Chapter One

Enjoy! :) The chapters will get longer, so don't worry, haha.

            I open my eyes and groan. Not a groan of complaint, I am one of few who doesn’t mind working in this sleepy little village. It’s a groan of pain, from the long hours spent in the saddle yesterday. As a scribe, it’s my duty to deliver mail to the town nearby. However, yesterday, I also had to deliver letters to another little village on the opposite side of the large town. It was a long ride, and I think I need to borrow one of my friend’s horses today. I don’t want to risk running my own to death. He’s my only companion, besides my older sister who runs a diner with her husband. But I don’t see her as often compared to my horse I spend hours with.            

      I get up and get dressed into my clothes. I usually wear them to bed, but they were filthy with dust from the prolonged ride yesterday. So instead, I just threw some night clothes on and didn’t bother. I go outside to the rickety one stall barn that I have, which is more of a small shack with a feed room in addition to my beast’s home. He also has a small paddock, and the stall is always open around the back of the building.                           

            “Hey boy, I think you’re getting a day of vacation today,” I tell my horse, who pokes his head over his stall door in greeting. I rub his white-striped face, smiling. He’s a handsome bay that’s short, but just tall enough that I can ride him. I make sure he has hay, then turn to walk down the road. I’ll make sure to stop by the diner for breakfast, considering I have next to nothing in my cupboards. It’s only a few minutes until I reach my friend’s place. He’s a few years older than I, and also has a terrible crush on me. I wish I felt the same way... but I don’t. We both know how the other thinks of each other, and sometimes it can get awkward.                    

        “Hey,” I call out to him. Armen has a couple different horses, and also a richer family. He’s always loaned me a horse when I need one, whether my own has gotten himself into trouble or is just sick with equine flu.                        

      “Hi, Lotus!” What’re you doing here so early?” He calls out, pausing his wheelbarrow he was using to transfer hay and grain.                                  

          “Knight was run pretty hard yesterday, had an extra village to deliver to. Can I borrow one of your family’s horses for today?” I explain, walking up.                          

       “Of course, you can loan Rose today. Why’d your schedule change?” He asks.            

   “Someone called in sick and I was the lucky winner for getting their shift,” I joke, smiling. I really don’t mind the extra time breezing through the countryside, despite being extra sore the next day. Armen laughs and nods.                                                           

  “Okay, start brushing Rose and I’ll get her tack in a moment.”

            I’ve ridden Rose only one other time, and she’s pretty feisty. Of course, all mares are, but this girl is very annoying. I try not to complain, though, because it means I won’t have to run Knight again. I can barely remember where the chestnut mare’s stall is, but wandering down the aisle I finally pick her out. I grab her halter off its hook and smoothly slip it over the nose, then attach the ropes to either side of the horse’s head. It takes me not even ten minutes to quickly curry then stiff-brush her rusty-orange coat. I’m running my fingers through her long mane to get out tangles, since I couldn’t find a comb in her brush-box, when Armen comes up hefting her saddle with the bridle swinging on his shoulder.                          

     “Here’s the tack, Lotus,” he tells me, and I grab it from his arms. Our limbs brush and I see a faint rosy color on his cheeks, and fight the urge to scoff. He seriously needs to get over this silly little crush, he should know by now that we’re just friends. Best friends, that is.     “Thanks Armen,” I say, hoisting blanket and saddle onto the mare’s tall back. She’s so much taller than my little gelding, I think I’ve been told she’s sixteen hands high before. After settling the saddle straight on her withers, I go around to the right side to unhook the stirrup from the horn and let down the girth. It doesn’t take me long to tighten it and get on her bridle. Thankfully, the feisty big mare has very good ground manners.                         

     “Thanks again for letting me borrow her,” I tell my friend as we walk out of the barn. “I’ll make sure to take care with Rose.”     

“Of course, it’s what friends are for,” he smiles at me. “And I know you’ll take fine care of her, you’re a great with horses.”      

