A/N: Not Tamora Pierce, just a college student procrastinating doing actual school work. There are a lot of OC characters in this one, you dont really need to remember all their names rn, just introducing them so I can use them later. Next chapter gets into more of the main plot so ayyyyyy. R/R pls
When Daine arrived at the Beneklan home, there was a young, handsome, man waiting for her, he smiled up at her, Daine slowed Cloud to stop in front of him. "Hiya, I'm Alfred Stoddard, heard from my nephew you was comin, he seemed very impressed by ya, said ya are good with horses and such." Daine smiled back at him and dismounted.
"Hey there, I'm Veralidaine Sarrasri, but that's a mouth full," the two both smiled, Daine blushed slightly, "just Daine is fine. Percy mentioned you, said you were a good sort. Oh and this is Cloud." Daine grabbed Cloud's reigns and Alfred led her into the stable.
"Well just Daine, I had a stall set up for your little pony here," Cloud snorted at the man who simply smiled at the persnickety pony, "here it is, got her name and all, and then here's the tack room, and then next door to it is your room, heard from Percy you slept in the stall with your pony instead of the inn, so figured you'd prefer a room down here than upstairs or something. Used to be storage, but was simple enough to just move, any way you can throw your things in there and put Cloud's tack right outside her stall, and then I can give you the grand tour and tell you all about what your to do." Alfred walked off leaving the girl and her pony together, Daine made quick work of unsaddling and grooming Cloud, and then stowing her things in her new room.
Alfred was back by the time Daine had finished, he smiled at her and led her into the tack room showing her where everything was and went. He led her around the stable, showing her the horses, "You can get to know them more later." Then out to a paddock full of young and old horses who according to Alfred were used for training, breeding, and selling, the ones inside were the personal mounts. Past that there was a big kennel filled with hunting dogs, rattters, the cute little ones that ladies liked, some more obscure mixes that soldiers liked, and many others, Daine was excited to see some mutts in the mix that looked like street dogs that were rescued. The pair walked around the outside, there was an impressive practice area with an archery range Daine couldn't wait to try out. The pair walked past the barracks and entered the house through the kitchen, it was midafternoon so the cooks were preparing for the dinner meal, but it was still early enough that there wasn't much going on. Alfred got the attention of an older woman who was kneading dough, she was older, probably mid to late 40s, she had dark features, brown hair that had started to grey, brown eyes, tan skin and she had signs of being completely muscled, everywhere. Alfred brought Daine to the woman, "This beautiful creature here, is Francine Cooke, the woman of my dreams, the wind beneath my wings, the music to my so-"
Said cook hit the ostler on the back of the head, "don't listen to this fool, he knows he is much too young for me," she shot him a wink, and then cackled, "who would you be little one?"
"Daine ma'am. I just got hired on to work in the stable." Daine could tell this robust woman would be a good ally to have if she was going to stay working here.
"Well then Daine, I'm Frankie, if you need anything, even just an old lady to talk to, you know where to find me, especially if it's to complain about this idiot." She cackled again and went back to her dough.
Alfred sighed dramatically "why is it that the good ones never want me?" He put the back of his hand to his forehead. Daine laughed and dragged the strange older man out of the kitchen and into the rest of the house. All of a sudden something ran into Daine making her gasp, looking down she saw a head of blonde hair, the mass took a step back, revealing it to be young Sarra beaming up at her, Daine smiled and laughed at the girl's anticks.
"Hi Daine, I'm sooooooooo glad that papa agreed to hire you, we're going to have so much fun, I can't wait for you to meet my horse Butterscotch, shes the best, I bet you know so many tricks, can you teach me some, I'm going to the convent in a couple years but we have time before that, maybe then I'll be so awesome they won't send me, do you like Alfy? He's super nice, isn't he handsome, and when Sam told him about you he was super inter-" The young girl was cut off by Alfred covering her mouth a blush on his cheeks, he awkwardly smiled at her.
"I don't know what this crazy girl is talking about half the time. Heh." Sarra started to squirm around in his arms, and he let the girl go, blushing even more, "sorry little lady."Sarra glared at him with one of her eyebrows lifted up, but just turned back to Daine.
"Come on we'll show you around the house. I spend a lot of time running around here, I know all the best hidey holes, and you're going to love the puppies, papa let me take these orphans into my room, they're super young and I have to bottle feed them, they are sort of annoying but papa didn't think I could do it so I have to do it. There are a bunch of cats around too, I like feeding strays, and then eventually a lot will just stick around, they're good at keeping mice out so papa can't complain as long as they stay out of his rooms." Sarra kept talking about the animals and then eventually when they'd come to a new area she'd talk about what it was for and if Daine should even bother looking around. The library was huge, 2 stories full of books in floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, there was beautiful furniture and Sarra said Daine was welcome to any of the books as long as she brought them back unharmed. Sarra had a sitting room that led to her bedroom where she had the puppies in a large basket filled with blankets and rags.
