Page 6 of The Ostler's Boy

T he Prince bore a strut to his walk as he traveled alongside me through the Palace. It was an unmistakable quality about him, a hue of courage one could fall for if they weren’t careful. He was charming, and every word I said sounded needy and gushing. I tried to remain focused on the topics I had been schooled in concerning new acquaintances, especially with Ser Elías chaperoning us twenty feet behind.

“Your home is so open compared to mine,” I told him.

“I’ve heard in Oreia that the Capitol is made of stone, iron, and ice,” Sam said. “But I’ve always assumed the latter was a joke. What say you?”

“I say your assumption is logically sound, but there is some ice,” I said. “More in scenery than our structure, I’m afraid. Have you ever been there?”

“ísfjall? No,” he said. “I’d like to. One day. Perhaps.”

“Well, if we’re to be wed, I’m sure one day will happen.”

He asked, “Do you travel much?”

“No,” I said. “This is my first time so far west. Or south. Actually, it’s my first real time from home.”

“Truly?”

“My father is…”

“Controlling?” Sameer asked.

I paused.

“I didn’t…” He put on a smile. “My father is very controlling,” he whispered. “I was trying to be funny.”

“Oh.”

“I travel,” he said. “I’ve been very far, just not in your direction. Though, there are beautiful shores in Gosil. Have you been there?”

“No, sir,” I said. “As I said, I haven’t really left the North.”

“Protective,” he said.

“Come again?”

“Protective,” he repeated. “It sounds better than controlling.”

“Oh. I suppose His Majesty is…often concerned,” I replied. “It comes with the territory. In his defense, the world is very…Well, I’m not sure.”

“Do you like it here? In Chalke?” he asked.

“It’s very bright,” I said. I mused at my observation. “In everything, not just the open windows. Although, admittedly, most of the windows I have ever known are stained glass and look particularly cold in certain lights. Perhaps that’s the reality of the ice lore?”

“Ice lore?” he asked.

“You said you heard the castle was made of ice,” I said.

“Ah, right.”

I swallowed. “Also, our gate is always closed.”

“Likely why you won the war,” he said.

“Oh, I didn’t- I wasn’t-”

“Steady, Princess.” Sam slowed to a stop; I followed his lead. “Despite what my father would tell you, our nations’ histories do not solely define us.”

“They don’t?” I asked.

“No. They only play a part in a much larger portrait of who we are. If you and I are to rule as one, we should acknowledge how Fate has brought us together. Even the worst of it. Yes?”

As one, I thought. Fate. My heart raced.

“Aye. Y-Yes,” I replied. “I can agree to that. I like that idea, sir.”

Sam nodded. “So. You like the high framing here?” he checked, passing the ball of this finger along the window’s design. “Personally, I find it allows the sun an easier time to shine in and throw itself upon our floors. It’s particularly nice to lay along the herringbone, right about here, and let the drapery dance over you ever so as the wind blows.”

I could not help but laugh. “You lay on the floor? Like a lazy cat?”

His pearly teeth debuted. “I do,” he confessed. “Like the laziest of lazy cats.”

“I can’t imagine that,” I said.

“Shall I demonstrate it?” he asked. “You can join me if you like.”

He began to crouch, but I hurried to keep him standing.

“No, please! I believe you!” Then I giggled.

The Prince settled again; the corners of his grin disappeared as he relaxed in his attempt to amuse me.

He said, “Then I am a happy man.”

“Where else might we see?” I asked.

“Let me think,” he pondered. “You’ve seen the library, the ballroom, both the halls, Grand and Small. The dining room. The corridors, the kitchen. My father’s study, my study. What is it I forget?” he asked. “We’ll, of course, tour the gardens at some point. And the stables. I imagine you’re most interested in those.”

“In the stables, sir?” I asked.

He touched the design stitched along my sleeve. “The horse is the Eisson sigil, is it not? It’s only natural that you should like them. And,” he added, “I may have enlisted a few friends to tell me things about you before your arrival, so I was hoping that bit of knowledge would earn me some points.”