  “Thanks, though you might be a bit of a better rider than I am,” I say grinning. Armen holds the mare’s head as I stick my foot in the stirrup, hop two times, than launch up and into the saddle.                                                                   

    “See you later!” He calls as I walk the mare a few paces away before urging her into an easy jog. The mare is jittery and kicks out when I lightly smack her back leg with the extra reins. I roll my eyes at her behavior, thinking of the long ride ahead.                            

 “Bye!” I twist around to wave with my free hand, before picking up the slack leather reins again. When we reach the dirt road leading to the village, I nudge her sides and cluck with my tongue. The mare needs no more urging, she breaks into an easy lope and we breeze together down the shaded lane. When we burst out into the grassy fields sloping around the cluster of buildings, I close my eyes and tilt my face up to the sun that is smiling down at us. Today, another day in the saddle. Another wonderful day of my perfect little life.

 

                                   *

 

            I walk Rose down the dirt road, and for once the mare obliges and doesn’t try to lope or even buck. Our long day of riding through the countryside, delivering letters to farmers, has tired the horse out. The last hour of work was the most pleasant on the beast since the bucks and jitters were taken out of her. I’ll need to wash her off when I get back, the mare is probably sweatier than I am. No one is in the barnyard when I get there, though I know Armen or his father are lurking around somewhere. I stop Rose and hop off, before taking the knotted reins and slipping them back over her head. I hold them in one hand as I walk toward the wash racks, all three are thankfully empty. Armen even was considerate enough to place the chestnut mare’s halter on a hook by one of the racks.                     

  “C’mon girl, let’s get you rinsed off,” I talk to the horse. I get a bucket of water and set to work, and soon she’s cleaned and cooled. Smiling despite being hot and sweaty myself, with no water to wash me off, I lead Rose back to her stall. Once I’ve turned her loose, I wait a minute to rub her neck and withers. About that time I see Armen leading a horse by the barn doors, fully tacked and sweaty. He must’ve just come back from a ride.                                  

       “Hey!” I call, jogging out to catch him by the wash racks. He grins and waves.

 “Hey Lotus, how was work today? Or more importantly: how was Rose?” He jokes, grinning as he halters his horse.                                            

    “Bucked a bit at the beginning, and during the first few hours kept fighting to go faster when we’d jog or lope. But otherwise, alright. And work was great, thankfully I didn’t have the same schedule as yesterday,” I say, smiling.                    

         “Alright, glad to hear she finally calmed down. Rose usually does once she’s had her fun and is out in the heat for all those hours,” he says, before walking away to get a bucket of water. I stroke his horse’s nose, remember now that this was Armen’s personal ride. What was its name again? Midnight? Or Soot?                     

      “I’m probably going to get going now, I need a bath of my own,” I tell my friend. “So see you tomorrow.”                                                    

          “Bye Lotus,” he says, and with a final wave I’m setting off down the road, back to my house and own horse. When I get home, I wash off and get something as a snack, before haltering Knight and letting him graze at the end of his lead rope while I eat. It’s a lazy evening for me, after some time with my horse I spend the rest of the night at my sister’s diner, eating ravenously after the long day out in the heat. It’s very dark when I get back, riding Knight at an easy walk. I decided it would be faster to ride than walk to town.                      

    “Okay, boy. Rest well because you’re back on schedule tomorrow. No more breaks,” I talk to my beast, rubbing his forehead as he rests his chin on my shoulder. Smiling, I kiss his nose before shutting the ratty doors of the barn. As I walk out across my small yard, I feel an odd sensation lingering in the back of my consciousness. When I turn around, frowning, I notice a pair of bright blue eyes staring back at me from the tree-line behind my horse’s pasture. My heart instantly picks up speed at the sight, and with a slight gasp I rush for the house. It seems my sudden movement startles whatever is hiding amongst the trees, because the eyes are suddenly gone when I look back. I quickly reach my house, wrenching the door open and slamming it shut. I make haste to lock it, then lean against the fragile wood and breathe hard. What did those eyes belong to? A freaky human that was stalking me, or some strange beast? I don’t know, and it creeps me out.

Author's Note

Sorry the funky spacing, that's how the copy and paste went. :