A Day Just Begun

[Mira Nightingale]

It was midmorning, and the sun has just crested into the sky. The day promised to be a good one. There was a light breeze, a few fluffy clouds in the sky, and a bright, sparkling sun. It was the perfect day for Mira to get out of the house where she was continually kept confined and to spend her days elsewhere.

This wonderful day brought her to the stables. Her mare had gone lame after tripping over a pothole on a trail in the forest, crashing down with Mira on her back. Mira was lucky that she had survived with only two crushed ribs and a broken leg. The injuries had healed finally two months ago, but ever since then she had been timid to get back on a horse’s back and go for a long morning gallop- one of her favorite things to do before the accident.

Mira jostled herself out of her thoughts and entered the stables, nodding absently to a few stable hands that were there. They knew her well enough, since her family was one of the most prominent in Avaren. She was friendly and courteous, and flashed them all a nice smile before starting to wander and look at all the horses. Her parents had constantly berated her for having such a bold laugh and smile, saying that it wasn’t proper for a lady of nobility like herself, and that she’d never be married properly. She just told them to shut up and stop telling her what to do, which always earned her a swift berating and several hours of servant’s chores.

Mira continued to wander around the stables, not seeing any horse that really caught her eye, until she entered another row of stables and saw a beautiful chestnut colored mare with her nose against the door of her stable. Mira gazed at her for a moment, and then wandered closer, reaching inside to scratch her nose. The mare snorted and jumped back, pawing the ground angrily. Mira followed suit and stepped back, not sure if there was anything wrong with the mare.

[Verdan]

Verdan was wandering through the stables, looking at the horses. He loved animals, and horses were no exception. He walked through the aisled of the stables occasionally walking up to an animal and stroking its snout, sometimes giving it a piece of sugar which he fished out of his pocket. He was at peace. Suddenly, he heard a whinny and a snort some distance ahead. He hurried in that direction.

As he neared the scene, he saw a beautiful young noblewoman and a horse in a bit of a dilemma. One has disturbed the other, Verdan was not sure which was which. He walked closer, taking long strides, so as to get there faster. He smiled at the familiar girl. "Good day, Lady Mira." Verdan took her hand and just barely touched it with his lips. "Tis a pleasure to see you on such a fine morning. Does there seem to be a problem with this mare?" he asks her, turning to look at the horse.

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira eyed the mare warily as she continued to paw the ground, snorting wildly. She was beautiful, but it seemed that her beauty didn’t come without a price- her temper. Maybe if she just tried again… taking a few steps closer once again, she slowly reached up with her hand. The mare reacted in the same way, this time kicking the door and neighing even louder, if that was possible.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Mira was ready to ask the stable boy when they had acquired this new horse, but as she turned no stable boy was there. It was Verdan, the mage-in-training that she had met some weeks ago out by the lake in the outer territories. “Hello to you too, Verdan.” she said, smiling pleasantly and trying to block out the noise the riled up mare was making.

Flushing slightly as he kissed her hand, she nodded ever-so-slightly to acknowledge the act of courtesy before turning back to the mare to answer Verdan’s question. “Nothing wrong other than having a vile temper.” she muttered, gazing back at the mare that still wouldn’t quiet. She knew horses very well, and from what she knew so far, this one just wouldn’t tolerate anyone on her back- or even near her, for that matter.

[Verdan]

Verdan noticed the other outburst from the horse before he came near the pair: Mira and the mare. He was slightly surprised that this one was so temperamental. Although he had never encountered the mare directly, she was always quieter than the rest of the horses. Calm when the others were whinnying. A beautiful horse in all aspects. Everything does, indeed, come with a price. But this price in particular could does not have to be paid.

"Her temper could be fixed." he says to Mira reassuringly. "This is truly a beautiful horse. Tis no surprise that you approached this one out of all the others here." Verdan says, a small smile playing about his lips.

Verdan slowly approached the horse, a fairly large piece of sugar on his outstretched palm. He was talking in a quiet soothing voice. It had always worked with other horses. They are generally timid creatures and are willing to accept such treatment. As Verdan neared the horse, the animal carefully sniffed the sugar. Then, to Verdan's joy, she carefully picked it up and began chewing on it. With his other hand, Verdan gently began stroking the mare. She didn't mind.

A sudden crash somewhere in the stables startled both Verdan and the horse. The mare took several paces back and snorted angrily. Verdan quickly pulled his hand away, to avoid the risk of being bitten.