“You studied me? What sort of things were you told?” I asked.

“That you’re a habitual rider,” he explained. “Are they mistaken? You should lie if they are. I’ll be absolutely devastated at my failure if you don’t ride.”

The concept made me beam. “I can’t believe you researched me.” I was flattered.

“Are all cats not curious ?” he asked.

I tried to maintain ground. “I-In that I’m caught,” I stated.

“What of the bedchamber next?” he asked.

For whatever reason, I realized I was alone with him. We’d lost my knight. I looked down either side of the long walk, tried not to move too wildly, and tried to mask my concern.

A stray, wily expression came to the Prince’s face, forcing a quick bristle from me at his words.

“I, I- Pardon, sir. Where is Ser Elías?” I worried louder. “Elías?”

“Don’t worry,” Sameer purred. He raised his arm to point. “Our shadow is around the corner there. He stopped to look at one of the swords affixed to the wall. You’re not alone with me just yet.”

My lips parted; his did, too, humored at my relief or something else. Sam double-checked his fact to be sure, peering around the bend for us.

“Yes, there he is,” he said. He leaned forward and spoke quieter . “Rest assured, I’m no crook, Svana. I’ll only take what you’ve given to me. And I’m a patient man. We have all summer still.”

I nearly died, metaphorically vaulting my way through his comment. On cue, as if summoned by his natural sense of impropriety, Ser Elías rounded the stone wall. He looked between us as I smiled shamefully at my proximity to the Prince, stepping back.

“There you are,” I said.

Elías looked between us.

“I thought I lost you,” I said.

Sameer waited for me to take the lead, obediently falling into stride with my knight. He said, “Shall I escort us to the bedchambers then?” He was entirely at ease. “Though they are a bit tricky to find.”

“Tricky?” Elías asked. “How so?”

Sam said, “The ladies’ chambers are all on this end of the palace, whereas the men’s are clear down the other wing. We keep them separate for decorum, of course. You can get lost if you don’t know what you’re looking for.”

“Lost?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “Some of the rooms are marked, though, which make for good landmarks. For instance, my door is red. None of the others are.”

Elías scowled at me as we arrived at a propped, ornate wood door. It was embossed with roses along the beams, and Josie was unpacking my things inside.

“How lovely,” I said, running along the flowers’ with my hand.

“And your door has roses,” Sam said. “No other room has roses.”

“I love them,” I said.

“It warms me so to know that, Princess. This is our Rose Suite. It was my late mother’s,” he explained.

I flushed.

“It’s only right that it should be yours,” he added. He held his palm out to usher me toward the window seat. “Originally, you were assigned a room down the hall, but this chamber belongs to the woman of the Palace, and it has sat empty for too long. Your reception of it only proves that I was correct to put you here.”

“I am honored, sir,” I said. “I shall do my best to respect your mother’s room.”

“She was also quite fond of horses.” He pointed outside. “You’ll find your room overlooks the yard where our team is kept.”

As promised, the view did reign over the stables and the grassy land they sat upon. The Prince was near my shoulder in a moment, peering somewhere into the barn.

“That bloody bastard!” he muttered.

“I beg your pardon?” I cried.

“Ah. It’s just Cyrus.” He pointed for me. “He’s there. That figure striking the dummy form. You can tell by how fancy his movement is. Always a show, that one.”

“What? What show?” I asked.

Below, the lord from the market used his sword against a humanoid shape, the dummy Sam had identified, but his moves were hardly fancy. Then he did a spin.

“W-What is he doing?” I asked. “Wow. Did you see that? Is your friend a knight?”

“A knight?” Sam chuckled. He moved toward the door. “No. No, Cyrus is no more a knight than I am a shepherd. Knights require honor.”

“He lacks honor?” I asked.

“A joke,” the Prince said. He dismissed my question, saying, “Come, if you have a moment. I’ll properly introduce you. You can decide for yourself.”

“Oh, well, I…?”

