faults, Satan missed none. At times it was difficult for her to determine what the horse had done wrong, but each time she mentally reviewed the horse's movements just prior to Satan's head shake and then she remembered what had attracted his attention. Finally, to her utter amazement, he indicated that he wanted to enter the show riding, too.

Leading him back to where John Fox was waiting with the groom, she explained what Satan wanted.

Fox only shook his head and laughed. "Your Grace, it could be done easily if you wish. You are entered in the show and have your competition number. Technically, any horse is eligible to compete in any event, but as you know, training has become so specialized no jumper ever enters the show riding, nor does any show horse ever enter the jumping competition. But they could."

With a grin he added, "What do you think his chances would be?"

"John, I think he can do it. In fact, I know he can," Marion replied. Then she told Fox how Satan shook his head every time a horse made a mistake. Concluding she said, "I think Satan really wants to do it. As for his chances, I have no idea. But you've said that he is the most capable horse you've ever seen. It seems that the only limiting factor for him is what he wants to do."

Then she gently stroked the horse's muzzle evoking a soft whinny of happiness and said, "He seems to enjoy having me on his back. I'm certain he won't disappoint himself, and he can't disappoint me. After all, as you said, how many jumping horses have competed in show riding in the last twenty-five years?"

Fox just shook his head and went off to tell the show officials of Marion's decision to enter Satan in the show riding. When he returned, he was grinning. "They almost fell over when I told them what you're going to do," he said. There was a scramble to check the rules, but then they found that I was correct.

"Anyway, because the program has been printed with the appearance sequence in it, you and Satan will appear last."

Then he paused, knitted his brow and added, "The problem is, of course, that you will be the last rider in the show event and the first in jumping. Won't that bother Satan?"

"Not at all!" Marion exclaimed. "In fact, it's really another reason to do it. It provides an opportunity for him to warm up a bit."

Finally the last of the scheduled competitors completed her ride and the public-address announcer declared, "There has been an addition to the competition in show riding. Now entering the ring is Satan, ridden by Her Grace, Marion, Duchess of Northumbria."

He paused and then added, apparently ad-libbing, "This is unprecedented in my experience. First, as you all know, Satan is entered in the jumping competition, and is highly regarded as a jumper. However, he is only five years old. This is far too young for a horse to be adequately trained in the demanding gaits of the show ring. Every one of the competitors you have seen so far this evening is at least ten years old, and most are over thirteen. But we will see. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Satan."

Recognizing that Satan had been paying far closer attention to the show riding than she had, Marion resolved to merely sit up straight and let Satan do it by himself. Her ride was utterly flawless; Satan made no mistakes of any kind. Finally, completing the routine, he ended in front of the Royal Box and again bowed to Her Majesty.

When he did, both Elizabeth and Anne were on their feet applauding wildly, while Karla, Ann, and Mary could scarcely control their enthusiasm. At that point the PA announcer came on again and announced that there had been zero faults and the time in the ring was substantially under the best previous time.

After the intermission during which the jumps were set up, Marion again rode Satan out into the ring. Again he bowed to the Royal Box and then took his position at the starting point. Once there, he again stood as still as a statue with his head up awaiting the starting signal.

When it came, he was off like a shot and began to take the jumps perfectly. There were oohs and aahs from the audience as he cleared each jump with apparently feet to spare. When he completed his jumps, the time was announced to the stunned amazement of the crowd. Satan had set a new record for the show, having completed the circuit with no faults fifteen seconds faster than the previous record.

Again the PA announcer ad-libbed when he said, "Good grief! As I noted before, Satan is only five years old. Moreover, he's a stallion. What do you suppose his stud fees will be? Never have we seen a horse in his class! He is unbelievable." While he was making the announcement, Satan was dancing around the ring proudly accepting the applause of the crowd.

Patting his neck, Marion whispered, "Thank you, darling, for making me look so good. You are a wonder!" Hearing the praise from his beloved mistress, he quietly whinnied in pleasure. She realized that he had done it just for her.

When the jumping concluded, no one was even close to Satan's time. In fact, Marion had noted that a number of the competitors appeared to be just going through the motions so disheartened were they by Satan's performance. They realized they were effectively out of the competition before they even appeared in the ring.

Following the competition, Elizabeth and Karla were escorted down from the Royal Box to a microphone set up in front of it. The awards were set up on a table behind them, and one after the other, the lesser awards were announced and the winners approached the Queen to receive them. Finally, there were only three awards left: the winner of the show riding, the winner of the jumping, and the overall winner of the show. This last award usually caused problems due to the difficulty of comparing show riding with jumping. But not this time: Satan had won them both.

At the microphone, Elizabeth was holding the jumping trophy in her arms. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say that this show, like so many others we have attended, had no particular meaning to me. I would like to say it, but I cannot.

"The winner of the jumping trophy, Her Grace, Marion, Duchess of Northumbria, aside from everything else, is my closest personal friend. Furthermore, I am painfully familiar — as is Princess Anne — with Satan's jumping prowess. We have had the occasion often to be vainly trying to keep up with him as he chases two Royal Bengal tigers over the moors of Whitfield.

"At this time I have another announcement to make. While the public-address announcer said that he has never seen a show in which a single horse competed in both show riding and jumping, there is another skill Satan has. He's also the fastest horse I've ever seen. Accordingly, to utilize his talents more fully, Her Grace has entered Satan in the Grand National at Aintree. She will ride Satan in that race as she so capably rode him here tonight.

"The fact is, you see, that Satan has the ability to test his speed daily. His best friends are the two Bengal tigers I referred to a moment ago. Since they are far faster than any race horse, Satan has been building up his speed by racing against them. He never wins, but his speed has steadily improved. And as I said, he is already the fastest horse I've ever seen."

