♛ⒹⒺⒸⒺⓅⓉⒾⓄⓃ♜ discussion

(Stable's filled with the Royal Families and other's Horses.)

It was getting rather dark outside as the sun settled down over the crest of the hill, which made it the perfect time for Lyric to sneak away and go riding. That was not to say he could not do so during the day, or that he was up to something, he simply enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. There were no servants or stable boys to bother him with their stumbling speech and their lack of conversation which made an awkward situation much worse. He could put his own briddle on his horse for goodness sake! And maybe if he was lucky he'd even be able to take his mask off. The thing did get awfully stuffy, and often he had to envy those of lower ranking. If it wasn't for his sister being wed to the King than he'd have helf the mind to never wear one himself, no matter the price that may put on his head. Walking forwards on the balls of his feet he stopped in front of the stall of one of the Chestnut mares. His own stallion was farther back and he didn't want to waste time daddling about to find the specfic riding gear. "Hey there girl." He murmured softly to the horse, gently brushing his fingers against her cheek. Turning back a little he went to go grab one of the saddles to set her up.

Skarlette had been sent off for the time being, her duties over until she was needed again. The princesses, whom she usually looked after, we out and that meant she should simply be out from under foot. So, she decided it was about time she sneak off to the stables, as she so loved to do. She had always loved horses, ever since she was a girl, but as someone of such low ranking she would never be able to own one. She had never even had the chance to ride one, though she had thought about it frequently, and how it might feel to be so high up so she could be the one looking down on everyone. But, really, she wasn't even supposed to be in the stables and would likely be punished severely if ever caught. She only got to sneak in every once in a while, late in the evening when it was getting dark and no one was around.

So, she peaked in before entering to make sure she would be alone, and she was. She went straight to the horse she liked to think of as her own. A black stallion that no one ever seemed to take out, probably because he was young and horribly behaved. She could pet him now, gently, but he was likely to bite if anything disturbed them. So, when he snapped at her as the door opened she was barely able to escape his teeth before ducking back into the corner. Her heart picked up speed when she realized it was one of the queen's brothers and she held her breath. She couldn't be caught.

Lyric tightened the belt to the mare's midsection, careful not to do it so that she would have trouble breathing. Out of the corner of his eyes he thought he saw the shadow of something. Distantly he heard the black stallion whiny before he shook his head with a small laugh. It seemed as if that was his greeting to everyone, but it only made sense since Lyric was his owner. Often the horse would even talk to him, if only to complain about his lack of food and his need to be outside. Of course people would think that he was insane to say so, but it was true, he had the uncanny power to speak with animals, which often was a nice perk. It almost made him feel as if he had some upperhand in the life he led. Pausing in front of the stallions gate he patted him on the nose fondly before reaching above his head to remove the briddle. It was engrained with his golden initial on the side and he was told it was always better to travel with them no matter what the horse. It would determine his identity was he to ever be attacked while out and about. Personally the man had never upset anyone or given them any reason to charge against him violently, but he brother-in-law wasn't at all a liked man.
Just as he was about to go back to the previous stable he stopped in his tracks, seeing the young girl in the corner. He could only judge by her lack of mask that she was the help. He looked at her with caution before speaking. "Hello?" Lyric said, almost as if in question before clearing his throat. "What are you doing out here?" This time his voice grew even more so hostile though he didn't mean for it to.

"I was just..." Skarlette began, ready and willing to put on her little show of innocence, at least until his question. His tone sparked her anger and her fists clenched at her sides. Innocence and obedience went out the window. "I'm off the clock sir and I came to check on the horses. I'll be on my way now." She straightened up her back and then turned, head held much too proudly for a maid, then started off toward the door without another word. She figured she might be punished for speaking to him as she did, but he deserved it. She had actually wanted to say more, but she managed to close up her mouth before it got too far. Where did he get off thinking that he could be so hostile for no reason? She hadn't been hurting anyone. Really she hadn't even been doing anything that wrong. She just wanted to see the horses and in her opinion that wasn't wrong at all. So, he could run off an tattle on her if he wanted, but she didn't think he would. At most he would take care of the problem himself and if that were the case she could always fight back. He would never speak of that.