Elías replied for me. “I think we should unpack.”

Sam looked at him for permission. He said, “I have something for Her Highness in exchange for her precious time. Would you not humor me, Ser?”

“You have something for me?” I asked.

“Your Highness,” my knight said.

“We don’t wish to be rude, Eli,” I said. “Yes, Your Highness. We’d be delighted to join you.”

“Cyrus Evergreen!” Sameer yelled, towing me across the field by my hand.

His skin was warmer than the air. My shoes sank in and out of the mud and disrupted the dirt where it was dry, forcing a basic spring in my step to evade the ground’s grip and the embarrassment of becoming part of the landscape. I nearly crashed into the Prince’s back as he came to a full and sudden stop right outside the stable’s sliding door.

“Princess?” Ser Elías offered me his hand, and I brushed it off, feigning a collectiveness I didn’t possess.

“I’m fine, Ser,” I whispered back.

“It’s horrible out here,” he replied. “Let’s go back inside. Your shoes are ruined.”

Then Lord Evergreen, in all his mighty air of mystery, returned to our field of vision as he struck his mannequin one final time with a loud exhale. His sword slid across the figure’s gut, then slacked in his grip. He looked quite satisfied.

Sam clapped sarcastically and slowly. “Bravo, good sir,” he said. “Bravo.”

His subject turned around to look at us, then rolled his eyes at me .

“Now, why can’t I learn that stuff?” the Prince asked.

Cyrus leaned the pommel against the outside wall and started to put his things away. “Sameer,” he said. He passed his gaze between the Prince, me, and then Ser Elías before landing back on his friend. “What is it you want?”

He was different from how I remembered him from the square. He was more deliberately crass. His manners were nonexistent, even if they had been scarce before. Upon closer inspection, the practice form was beaten with a clear wave of focused frustrations in his wake. Some seams had gone awry. Some part of me wanted to ask him what was wrong, but the Prince beat me to it.

“What’s gotten into your bonnet?” he pried.

“Nothing,” Cyrus said. “Tired from our travels. The hunt. It’s been a long day. I thought I was off this evening.” He glanced at me.

“You didn’t hunt,” Sam teased. “You don’t like it. You collected.”

I smiled at the swordsman. He frowned.

“Greetings,” I said, on instinct.

Cyrus extended his neck with confusion. He went by me into the yard.

Sam followed; we went with him.

“Allow me to properly introduce my sweet Princess Svana, dear friend,” he said. His words quickened with his boots. “As you seemed to have evaporated from the hall this afternoon, I thought to bring her here.”

“Aye,” Cyrus replied.

“Can you not be bothered?” Sam asked.

Lord Evergreen stopped briefly, then bowed disinterestedly. “I think I caught her introduction. Didn’t I?”

“To my understanding, you met her before,” Sam said. “Will you not say something polite?”

The lord thought about it. “Greetings, Your Highness. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Except you’ve met,” Sam said.

Both of them tapered to a halt; then Sam bounced between the two of us.

“How was that again?” he asked.

Lord Evergreen said nothing, so I said, “We met in the market today.”

“You did?” Elías asked.

Cyrus shrugged.

“You don’t remember?” I asked him. “Lord Evergreen, you helped me find–Well,” I stopped. “I suppose you helped me find the road again, and I was lost, but you did not, in a fairly obvious way, help me locate the apples I’d asked you about originally.”

His expression burned to a scowl. “I told you they were in the front.”

“Wait a second,” Sameer said. “This? This is the Apple Girl?” He tilted his head and then inspected me.

“What?” Discomfort filled my cheeks. “Apple girl?”

“This is the…” Sam and Cyrus shared a look.

“I beg your pardon?” I asked. “I’m the what?”

“I said nothing,” Evergreen replied.

“You said–”

Cyrus blatantly cut Sam off. “Sam.” Then he crossed his arms.

The Prince was clearly bothered. He looked at me another time.

“Is Apple Girl an insult?” I asked.