She paused for a moment and then added, "Finally, I would like to add a note for the benefit of someone who might be tempted to steal such a valuable horse. There are two problems with such an idea: First, as far as anyone knows, there is only one person alive who Satan will allow on his back, and that is his beloved mistress. I'm sure some of you noticed how proud he looked tonight. Well, Satan always looks proud when Marion is on his back. In fact, while you may have been impressed with his performance tonight, to us it was decidedly old hat. It's what we see every time Marion mounts him.

"The second reason a theft would not be a very smart idea is his friendship with two tigers. Together, they weigh nearly 1,200 pounds. Frankly, there are much more pleasant things to think about than what would be left of a person — or persons — after two furious Royal Bengal tigers finish with them." She shook her head sadly and added, "It's my understanding that there would only be pieces left ... very small pieces!"

She presented the trophy to Marion and kissed her warmly. Then she introduced Karla who presented her mother with the riding trophy and the trophy for having the best horse in the show.

Elizabeth had the last word for the audience. "These trophies will be going back to Prendwick Castle tonight where they will probably go on the mantel along with certain other trophies."

She paused, giggled in the cutest manner, utterly startling the spectators with the unexpected sound, and then concluded, "I am not at liberty to tell you what the other trophies are, except to say that two more will be added in the very near future."

Both Marion and Karla howled with laughter at her quip, while none of the other spectators had the slightest idea what was so funny.

When the ceremonies were concluded, Marion found herself surrounded by reporters. There were the usual group that covered equine activities for magazines and newspapers, but there were also general reporters who had been attracted by the Queen's presence. Finally, there were even a couple of general sports reporters who were present because of rumors that had circulated prior to the show regarding Satan's extraordinary abilities. Although Satan's reins were just trailing in front of him, he was standing proudly with his head up at Marion's side.

Tom Bowen, one of the regular sports reporters, had been admiring Satan. After identifying himself and his media affiliation he said, "Your Grace, can you tell us anything more about Satan? For example, is it true that no one else can ride him?"

"That's a good question, Mr. Bowen," Marion replied, "and it's one I don't believe anyone can fully answer except Satan himself. And he's not talking. We do know that no one else has ever been able to, including several very experienced jockeys."

She gently stroked Satan's muzzle, evoking another quiet whinny of joy and said, "I truly love this horse, and I guess he loves me, too. Our trainer, John Fox, says that Satan's joy in life is derived from making me happy and proud of him. So far, there has been absolutely nothing I have ever asked him to do that he hasn't done perfectly."

Then she grinned and added, "I must be honest with you: It was Satan's own idea for him to enter the show riding portion of the competition." Then she explained how Satan had just carefully watched the other horses and instantly spotted every fault. "Since it was obvious to me that he knew what was expected, I was certain he wouldn't disgrace us, and he certainly didn't. Don't you agree?"

"He entered himself?" Bowen asked incredulously.

"John Wolf entered him," Marion replied, "but only after Satan made it very clear to both of us that that was what he wanted to do."

"What are your plans for the Grand National?" Bowen followed up. "I gather from what Her Majesty said that you will be riding him in it."

"Until we figure out a way to get someone else on his back, I'm afraid I'll have to," Marion agreed. "As far as tactics are concerned, there are none. I know absolutely nothing about a steeplechase. So all I intend to do is to give Satan his head and let him get the job done. We're sure he can do it, though."

At that point Marion was joined by Karla. Turning to her daughter she said, "That reminds me: horse racing is called 'the sport of kings.' When are you going to get involved, daughter? Her Majesty has a string of race horses. Surely you're not going to let her stay ahead of you?"

Karla appeared thoughtful, and then gently stroked Satan's muzzle. It was an unconscious act on her part, for she knew the extent to which Satan was a one-woman horse. Nevertheless, he nuzzled her hand and then licked it. Karla and Marion exchanged looks of pleased surprise.

Then she said, "Mother, it's very simple. As soon as you breed Satan, I would adore having one of his foals. Can you imagine what they will be like?"

"He is the most beautiful horse I've ever seen," Bowen interjected. "His conformation is utterly perfect." Then he looked at the two women and added, "I guess it must run in the family, though. Certainly the two of you are both perfect females."

They thanked him for the compliment and Marion agreed to see about breeding Satan. Then she added, "You know what, daughter? I think you're going to have to ride him. And from the way he's behaving, I truly believe he will let you."

The following day, Saturday, Ann and Mary married Mark and Mike. Again Her Majesty was in attendance, and again the Lord joined the two in holy wedlock. That afternoon there was another reception at Prendwick for the friends and neighbors. But unlike the prior two receptions, this time the villagers were relaxed and greeted both the Queen and Princess Anne like old friends, which is the same way they were treated by them. Again there was a wedding dinner and again they all trouped down to The Queen's Arms for after-dinner drinks.

It was still early in the evening when the newly-weds returned to the castle. Marion, Caroline Campbell and Barbara Sloan took Mary and Ann into the bathroom with them, while Karla and Elizabeth took the men to their bath.

Marion cradled both girls' heads against her shoulders while they floated in the giant tub. As they did, Barb and Cara gently massaged musk oil into their skin. Cara was working on Ann's perfect skin when she muttered, "What a stinking waste..."

"What's the trouble?" Marion asked. For her part, Ann was almost asleep from the effects of the sensuous massage.

"What a shame to waste such perfection on my son, Mark," Cara explained. Then she giggled.

"Now what's so funny?" Marion asked.

"I was thinking that the girls' plan may have backfired," Cara replied. "Ann has been complaining about having a small cunt. If she really thinks she's so small, why did she and Mary work so hard to make the guys' cocks even larger than they were? On the other hand, she's always said she's a masochist, so..."