Lyric could visibly see the change that occurred within her. Perhaps she was not used to being spoken to so harshly, but it wasn't his fault, it was as if though his sub-conscience reverted to speaking in such a way when with strangers. He could never really know who to trust, especially in a castle so trodden with liars and traitors, which is why he'd never given people much of a chance to talk. Despite this he found himself taking the few steps to reach her before grabbing her wrist. Why couldn't humans be as simple as animals. Though he wasn't going to apologize he didn't want to seem like the bad guy in this situation. "It's fine if you want to spend time in the stables, I'm just saying be sure not to touch the wrong horses. You're not a stablehand so there's no reason for you to even be in here." He eyed her before his gaze flickered back towards the stallion who just huffed.

Skarlette eyed him with a gaze that almost literally seemed to be full of fire. "I think I can decide for myself which horses to touch and not to touch," she told him. "And you don't have to be a stablehand to be in here." She tore her wrist from his hand then did something she had never dared to do before. She pointed and accusing finger right at him. "And don't you dare grab me again. I may be a maid but I am not a doll that you can just grab hold of and throw around." She clenched her jaw and kept her gaze on him this time, not bothering to turn around and storm off like she so wanted to. She wanted to see his reaction. She almost hoped he would give her a reason to say more or react further.

Lyric could've sworn he saw fire in her eyes but he shook his head as if in a daze before gripping his briddle in his hands, not exactly liking the fact she was talking back to him. The action alone was punishable by law, and she should've known better. "Well, these are the royals horses." He drawled out, gesturing towarsd his own and the rest of the lined stables that had the crest laid out on the doors, clear as day. "And I only grabbed you to tell you that. You can run off now." He spit out at her befor turning back on his heels, muttering under his breath to calm down before approaching the mare's stable. Gently he slid the mouth piece on and then the reigns over her head, glad to see she wasn't so skittish, he already knew it would be a struggle to even try getting it back on to Fitz.

"Yes, the royals horses. Too bad the royalty is too cowardly to actually tame all of them," Skarlette smirked at him before once again turning to walk away from him, her skirts rustling against the hay on the floor as she went. "Really, your poor stallion is going to shrivel up and die all cooped up in his stall like you have him. Might as well send him to the glue factory if you're too scared to actually touch him." She turned and glanced one last look at him. "You're right though, that mare is much more your style. Enjoy your ride sir, the weather is lovely." She snickered then picked up her bag, which she had dropped off when she entered the stables.

Lyric flinched slightly at her harsh words. He would never think to send his horse there. He just simply wasn't used to the responsibility. Sure he had to patience but every know and then he liked to go out with his bow and arrow which was stashed somewhere in the top compartments over the stables. More often than not that would make Fitz skittish and he'd end up on his bottom on the ground which was never a good position to be in. Seeing she was making a fool of him he glared slightly. This is why they didn't let the help do anything. But... it was almost as if though she were challenging him to something. "Well, would you like to ride him?" His voice was friendly, but there was no hostility. He wouldn't mind letting her join him for a few minutes, it would be an awfully good laugh to see her fall off her own high horse.

Skarlette spun around so fast it was a surprise that she didn't trip over her own skirts and end up on her bottom. "Ride him?" she asked, her voice raising an octave with the question. Once again her eyes seemed to shine with fire, though the hostility in them had disappeared like it had never been there in the first place. "You're not joking?" she asked him, "You would let me? You would let me ride him?" Her heart was racing in her chest and she was immediately over to the stallion. She didn't wait for the man to answer her question. She stood on her toes, got the tack necessary, then slipped into the stall with the horse.
It was surprisingly easy for her to soothe him this time, which was a relief. She had expected to be entirely embarrassed in front of the man, but this was better. Once the horse was calmed down enough she put the saddle onto him, re-soothed him, then continued putting all of the tack into its proper place. When it was finally done she led him carefully out of the stall, still surprised that he seemed to be behaving for the time being.

Just with that it seemed as if though all of her anger is gone, and without so much as a nod from him she went over and got him set up. Lyric was almost tempted to tell her he waas joking if only to see her horrified reaction, but he decided to play along. They probably wouldn't make it too far out from the stables before they had to turn around. He could of course always compell the stallion to be calm and orderly, but that took a lot of concentration and he wanted to see how she'd deal with him on her own. Yankin on the mares reigns he looked longingly up at the cieling where his weaponary was stashed before shrugging his shoulders. Maybe later. The sun had yet to go all the way down anyways. "How do you know how to set him up so well?" He asked peering over in their direction before walking up the them and adjustung his gear slightly like the perfectionist he was. "His name is Fitz by the way." He added before returning to the mare.

