It only hurts for a moment. If you ride every day, that soreness goes away.

[Not that he didn't enjoy it, Daisy warm and fragrant and pressed so close to his chest. The bumps and twist in the road that cause her to fall more firmly against him.]

I am Grisha. He listens to my advice on war.

[And often chose the option that granted the tsar more power or more gold, letting the state of the coffers decide the path. Nevermind the lost lives of soldiers, or the paltry rations they had to survive on.]

But he doesn't want to.