A Horse Drawn Carriage

[Mira Nightingale]

Here she was again, going someplace that related somehow, in some way, to the wedding that was going to be taking place in just under two months. She had already gotten fitted for the dress, and was just awaiting the date of the second fitting session where the actual fabric and colored trim would be ready for the final fitting, and then, eventually, to be worn by her down the aisle. That day was far away, though, and she was grateful for that.

With her father beside her this time, Mira walked into the large stables, wearing a light green casual dress and flat shoes, which was a relief from her usual uncomfortable high heels. Her father, the famous knight Sir Lance Arthur, wore a carefully guarded expression, although his pride at his daughter getting married was evident in his eyes. If only Mira could be so happy for herself, maybe this wouldn’t be so difficult.

Her father turned to her, and motioned toward the left end of the stables. “Go look around and see if you find any horses you like.” he told her, and with a small nod Mira turned and headed down the way she was directed, her father turning and walking in the opposite direction to look at horses, as well.

[Elizabeth MacFrady]

Elizabeth had been busy all day, orders had been given to her, not that she liked to obey them she had to do her fathers bidding of be flogged for it. She had already cleaned four of the family horses’ hooves and clipped them. She was resting a little before starting on the remaining six. She took a seat on pile of hay, wiping sweat from her brow the sound of little footsteps created a great curiosity in her. Looking around her eyes fall on a girl no older than 18. Smiling Elizabeth thought how lovely and civilized she looked in her green dress. Looking down at herself, she noticed the differences her clothes were covered in dust and dirt. Her hands although small and delicate were blistered and almost black all her nails broken. She could imagine the sight of her face smudged with dirt. No one would have guessed her to be the youngest child of Sir Duncan MacFrady.

Turning from the sight of the love young girl Elizabeth went back to her work. Clipping and cleaning the hooves of her six brother’s horses. This would fill her morning, from dawn she had been working first bathing the horse’s and last would be a trip to the blacksmith to get shoes. There was no time in her life for dresses and finery all she did was clean and care for the families’ horses, which included her Uncles, one of which was to marry soon, and her cousin’s. Her life was getting on now at one and twenty she was neither married or shown of to society, soon she would put her foot down soon when father had passed on to the next world.

[Verdan]

Verdan was talking his usual stroll though the stables with a small sack from where he took out sugar cubes to offer them to the animals. The horses already recognized Verdan from all of his previous visits and were pawing at the ground and whinnying gently in anticipation of a treat. Verdan walked up to each of the horses in turn and stroked their head and mane before offering them a piece of sugar, which they accepted gratefully.

Walking through the stables in this manner, Verdan saw a flash of green dress in the distance, rounding a corner. The figure looked familiar, but Verdan was too preoccupied to bother calling out to whoever it was. He was in no mood for conversation. He had too many things to think about. That was primarily why he liked coming here, to the stables. The horses would listen to his words as Verdan thought aloud and would not judge him, or laugh. So, Verdan continued his casual walk though the stables, explaining to the horses his dilemma.

"...marriage. Why does life have to be so damn cruel? Finally, I meet a girl who I actually like and then she goes off somewhere and is supposed to get married pretty soon." Verdan spoke to a white mare. "Even if she does not wish for this marriage, her parents do, and she has no say. And what can I do?" he asks the horse "I can't do anything! I'm just a commoner. And she's a noble..." Verdan sighs as he lapses into silence.

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira continued walking, glancing here and there as she passed horses. Her mother had told her exactly what she wanted, two white horses and one horse of another color to pull the carriage she would ride to her wedding ceremony inside. The horses he passed now just didn’t seem right, didn’t fit the expectations her mother had.

Stopping as she passed a girl taking care of a horse she looked at the horse in the paddock directly next to the one the girl was inside. The horse there was white… and it looked good enough for her mother to be happy with her decision. The difficult part, though, would be to find a suitable partner for this horse, and then a suitable leader. Sighing softly she continued walking.

[Verdan]

A sudden wave of overpowering curiosity washed over Verdan. Who was the stranger in the green dress?.. She looked so familiar, yet Verdan's mind refused to give up the answer to who she was. Picking up his pace quite a bit, Verdan jogged after the woman, who clearly did not look like she belonged here. Someone as neat-looking as herself should not be wandering the stables. "Oy! Madam! Pardon me, but I could not help but notice how familiar you looked." he called out to the stranger as he neared her.

[Mira Nightingale]

Another horse, and another, and another were passed by Mira, but none of them were good enough. She just needed one white, and one horse fit to be a leader. If only she could find one… Getting a little frustrated, since patience had never really been her strongest virtue, she eventually found herself standing in the exact place she had been last time she had visited the stables. That place was in front of the paddock of a large brown mare with a fiery temper.

A small smile crossed her features as she saw the horse, and she reached down and opened her purse, withdrawing a folded sack of sugar. She reached in and withdrew a single lump just as she heard footsteps approaching from the rear, along with a very familiar voice. The voice, however, didn’t seem to recognize her.

Turning her head ever-so-slightly so she could just see the familiar face, she raised an eyebrow in question. “Do you really not know who I am?” she asked Verdan, taking a step closer to the horse with the lump of sugar in her hand.