Skar wrinkled her nose at him as he fixed the tack for her. "I know how to do it because I've seen it done a million times before. I figured it couldn't be that hard, and I was right." She turned away from the man and instead look at the horse. "Alright. Fitz," she smiled just the smallest bit. She reached out her hand and tickled his nose lightly before stepping around on the side of him. She put her foot into the stirrup then swung herself up onto the horse in a flurry of skirts. She knew she should take the lady's form for riding, but she didn't want. She nudged him forward with her foot, doing everything from what she had seen. Fortunately, she had watched closely, and for a long time.
When they were out of the stables she looked back to the man and smirked. "I've never ridden a horse before," she told him before using the reigns and sending the horse flying forward, on purpose of course.

For some reason he couldn't picture the girl he'd spoken to only minutes ago was the same one right now. But that was only the horses doing, as soon as they were done she was bound to go to her bitter state, but he didn't mind the company, and it didn't seem like she'd be one for chit-chatting. He got onto the mare as well before following her at a slow gallop out of the stables.
"Oh really?" He asked with a tone of sarcasm. He believed her of course, though he didn't know how long she'd been the made many other guards and royals were likely to treat the help as simply that. The Help. Usually he was prone to as well but he didn't like remembering faces and holding grudges. As she went galloping off he couldn't help but to be envious of her. She bore no mask so she was able to feel the wind across her face and not be held back by some flimsy piece of over-expensive metal. Gritting his teeth he set into a slow run, not bothering to send them into a race. Fitz was the third fastest horse in the stalls, after the King's and Prince's horse of course.

Skar kept to the dark parts as she rode, not wanting to be caught and punished for stealing a horse, whether she had done so or not. Lyric was likely to say she had in order to keep himself from trouble. In any case, it was toward the back of her mind. Her heart was racing as he dream finally came true. She felt like she was flying. She was so high off the ground that it would have been terrifying had she had time to think about it. Her hair blew out behind her and she didn't care that it would be absolutely ruined by the time she got back to the stables. The wind whipped against her face and actually made her eyes water, but she didn't bother to wipe at it. She felt so free and alive, like she wasn't actually the person at the bottom, to be spit upon and ignored.
But, she was getting too far ahead of him and she knew she needed to slow down. She pulled on the reigns and brought Fitz to a much slower pace, though it was difficult to do. He was stubborn and it took just about all her upper body strength to finally get him to listen and then to turn him around in the direction of Lyric and the mare he was on.

Lyric kept his eyes on her the entire time to make sure she wasn't planning to stick to the shadows and then run off with his horse. He still didn't trust her, and he was sure after this he never would, he'd simply have to lock up Fitz's stable door like all the other royals did with their special pedigrees. For a few moments he allowed himself to enjoy the nature. It wasn't like the forests outside of the castle, but he did suppose it was better than nothing. Back then when he'd lived outside the walls of this dreaded castle he'd taken most things for advantaged, and now he simply wished he hadn't. Seeing her coming back over towards him he laughed softly under his breath with the stallion gave her a struggle in turning around. She was rather small, and the horse was rather strong. All too suddenly he realized he didn't have a name of this strange girl who he'd given permission to take his horse out for a ride. When she came close enough he spoke, but not too loudly. "What is your name?" It was less of a question as to whether or not she should tell him, and his words seemed to hold some authority behind them.

As she came closer to Lyric and the other horse Fitz seemed to become more agitated, but she did her best to sooth him. When he tried to start kicking she squeezed her thighs against him and held on tighter, just in case, but he eventually calmed enough. He was still fidgety but she was able to get him to walk at the same pace as the other horse. It was a small victory, but a victory none the less, both for her and the stubborn horse.
"I don't think it necessary for you to know my name," Skar replied to him when she heard his question. "Do you know the name of any other maid? I highly doubt it. Let us not pretend that my name is important to you in any way. You'll likely never see me again after this anyway." She looked to him with a neutral expression on her face, not quite daring him to challenge this, but pretty close to it.

When she refused to tell him her name he simply shrugged. He wasn't going to force her or pester he to. The list of people he knew in the castle only reached a total of ten, and anymore than that and his mind would explode.
"I suppose that's true, I don't know the names of any of the other maids, so there'd be no reason to care for yours." He said with a small shrug before falling into silence. Clearly if she wouldn't so much as tell him her name she wouldn't want to make small talk either and he wasn't opposed to that. He'd simply think to himself for a little while, it's a thing he did often and he was quite used to it.