“No,” Sam replied. He shook his head. “He said he had to stop for something, is all.”

“Sure,” Evergreen said. “Yes.”

“Svana,” Elías whispered.

“I think I’m quite ready to return to my chamber,” I told him.

“I’ll escort you,” he returned.

“Thanks. I–”

“You’re misreading this moment,” Sameer added.

“Leave it,” Cyrus said.

“I have to tell her. She thinks you’ve mocked her.”

“Sam, I didn’t know who she was.”

I scoffed. “Right. Well, I feel rather sick standing here. I–”

“Cyrus is embarrassed,” Sam explained.

“Sam,” Cyrus said.

“I have to tell,” he said. He didn’t turn away. “He said he was late returning to our carriage because he’d run into–”

“Why must you embarrass me?” he asked. “If I had known she was your Princess, I would not have kept the comment to myself.”

“It still doesn’t negate the comment,” the other said.

“Please,” he replied.

“What comment?” I asked. “What was said exactly?”

“Nothing,” Cyrus told me.

Sam laughed. “I have to tell her.”

“No, you–”

“Please, sirs, I–”

“Sorry, my love,” Sam said. “Cyrus declared you a… What was it? A very beautiful distraction?”

Elías cleared his throat.

“But see, what I don’t understand is, if you met my wife, why did you not come to collect me at once?” the Prince asked. “I was right there. Or you could have at least let me know she was in the city on the way back. I expected her father. We could’ve-”

“I didn’t know who she was,” Lord Evergreen lied. “It’s not as though I knew her name until the hall.”

I cocked my head. He shot daggers at me back. “I–” I paused. Considering his face, and refrained from outing him.

Sam relaxed. “Alright. I see. Then I understand,” he said. “And I cannot hold it against you… She is quite the beauty. You would be blind not to notice.”

“Did you need something?” Cyrus asked.

“Pardon?” Sam said.

“Beyond exposing me,” he replied. “Did you need something?”

The Prince nodded, realizing. “Yes. Right. Of course. Thank you, friend. I sought you out because I thought that gift we were preparing for the Princess might be ready.”

“I thought I had another six months,” Cyrus said.

“So, no?” Sam asked. “Or…?”

“No,” he said. “She’s not ready. She’s still too green.”

“Green?” I grew in excitement, a glee bursting at first thought. “She? Is it a horse?”

Sam brushed off a delighted snicker.

“Is it?” I begged. “Do you have a horse for me, Your Highness? A mare? Did you get me a mare, sir?”

“If I say yes, will you call me Sam?” he asked.

The men looked at me as I tried to ease back into a more ladylike stance, but my insides twisted madly, craving to see the beauty of my gift.

“Did you get me a horse?” I asked.

They shared a glance. In turn, Lord Evergreen took a deep breath and hooked his thumb and finger against his lips to whistle into the barn. Nothing happened. He looked at us and whistled a second time. Nothing.

“Excuse me,” he said.

After a moment inside, the lord emerged, leading a trotting white horse. The breeze around me swept into my lungs, and I ran toward the beast.

“Whoa!” Cyrus called. He sent his hand up to me as the mare threatened to rear, stomping into the dirt. “It’s ok. She’s alright,” he said to her.

“I’m sorry,” I told the horse. I knew my eyes were wide, but I had lost all means of control. “I’m sorry.” I held my palm out for her to sniff, slowly stepping forward. “Is… Is she for me? Just me?” I asked.

“Do you like her?” Sam wondered.

The horse startled and might have knocked Lord Evergreen over had he been any less skilled, but he eased her back onto all her shoes.

Ser Elías moved to my side and looped my arm, pulling me back a couple of feet.

“She’s absolutely perfect,” I whined. “She’s perfect.” I inhaled sharply, inspecting her every angle and whispering as if she might understand me if I spoke softly enough. “You are quite fierce, aren’t you, girl?” I asked. “Yes. A woman after my own heart.”

Cyrus patted her mane.

“What...What is her name?” I asked.