[Verdan]

Verdan nearly ran into Mira as she turned around to look at who it was, stopping literally an inch away from her. He took a flustered step back as he blushed a red hue, turning around to hide his face on the pretense that he had heard something behind him. As the redness faded away and Verdan's skin turned its regular shade of tan, he forced out a greeting. "Wow. Fancy meeting you here." he says, looking around. "Especially here." he continued, gesturing at the pen with the familiar mare in it. "So... what are you doing here?.. Missed this horse, did you?" he inquired with a smile.

[Mira Nightingale]

After almost being run into, Mira took a step back just as Verdan did. As he turned away his face, she followed his gaze to see who or what he had heard approaching. Not seeing anything at all, except a girl brushing a horse, she turned back to Verdan just as he, finally, turned back toward her. He was a little flushed, although Mira couldn’t understand why he would be. Maybe it was a little warm?

Brushing aside the thought she nodded in answer to Verdan, along with laughing slightly. “Yes, strange seeing you here yet again.” she replied as she approached the paddock and offered the mare the sugar, which she greedily took. “You also forgot your sugar sack last week.” she added after the mare had finished chomping on the sugar cube, pointing toward the sack that sat on the nearby bales of hay, where she had left them.

“Actually, I’m here with my father.” she continued, suppressing a worn-out and tiresome sigh. “We’re… working on… wedding preparations.” she added softly, biting her lip for a moment. Her last encounter with Verdan had been in the chapel, and that hadn’t ended very well at all.

[Verdan]

Verdan turned to look at the sack of sugar that was resting on the bale. A flashback raced through his mind as he involuntarily glanced down at Mira's feet. Bringing the topic of the sack back, Verdan dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Consider it a souvenir. A memory of me when you're gonna be married..." Verdan's voice faded away into a hoarse whisper. He held up the bag that he was holding as a sign of the fact that he is in to need of the in-necessity of his other sack.

As Mira continued talking, Verdan twitched slightly. Marriage. Preparations. Taking a deep breath and restraining himself from blowing something up, he forced out a pained smile. "Oh," he said through gritted teeth, "So I see you wish for this mare to be part of the carriage?..

[Mira Nightingale]

“Well, then, I guess I will keep it.” Mira added after a moment, seeing the brief expression that crossed Verdan’s face. He didn’t want her to be married. Neither did she, for that matter. She had about a month to continue to convince her parents to cancel it, and she wasn’t going to give up hope until the last moment. She did have to agree and say I do, after all.

When Verdan mentioned the mare being part of the carriage she stopped talking and turned back to look at the mare. Suddenly, her frustration at not being able to find the right horses disappeared. She had found her lead horse! Now, she just needed one more white one, and her father might have had some luck in finding an appropriate one. “Yes.” she answered Verdan, unable to keep her relieved smile off her face, “The lead one, in fact, now that you mentioned it.”

[Verdan]

((Wow, I just read over my previous post. My bad about that... ))

Verdan looked down at Mira's feet once more, wondering what had happened to her other uncomfortable shoes. He smiled slightly as Mira accepted the sack. Well, at least she wished to have a memory of him when she is married... That cheered Verdan up about one one hundredth percent.

Verdan raised an eyebrow at Mira's sudden relief. What was there to be relieved about?.. Ah well, no matter. Verdan returned her smile. "See how useful it is to have me around?.. You'll always get brilliant ideas..." Verdan sighed regretfully. That's probably the last brilliant idea that she'll ever hear from me...

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira nodded slowly, still not sure about Verdan’s sudden withdrawn attitude and resentfulness. “Yes, you are helpful.” she told him, but that still didn’t fix the moment’s problem. When had it started? Now that she thought about it, it had started when she left him at the stables last time and had gone home to meet Lord Bryant. The attitude had increased at least tenfold since she had told him about her engagement. Maybe that was it… well, there was only one way to find out.

“Why are you so… upset?” she asked him slowly, carefully, as she chose her last word carefully. She couldn’t really think of a word that would be the best to use, so upset seemed good enough. “You haven’t been yourself lately.”

[Verdan]

Verdan opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it. "I... have my reasons." he finally spoke quietly, debating whether to dismiss the fact or to admit that something was indeed bothering him. Finally deciding that it was best to admit on something wrong, he decided to be indirect about it, avoiding telling Mira the reason. It would be a very awkward moment, indeed, if she found out the reason.

[Mira Nightingale]

Shifting her weight from one foot to another, Mira sighed softly. “Well, then, keep your silence. Just know that I’ll find out eventually.” She paused for a moment, at a lack of anything else to say, and then looked around. “Do you, um, want to help me? I need to find a white horse that would look good next to the white one down there.” she added, pointing to a white gelding with strong shoulders a few paddocks down.

[Verdan]

Verdan gives Mira a blank look as he agrees to keep his silence. "Maybe you will find out. Eventually. But it won't make any difference eventually. Come to think of it, even now it won't make any difference. Really, what does it matter if someone is stripped of their ignorance. All they will end up getting is knowledge, and in this case it is not something that would matter. To you, at least..." Verdan trails off on his ramblings, snapping back to reality. "It would be a pleasure to be of assistance to you." he says, hearing only the question at first. As the second part of the request reaches his ears, Verdan mutters quietly something about a black horse being better for the occasion. Aloud, he mentions the horse to which he was complaining about life earlier. "There is a mare that is almost the same exact shade of white as this one some distance back." he says, offering his hand to lead Mira to the location of the animal.