Daine inspected all the little puppies, they were small probably only a couple weeks old if that, they all had long thick hair all over, looking them over from nose to tail, looking for signs of sickness or injury, as well as checking their sex along with other general health. "They look really healthy, especially for being orphans. Now Sarra these little ones are a big responsibility, they need to be fed at least every couple hours, you need to help them go to the bathroom," Sarra scrunched her nose at this but nodded, she had a look of complete determination "and they need to be kept warm and clean. They aren't going to be much fun for a few weeks but once they start opening their eyes and waddling around it'll all be worth it." Daine smiled at the young girl who was watching every move that Daine made with intense focus. Daine then started showing the girl how to do each of the tasks correctly. "Alright to this little one is a girl," Daine picked up one that had grey hair with small streaks of black, once finished she moved on to one with white hair with black spots on his paws, tail, ears, and nose "and this is a little boy,", next one that was grey, white, and black, "a girl," finally the last one was the smallest that was completely white "and another girl." Daine kept looking the puppies over, she had a weird feeling about them, they were obviously very young, their eyes still shut and ears curled, but they were big for puppies, they would be massive dogs. "Just where did you say you found them?" Daine looked at the girl who blushed.
"I didn't say," she leaned in so Alfred couldn't hear her, "I was in the woods, I saw them, then thought maybe mama dog is out hunting, but I came back a few hours later and they were still there alone." She looked sad at this and slightly guilty.
"It's okay, you did the right thing, their mom wouldn't leave them willingly that long, she will stay with them usually for nearly the entire first month constantly, but them being alone that long is not a good sign." Daine put her hand on Sarra's shoulder trying to comfort her. The two girls got up and went over to the door where Alfred was waiting.
The group continued their tour through the house, eventually, they heard the bell for dinner sound, they bid each other farewell as Sarra ran back up to her room to get ready as Alfred led Daine to the servant's mess.
They walked into a large room with huge tables filled with food, filled with talking, and the people who were in the room were of all shades. Daine half expected the majority to be strictly Gallan, but there were shades of people, from the darker raka from the Copper Isle, the more golden tones from Yaman, the pale skin with dark features of Tortal, the midtones of the Carthraki, and of course the pale features of Scanra and Galla. Daine was amazed to not be the only one with dark features, she thought she'd stand out but she was among people from everywhere. She followed Alfred over to a table where a group of young people already sat. They smiled up at Alfred, then one by one they noticed the small girl trailing behind their friends.
"Whos this pretty little thing you got here Alf?" One of the boys who looked only about 18 said, he had shaggy brown hair like Alfred, but had darker skin, he looked to be at least part raka. Daine blushed and looked down at her feet, she didn't like all these people looking at her.
Alfred and his huge personality were both a blessing and a curse, with a flourishing bow he replied "this young beauty is Veralidaine Sarrasri. Daine these are the miscreants that I bless with my presence." Daine could feel her blush creeping up her neck, having this many eyes on her was not what she would classify as fun or anything close to it. Alfred started pointing to each of the people sitting at the table, "This is Ekit Flax, Jeremy Fletcher, Carter Dyer." he started with the guy who had spoke up, then to a man with paler skin and blonde hair that seemed to be in his mid 20s, then a tan-skinned man in his early 20s that was quite generic looking. He then pointed to the 2 women sitting there "This is Sabrina Tailor," she was a pale girl with brown hair tied back in a long braid down her back, "and this is Rose Paget," a redhead girl with freckles scattered across her nose. As he pointed to each they would look up at her and smile or say something depending on their personality. Daine put their faces and names to memory, as she and Alfred settled down on a bench, filling their plates with some meat, vegetables, and bread with cheese. Daine poured herself a cup of water from the pitcher in the middle of the table, the others at their table had begun catching up, basically ignoring Daine altogether either out of not caring about the young girl or because she was trying her hardest to be invisible.
All of a sudden Daine jerked when she heard her name, "So Veralidaine, what work are you gonna do?" the red-haired girl asked, Rose, her names Rose, Daine thought to herself.
"I got hired on as a stable hand, and Daine is just fine." Daine gave the older girl a slight smile before looking back down at her plate.
"I work in the kennels so I'm sure we'll cross paths often enough." The generic boy, Carter, said to Daine with a smile, now that Daine could see his face completely and she was actually looking at him, she could see he wasn't so generic, he had piercing blue eyes. Daine flinched under his gaze but smiled anyway.
xxx
The rest of dinner went without much difficulty for Daine, when Alfred and her were done eating they excused themselves and returned to the stable. "Let's first bring the outside guys in and put them in clean stalls, it's still cold enough to bring them in. then well make sure everyone is fed and watered you start on that end and work your way down. Did you meet Nightrider? If you haven't then just skip over him, he can be a real pain in the arse." Daine laughed at his description of the headmaster, but just said that she had and went to the far end of the stable to begin the simplistic task of getting nearly 50 horses ready for bed, as well as Cloud.