Sam shook his head. “Uh. Well. What would you like to name her? She’s your horse.”

“You haven’t named her?” I looked at her, then past the rein to Cyrus’s hand, flat against her neck. “...What have you been calling her?” I asked.

“Me?” He didn’t answer.

“Yes, you. Are you not charged with breaking her?” I asked.

“I am,” he said. “I found her, too.”

I made it close enough to touch her face. “Surely you have been calling her something? How can you love her without her name?”

Evergreen watched me, narrowing his dark eyes. “...Isaac,” he said finally.

“Isaac?” Sam asked. He laughed. “What a silly name for her. She is a girl, isn’t she?”

“I think it’s pretty,” I replied. “She’s a warrior. I can tell.”

“And, uh, Ice, for short,” Cyrus added.

“Ice.” I smiled. Isaac relaxed, sighing loudly from her nose, and I sang, “Oh,” flattered by the sound. “Hello. Hello, Miss Ice. I’m Svana Eisson. How do you do?”

Someone signaled to Sam from the Palace. He gave them a curt, simple wave.

“...I’m afraid I must leave you now, love,” he said. He slid his hands into his pockets and craned his head. “Duty never rests. It seems I can no longer prolong my appointments, you understand?”

“Of course. Appointments are a truth I am well acquainted with.” I petted Isaac’s shape a little longer. “Would you have me join you?”

“No,” he said. “No, of course not. Stay here. Enjoy yourself. Go for a ride,” he suggested. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I’m sure.”

Sam bowed; I curtsied. He turned to go, but then I was suddenly overwhelmed with an urge to stop him.

“Are you not available to come with me?” I asked.

He knit his brows together. “With you? Where?”

“Riding,” I said. “You could postpone your affair one more time? I’m sure they would understand. This is our first day together, after all.”

“I really can’t,” he decided.

“No?” I nodded. “Just for a short trot?”

“I…” Sam breathed; Cyrus laughed.

“What’s funny?” I asked him.

Sam said, “I fear you’ll find better company in anyone else than me. That is when it comes to riding horses. The closest I get to the beasts is through the carriage.”

“You… You don’t like horses?” I sank.

Sam considered a thought. “I don’t ride them much,” he chose to say.

“I see.” I linked my hands in front of myself and curtsied for him one last time. “Then I will bid you farewell, Your Highness.”

“Farewell.”

When he was gone, it was just the three of us. Ser Elías stood by the fence, ready to go.

I was confused. “I’m sorry. This is rather rude, but I'm afraid I might be a bit behind in all this. Are you the ostler, my lord?”

“Ha!” Cyrus hissed. He straightened his blouse. “Do I look like the ostler? No, I am not.” Then he picked up his sword and sheathed it into his belt within a decorative carved leather. “I am His Royal Highness’s sword instructor, which, you’ll find, is a great deal more important than an ostler of any sort.”

I frowned at him, utterly appalled. “Is it? And why is that, my lord?”

“What do you mean why? Because it just is,” he said. “And you know it.”

“I don’t think I do,” I argued. “I did not ask your position to offend you; I asked because you have been charged with taming my horse. It felt like a rational leap. Yet, your title is lord and–”

“Rational or not, I will not bear Ostler simply because I like the company here.” Ice pushed her nose into his hand, rubbing herself against him until he nearly fell. “Not helping,” he said to her.

“Princess,” Elías said.

I turned.

“Surely you are tired from your journey?” he asked. “Allow me to return you to your room. Perhaps you could write your father of your day?”

“Of course,” I said, internally thanking him for the rescue. To the other, I curtsied. “I’m afraid my Blade brings up a rather important task I must see to now. Perhaps if you cross paths with the actual ostler, you will tell him that I seek his audience. If that is not beneath you, sir?”

Cyrus bowed, hardly pomp-and-circumstance, and might have muttered something under his breath, but I didn’t hear it.

He said, “I’ll do my best,” louder.

Then I departed, back to the Palace, and with a bad taste in my mouth from the swordsman’s clout.