The thud of hoofbeats quickened as Alistair encouraged the bay beneath him into a canter. The horse obliged with little resistance, tossing his head joyously. The pair ate up the ground under them, the equine pulling at his reins, wanting to go faster. The boy shortened them, preparing to slow the horse down as they neared the end of the trail. The bay was relatively new and still quite young. He was still somewhat green and obviously rough around the edges, with a lot of pent up energy that made him difficult to work with and for some reason the Master of Horses though it would be a good idea to let Alistair work with him. It took a tag team to groom and tack him up before his first ride of the day, so much did he move and attempt to escape back to the field they had been keeping him in. Just catching him was a process, with the stallion hellbent on remaining where he was. Even so, he was getting better with every day and more rides during the day that tired him out. Stopping though.... it was not his forte.
The path Alistair had chosen on that particular day was a very scenic one with a river that ran near the bend of it. It was peaceful in the morning and a good place to offer the horses a drink if they wanted one. It also served to be the turning point in today’s ride since Alistair still had other work to do in the stables. The pulled on his reins gently, briefly slowing down the bay who continued on his way a moment after. Alright. He pulled a little harder. This got a little more control and the stallions attention. Perhaps too much of his attention because the third time Alistair tried to stop him he was more than willing, stopping dead in his tracks to the surprise of his rider, who went flying out of the saddle and into the river. The bay stood patiently and waited for the young man to pick himself up and continue on his way.
”Damn it, Arion.” he muttered. Alistair sighed, thinking about how he was going to do this. There was no way he was ruining the saddle by sitting in it with wet trousers. He’d have to pretty much stand in the stirrups the entire way back. He patted the bay’s neck. Hopefully he’d be done with his mischief for the day. Usually Arion bucked a few times, but he’d been good today if one excluded the incident. Gathering his reins in his hand, the boy swung himself onto the horse with little effort. Being tall did have its advantages.
The pair trotted back into the stable yard with no more problems. A sopping wet Alistair dismounted and pointedly ignored some of the other stable hands who were giving him funny looks. One rushed off to tell the others. Not much happened around here so the boys took what they could get. One of his friends jogged up to him grinning.
“Nice day to take a swim was a it? Or a nice bath.” Alistair rolled his eyes.
“Least I look cleaner than you lot. And smell nicer than most too.” His friend, Sam, was about to come up with some undoubtedly “witty” comeback when a booming voice reached the two.
“That’s enough chit chat you two. We’ve got work to do haven’t we?” Sam nodded and went back to his chores, but not before shooting Alistair a look of unfinished business. The boy made a face after the other before going back to untacking the bay. It didn’t take long for him to notice the breathing behind him.
“Yes sir? He didn’t bother turning around to see who it was.
“You’ve been doing well with Arion haven’t you, Alistair.” It was not a question, but the boy nodded all the same. He said nothing and went about his untacking. There was a reason the Master of Horses wanted to talk to him, but this wasn’t it. The man went on about some other chit chat and miscellaneous small talk before finally coming to what he really wanted to say, “You know the King’s son, do you not?”
This Alistair did turn around to, “Tristan? Sure, I know him. Why?”
“Yes, Prince Tristan. He’s coming round later today.” The man looked at Alistair expectantly. The young man looked back with an equally dumbfounded look. “So?” He asked, walking away and putting away the tack. Alistair had’t seen or talked to Tristan in ages, not since he’d first started working in the stables; He hadn’t had the time and Tristan was very busy anyways. The man pinched his forehead and let out a sigh.
“So... He’s going to be here later. It’ll be his first time back in the stables since he got out of the infirmary. He might wish to ride.” Alistair shut the stall door and made sure to bolt it. There was no way he was catching Arion again today. “So? What do you want me to do? I haven’t seen the Prince in a long time. We didn’t exactly meet in the best situation last time. Just tell me what you want, sir.” He faced the man, arms folded.
“Make yourself presentable for one thing,” he waved a hand at the dripping Alistair “, and see what needs doing for him. I don’t know what he is and isn’t allowed to do. Ride out with him if he wants to ride. I don’t intend to have him fall off and hurt himself while under my care. Are we clear? He was confident Alistair would do what he thought best. Still, best to make sure. “Are we clear?
“Yeah, yeah,” The boy waved a hand dismissively, “Look presentable, make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. I got it.”
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From the early morning when Alistair had first been told of the Prince’s plans to the current time when he waited patiently outside for him there had been a frantic scurrying from all the boys and men inside the stables alike. They’d mucked out all the stalls and groomed all the horses as quickly as humanly possible. Everyone wanted to see Tristan. He was kind of a big deal. Alistair had no doubt he would recognize the boy instantly; he couldn’t have changed that much. Alistair did not look drastically different himself, but he looked much different dressed nicely than he had last time the two boys had met. He looked much smarter now. He’d changed out of the clothes he’d taken a plunge in the river with and had exchanged them for fresh, dry ones. Even his hair was different from its usual sticky-uppy mess with bits of straw poking out; he’d left it wet and had slicked it back and out of his face. It would be ruined as soon as he begun doing anything but for the time being he looked as nice as he ever had. If this wasn’t “presentable” Alistair didn’t know what was.
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