"Blasted stable hands.." he muttered.

[Mira Nightingale]

Verdan mentioned that the horse’s temper could be fixed, and Mira just shrugged slightly. She wasn’t sure if she wanted the horse’s temper to be fixed, because then Verdan would probably suggest her riding the horse, and then she’d have to explain why she couldn’t, and then… everything was just so complicated. Another shrug at Verdan’s next comment. She wasn’t really in a good mood after being so blatantly rejected by the mare that resembled her own horse so closely it was almost uncanny. Her own horse that had to be killed after the accident because it was in too much pain and had no chance of surviving.

Mira watched as Verdan approached the horse with a rather large piece of sugar in his outstretched palm. She watched as, after giving him what appeared to be a wary look, the mare accepted the sugar and Verdan as well. Then there was a crash for another part of the large stable, and the mare got feisty and temperamental once again. “At least she liked you for a little while.” she said with a soft, almost inaudible, sigh.

As Verdan cursed the stable hands she couldn’t help but laugh softly. “They’re very nice people, actually.” she told him with a small, rare smirk, although she knew he wasn’t really cursing them.

[Verdan]

"Aye, she did." Verdan replies to Mira's first comment with a sigh. "It was a magical moment, so to speak. And as for the stable hands, I know they are nice, being personal acquaintances with several of them. "

Verdan was slightly taken aback by Mira's indifference. She seemed to like this horse, yet she did not care what Verdan would do to attempt to tame the animal. She was just probably upset at the horse's rejection of her. She liked this horse and it was blandly refusing to be touched by her. Yes, that was most likely the reason. However, deciding not to leave things to assumptions and change, Verdan decided to ask nevertheless. The mare would not allow anyone near her for a bit of time now, and it was the ideal moment for conversation.

"You don't seem to be much interested in this mare." he says, "A lot of shrugs and gestures of indifference. However, I can tell you like this one. It has some sort of connection to you which I am failing to see. Would you mind telling me about 'that fateful day?'" he asks, using a cliche that he has heard numerous times. Verdan predicted that it was, indeed, a fateful day.

[Mira Nightingale]

Verdan mentioned being acquaintances with some of the stable hands, and although she saw them often and they knew who she was, she had never really gotten to know them well enough to say they were acquainted. “Do you come here often, then?” she asked him as she gazed around her and finally leaned back against a large bale of hay for some support. A person could only stand up for so long, especially wearing the ridiculous shoes she owned.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” she replied stubbornly as Verdan guessed what she was thinking so easily. “I like this horse, but she doesn’t like me, so I have no reason to be interested.” She paused for a moment, knowing Verdan would ask more, so she told half the truth. “She just looks like an old horse I had.”

[Verdan]

"I wouldn't say often, but enough to get to know them Farly well." Verdan explains his acquaintanceship with the stable hands. He looks at Mira, who was clearly uncomfortable. Verdan looked at her more closely and noticed as she was shifting her weight from one foot to the other. When she finally rested against the haystack, Verdan figured out that it was her shoes who caused her such discomfort. He looked down at her feet. "Might I suggest taking your shoes off? And then, getting comfortable shoes?" he said, using common logic.

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about." he said, contradicting her words. "Any beast can learn to like you, with the right treatment. But I'm getting off topic. You mentioned your old horse. What happened?" he inquires.

[Mira Nightingale]

Verdan looked down at her shoes, obviously figuring out what was causing her discomfort. “I can’t take them off. I have no other shoes to wear.” she told him matter-of-factly, glancing down at the strappy heels. “If I take them off, then I’ll have no other shoes to put on.” A slight pause, a soft sigh, and then, “I’ll survive. I’ve endured a lot more than walking and standing in these shoes.” Dancing was difficult, but riding sidesaddle in heels was one of the most challenging things she had ever done.

“She was lame, and in too much pain, so we had to kill her.” she told Verdan after a prolonged moment. Then she glanced back up and looked back at the fiery horse. “Do you have any more sugar?” she asked her friend, “I want to try again.”

[Verdan]

Verdan's gaze turns deep and thoughtful for several seconds as he ponders the issue. Conjuring comes to mind as the dilemma goes through his head, but he is not proficient enough in the use of magic to attempt something like that. Instead, he decides to do the next best thing: to pull the object from another place to where Verdan was at the moment, the stables. A second of supreme concentration later, Verdan pulls a pair of comfortable, soft leather-soled slippers out of the air in front of him, wondering what store they had disappeared from, hoping dearly that it was from a store room, not from a surprised buyer's hands. "Would these suit you for the moment?" he asks, offering the shoes to Mira.