They worked quickly and the task only took about two hours, with the help of a young boy who Daine found out was Alfred apprentice and nephew, Jacob, Daine didn't have to do nearly as much running as she expected, the boy was good at knowing what was needed and was there quickly. Still, Daine was exhausted by the time they were done and Alfred hurried her off to her room where she barely had time to change into nightclothes before she collapsed onto her bed and fell into a deep, dreamless, sleep.
xxx
When Daine woke up at dawn she carefully removed herself from under her covers, trying not to disrupt the family of cats that had curled up around her, it was a much less exotic spread of animals than she was used to but still, their warmth was as comforting as any. She dressed and left her room just as Alfred was coming down the stairs from the upper level of the barn, she smiled and waved. He gave her the same instructions as the previous night. He went to the other half of the horses, so he moved along, smiling at the confusing young girl.
They worked just as fast as the night before and by the time they were done, it was almost time for breakfast. They walked into the main house to the servant's mess and sat with the same group as the night before. The group was much less talkative but that didn't bother Daine much as she would rather they completely ignore her.
After breakfast, Alfred took Daine back to the stable to groom the horses, as well as a wellness check from nose to tail. The first few Daine went over Alfred watched to make sure she knew what to do, but after the second that she checked, brushed, combed, and braided the mane and tail, checked the hooves, and cleaned the stall of, he left once he realized she knew exactly what to do. He went to the other end of the stable and started his own checks and groomings. Jacob again helped run supplies to the two, excited when Daine told him he could try grooming Cloud because she was small, clean, healthy, and Daine could annoy her into behavior, as long as he waited until she was done with the nobles' horses.
When Daine eventually finished, Alfred was still working, he waved her off when she offered, telling her to go play with her little pony, causing her to roll her eyes. She walked over to Clouds stall "now, Jacob here is going to groom you and you're going to behave, don't even think about biting, he is new to this so be patient." Daine gave Cloud a pat on the neck don't talk to me like a child, he's People to like you, Daine looked at Cloud with her head tilted like a confused dog would don't look at me like that, you have the light of People on the inside, like those two, but theirs is much more subtle than yours. I'll behave. Cloud head-butted Daine while leaving her with even more questions than ever. Jacob came over with a little stool so he could actually reach the top of Cloud looking nervously between the horse and girl. "Come on up, she'll be good." Jacob walked up to Cloud slowly with a flat handheld out under her nose, Cloud sniffed the hand and then moved on to his pockets making the young boy giggle and produce an apple which Cloud quickly devoured then slobbered appreciatively on the boy making him giggle even more and Daine to smile. "So where do you start…" Daine made Jacob go through all the steps of a thorough cleaning and check-up, getting him to check Clouds teeth, eyes, ears, muscles, hooves, rear, basically everywhere, when both were satisfied that he was done, she made him move on to grooming, having him braid Clouds mane and tail, brush her down completely, and then finally have him pick her hooves. With very little prompting and assistance from Daine, Jacob gave Cloud a very thorough cleaning, and even though it took a good amount of time for him to do so, Cloud was as clean as can be.
By the time Jacob had finished, Alfred was done with the rest of his end of horses and it was time for midday lunch. Jacob ran off to eat with his friends while Alfred and Daine went to the group that Daine was soon realizing was going to be the constant group if she continued to follow Alfred around everywhere, so she might as well get to know them.
Daine spent the midday meal listening to the conversations around her trying to learn as much as she could about her new coworkers. She laughed when the boys were being dumb, shared some eye rolls with the other girls, and made sure that Alfred ate his vegetables along with the meat, making everyone at the table laugh at the older boy being scolded like a child by the young shy girl.
Once midday meal was over the group split up to go back to work, Alfred and Daine returned to the stable to take the horses outside to exercise them one by one. This was a simple task, a long lead attached to their bridle, letting them run in a wide circle around the paddock. The changing seasons from winter to spring made many of the horses spritely and all had a lot of energy to wear off, as Daine was leading them out many nipped at her and bucked around as soon as they reached the enclosed area of field. Daine and Alfred laughed at how normally very reserved horses turned into colts as the seasons changed. Sarra soon arrived outside the corral and watched the two let the horses run off their energy, laughing whenever one would buck and rear, jumping around as they ran.
After Alfred and Daine had worn out all those who wanted it, they cleaned themselves up and headed off to the dining hall. Eating dinner with their typical group, then leaving for nighttime chores and bed.