Skarlette once again urged Fitz to walk a bit ahead. She started to gently stroke his mane as she rode. "You're a gorgeous one," she told the horse gently. "It's a shame you don't get to go out more, but you really ought to learn to behave." She didn't mind talking to the horse rather than the man just behind her. She wasn't a people person, and she especially wasn't someone who wanted to spend any time talking to this snobbish semi-royal. So, talk to the horse it was, and she wasn't even embarrassed about it.
But, then Fitz stepped onto branch and it broke with a loud snap. He threw his head back, bucked, and threw her right off onto the ground.

Lyric titled his head downards, clutching the reins in his left fist as he adjusted his mask, tempted to loosen it just a bit, but instead he tightened it. While doing so he could hear the maid talking softly to his horse, and with her last statement he felt as if it was a personal jab which he simply shrugged off as he made the mare go a bit faster. Only secons after he had passed her he heard Fitz make a fuss. Pulling the mare back around he looked down with amusement to see her on the ground before checking to see if she was even okay. Twisting off of the horse he reached for the stallions briddle before he could so much as think to run off somewhere. He'd simply been spooked by the branch, nothing more. "Are you okay?" He asked, hiding the amusement with a grimace as he peered down before extending a hand to help her up.

Skarlette ignored the hand that was offered to her, instead pushing herself off the ground with her own hands. When she was once again on her feet she wiped her hands onto her skirts. "I'm fine," she said, not bothering to mention that her bottom hurt terribly and would probably hurt terribly for days to come. "I expected it would happen at some point or other." She smoothed out her corset then looked up at him, straight into his face, as if daring him to laugh at her. "I suppose its time to put him back then. I can do it on my own if you wish to continue your ride, sir." She walked carefully around the stallion then took the reins from Lyric. She once again used all her strength to get the horse turned around toward the direction of the stable. It would be quite the walk back, but she knew Fitz was not likely to let her back on.

He rolled his eyes at her stubborness as she got herself to her feet. "No, I guess I'll accompany you back." Lyric said, withholding his sigh. But her falling off the horse had been a blessing in disguise. Now he could simply return her to the stables and go out on his usual nightly ride. He let the reings slip from his fingers before walking beside her. Soon he noticed that she made no move to get back atop the horse. Pausing for a moment he looked around impatiently wondering if she was scared to do so. With the progress of their slow walk they'd never make it back in a reasonable hour. Of course he could still see the lit up castle from her, but it barely looked to be he size of an oversized ant. "Would you like to ride the mare back instead. She's more calm." He finally suggested after a long moments worth of silence.

Skarlette flashed him an angry look, that fire once again seeming to flare up inside of her. "I'm not scared to get back on top of him. This is out of courtesy. He's almost never ridden and it isn't fair that I try to jump back on after he has already been spooked," she snapped at him. "No one said that you had to accompany me back. I'm a woman but that doesn't mean I'm going to be snatched or let your horse be stolen. I'm just as capable as you. Probably more so, actually. So, you stay on the mare and I'll walk him for the time being. Maybe I'll get back on after he has had a chance to calm down. I'm not an imbecile and I'm not a coward either."

Lyric narrowed his eyes at her as she went on venemously, speaking as if she knew so much about horses even though she'd apparently never ridden one before. "It would be wise if you'd remember who you're talking to." He said, refusing to let her words roll over him all over again. He may be polite at times, but it only extended so far. He'd let her ride his horse for goodness sake! For what reason he couldn't possibly remember, but he was tired of listening to her constant nagging and her need to always sound right. Throwing his head back he simply shook his head before getting atop the mare. Once settled he yanked Fitz's reins from her hands before shaking his head. "Since you can handle yourself so well have fun on your long walk back to the castle." He said before taking off. It wasn't at too much of a quick pace as he kept in mind the stallion's feelings, for the time being though he seemed to be generally calm.

Skarlette actually stuck her tongue out at his back as he rode away. She was getting sick of this, of being treated as if she was nothing just because she didn't wear a mask and was made to do all the work for the royals. She would walk though, she would walk all the way back to the castle and to her little quarters without a single bit of complaint. She didn't the man, or anyone else for that matter.
So, she started forward. She could still see him up ahead but she knew he would be disappearing soon enough. It didn't matter. He was probably going to run right back to the palace and tattle on her anyway. Being punished wouldn't be so bad. It would be slightly less boring than her usual day and her bottom already hurt terribly anyway.