Verdan listens to Mira's explanation with sincere sympaty for both her and the horse. Before he got a chance to speak, however, she abruptly changed the topic, asking for more sugar. Verdan hurriedly began digging in the pockets of his cloak and shirt for the small sack of sugar that he had brought with him. Having found it, still half full, he offered it to Mira. "Here you go." he says.

[Mira Nightingale]

Verdan fell silent for a long moment, and Mira remained quiet as well, wondering what he was doing. Her unasked questions were answered a few minutes later, as a pair of leather slippers appeared into his hands. Mira gazed at the shoes for a moment, before she realized that he was giving them to her. They did look comfortable, but, then again, she wasn’t sure. She had never worn leather shoes before. “Um, thanks…” she said, not sure what else she could say.

Glad to finally be off the precipitous subject of her accident, she took a lump of sugar out of the bag Verdan offered her. “Thanks.” she said again, holding it in her outstretched palm as she approached the horse, who was watching her carefully. “Here I go.” she murmured more to herself than to Verdan, as she took another few steps closer.

[Verdan]

As Mira accepted the offer, Verdan noticed doubt in her looks, he voice. Was it wrong to offer such a simple gift to someone of her stature? Was it wrong to make such an offer at all? What was the problem? Verdan was confused. Nobles, what could you think of them? He decided not to worry on the matter too much and, as he often did, pretended to play dumb and not notice the hesitance that Mira expressed.

As Mira took a piece of sugar from the bag and approached the horse, Verdan watched the scene, ready to act if something extreme happened. Mira muttered something either to herself or the horse, Verdan could not tell but he sent encouraging thoughts her way, and calming thoughts to the horse. His mother had taught him to always think positively, and everything would turn out well. Verdan hoped she was correct.

[Mira Nightingale]

Verdan handed her the shoes, and she took them, surprised at how they were soft and simple rather than hard, complex, and strappy. She glanced down at her own feet, flushing slightly as she realized she just couldn’t take her shoes off and put on other ones for a few reasons. First, Verdan was watching! Her mother had always freaked out if any skin at all was showing, and had constantly tried to drill it in her head that skin remained covered with shoes, sleeves, high necklines, and skirts. Secondly, she had no idea who had worn these shoes before. That didn’t bother her too, too much, though. The first reason was just plain embarrassing.

Finally she stopped walking in front of the bars and sliding gate that kept the mare safely inside her paddock. Hesitantly she raised her hand, keeping her palm flat, and slid it through the bars ever so slowly. The mare danced backward a few steps, but Mira persisted, getting her hand and the sugar cube all the way through the bars. A heartbeat later the mare had eaten the sugar. Smiling, Mira reached up and stroked her nose. After another moment she turned back to Verdan. “I guess everyone has a soft spot for something.”

[Verdan]

Mira accepted the slippers, which Verdan realized were moved from a storeroom in a leather shop according to the tag attached to one of them, but was still hesitant and unsure. Verdan shook his head and blinked forcibly. "They're brand new if that's what concerns you..." he assured Mira in a slightly questioning tone, for he was unsure of what the problem was.

As Mira neared the gate, Verdan held his breath, hoping that the mare would not react violently to the offer. She was startled once because of something like that and might not take kindly to it again. However, the mare, carefully accepted the sugar and even let Mira stroke her. Verdan let out a relieved sigh as he smiled slightly. Slowly walking closer to Mira and the horse he confirmed her statement. "I guess everyone does..." in a slow, calm voice so as not to disturb the horse. To himself he muttered rather bitterly, "The problem is finding that spot."

[Mira Nightingale]

“No, I don’t care whether they’re new or not.” she paused, her cheeks reddening even more. “It’s just that, um,” she paused again, inaudibly telling herself that it was no big deal. But she just couldn’t shake the embarrassment or the feeling that she’d be doing something wrong. “It’s jus that…” she paused again and then just spat out what the problem was. “Are you really going to stand there and watch he change my shoes?”

Mira nodded in reply to Verdan’s agreement, although she felt as if he was bitter or unsure of something for a reason she couldn’t really fathom. “Well, then, if everyone does than what’s yours?” she replied after a moment, smiling happily in anticipation. Some people had soft spots for chocolate, or sugar, or shoes. She had no idea what a mage liked. Asking Verdan now would come in handy in the future for one reason or another.