He arrived to the stables within ten minutes or so. Settling the brown mare back into her designated area he then took the stallion into the back of the barn. Before removing his gear and getting someone else to take care of the mare. Once he was finished he patted Fitz's back in a friendly gesture before he spun around. Earlier he'd wanted to go back out, but now he wasn't feeling so much in the mood for riding. Sneaking further into the back of the barn he found his usual ladder that led up to where he stashed his things. Careful not to be seen he reached for the rungs before ascending it. Pulling himself over the top he smiled to himself before wandering over towards the corner and pulling out his bow and arrow from here it laid in the corner behind a pile of long forgotten hay.

Skarlette continued to trudge along, covering as much ground as she could without running. It was getting darker by the second and evening was fast turning into night. She could see the castle getting closer but it was still quite a ways off. She would make it back within an hour or so, but she was already out of light. She was starting to hear the night animals.
She huffed softly under her breath, irritated. She wasn't necessarily mad at Lyric, but more mad at herself. She needed to learn not to be so stubborn. She should have agreed to get on his horse and ride back, but she couldn't take the hit to her pride. He would have been too smug.

Once they had passed the gates, Jocelyn lifted her head from Hunter's shoulder, knowing now the gesture would be seen as inappropriate by onlookers. Besides, she couldn't go back in there as the teasing, gentle girl who took comfort in human contact. She had to return to being the cool, quiet informant who did what it took to survive.
Now that they were back, Jocelyn almost resented accepting Hunter's offer. She wished she could have stayed in the city, temporarily out of Whitaker's control, but she knew that was selfish and she couldn't blame Hunter for her problems. After he directed the horse to the stables and come to a stop, Jocelyn pulled her arms back so they were no longer wrapped around him, waiting for him to dismount.

((I'll be back in an hour or so))

Hunter carefully dismounted, making sure he wouldn't knock her right off the horse. Once he was on the ground he offered his hands to her. "Don't worry, no one is here to see you accept my help," he said softly, as if having read her mind after she so quickly lifted her head from his shoulder.
He gave her a soft, gentle smile. He didn't know when they would meet again, but he hoped that they might stay on good terms at least until they parted. He was starting to actually enjoy her company and he wanted to remember that instead of how incredibly stubborn she was. Except, she had still been stubborn the whole ride, just differently. It was kind of nice that she was still her no matter her mood.

((Okay!))

After Hunter had gotten off the horse, Jocelyn shifted forward a little so it would be easier to get off. She looked down at him, with his hands raised and while her own smile was long gone, his words and his smile somehow made her feel a little lighter. Jocelyn found herself hoping that their truce worked because she knew that she would miss being with him like this if they had to go back to trying to tear each other apart.
Sighing in resignation, Jocelyn allowed herself to accept his help, sliding off the horse's back.

Hunter made sure that she landed lightly on her feet then he reached out and very gently touched her hair. "Goodbye for now, Jocelyn," he said softly, "Until we run into each other again, I suppose." Before he could stop himself he had leaned in and pressed his lips to her head, just above the top of her mask. When he pulled back and realized what he had done a light blush crept onto his cheeks, but he just turned around to pretend as if he had never done it. He walked to the horse and started to take off its tack.

Jocelyn was about to return the farewell when Hunter suddenly stepped in closer and dropped a kiss on her forehead, stealing the words right from her thoughts. For a long moment all she could do was stare up at him in shock. If it weren't for the chiming of the bells outside signaling the time drawing her back to reality, she might have just stayed there gaping at him. But she managed to get her wits about her and mumbled a quick, "Goodbye," before exiting the stables.
What had that been all about? Hunter had only ever been that gentle with her when she was injured and as far as Jocelyn could tell, she wasn't hurt, so what in the world had brought on such a gesture? More importantly, why did it bring a wave of warmth that spread from the top of her head all the way to the tip of her toes. Shaking her head, Jocelyn pressed a hand to her forehead, trying to refocus as she headed into the palace.

Hunter tried to push her from his mind as soon as she was out of sight. What had he done, kissing her like that? He had no idea why he had done it, he just had. It was weird. His heart was hammering in his chest and he took a few deep breaths to calm down, but it really wasn't working.
He started to brush down his horse, though usually he would have let the stable hands deal with it. He needed a distraction, anything, to get his mind off of Jocelyn and what he had done. He needed to get their whole conversation out of his head. He was feeling all sorts of strange and he didn't like that. He took another couple of deep breaths. It was just Jocelyn. He hardly knew her and she was difficult. He was being silly.

((Skip ahead?))

((Sure, your choice of place.))

((A terrace was recently added at the castle... how far ahead should it be? I'll post before I head off for the night))

((Terrace sounds good. Maybe a week?))

((Alrighty, I'll put up my last post there))