Chapter Three: Reasons

Danni had finally finished feeding the horses. It was difficult. Her arms and back were stiff from cleaning the stables, then sleeping in the cold. She had dug herself into the hay, but it hadn't really helped. Plus, her stomach was rumbling fiercely.

She peeked out of the stable doors and, seeing no one, tiptoed past the adjacent box which Gorner had turned into his private chambers. She peered in through the door. Gorner was fast asleep in his bed by the wood stove. He usually slept until noon which was a nice reprieve for her. She snuck past.

She walked calmly down the trail until she got to the servants' door. She opened it quietly and slipped in.

The kitchen was, to the unobservant eye, mass pandemonium. There were cooks scuttling to and fro, tasting a vat of soup, chopping up vegetables, preparing a chicken or a leg of lamb, all the time almost half-hazardly avoiding each other. The head chef was a big man with a flowery moustache. He yelled out orders which were followed half the time and hit people lightly with spoons when they did not move fast enough.

Danni slid ghostlike through the chaos. She found her way to the bakery table. Laid neatly in rows were freshly baked loaves of sweet bread. Nonchalantly, she picked one up and crammed it in her mouth.

She almost moaned at the flavour exploding rich and full on her tongue. The bread was warm and tasted of butter and sugar. She swallowed and reached for another one when a loud bellow caused her to freeze.

"Hey! What do ye think yer doin'?"

Danni didn't think; she just grabbed two more loaves of bread and shoved them in her shirt. Three of the cooks tried to grab her, but she eluded their grasp.

She ran back through the kitchen, muttering 'Excuse me' about every five seconds.

Looking back, she saw that they were almost on her. Luckily, it was easier for one person to slip through the kitchen then three people.

"Ack!" she said, almost crashing into a cook holding a pot of soup for lunch. She ducked under the pot and ran for the door.

CRASH! Tthe other three cooks weren't as lucky avoiding the soup as she was.

Danni slipped out the door and ran back into the stable.

"Whoo!" she whooped, throwing her fist up in the air. She took the two loaves out from in her shirt. They looked a little squished, but none worse for the wear. She decided to save them, just in case. She still had the taste of the first one in her mouth and it had satisfied the rumble in her stomach.

After wrapping the bread in a mostly clean shirt, she placed it beside her pallet. She then danced over to the tack wall and grabbed a horse brush.

She opened the stall door to the black stallion's stall cautiously, making soft soothing noises so as not to startle the horse. She began to brush the horse's neck.

"My, aren't you a tall handsome fellow," she crooned softly. "If I had an apple, I'd give it to you. Well, actually, I probably would have eaten it, but I might have shared it with you." She moved on to his back.

"Now, I wonder who you belong to." Strange horses, horses of visitors always ended up in the stalls. "A visitor to Duke Rollo perhaps?"

She finished brushing him in silence, then went to pat his nose.

"I wonder what your name is," she said, stroking the white blaze down the horse's face.

"His name is Thomas," said a voice behind her.

Danni whirled around, and the visitor took an involuntary step back.

Danni inwardly groaned. There was no mistaking those green eyes, though the last time she had seen them, the face had been masked by a layer of muck.

"Milord," she said, bowing deeply.

"Cameron," he said firmly. He shifted uncomfortably.

"I've come to return your blanket," he said, holding something out in his left hand.

Danni was so overjoyed; she even forgot to be shy for a moment. "Oh, thank ye, milord. T'was dreadful cold last night without it."

"You only have one blanket?" Cameron asked, his eyes wide.

Danni cursed her big mouth. "Oh no, milord," she stammered, lowering her eyes again. "I have… five! Yes, five blankets!" She forced out a laugh. "Last night was just a six blanket night."

She took a cautious look at the man. He gave her a sceptical look, obviously not believing her story. She studied the blanket, feeling a blush starting to stain her cheeks.

"Um, milord," she questioned almost inaudibly, "I think ye've made a mistake. This isn't my blanket."

"Yes, well, your blanket was so badly stained, it was unsalvageable. We burned it and bought you a new one."

"Thank you, milord," she whispered. The blanket was thick and warm.

Aiden sighed and ran his hand through his hair. The boy was shyer than a newborn kitten. "You don't have to call me milord," he said. "I'm not royalty."

"I'm sorry, milord," Danni said. Not looking at him, she sidled over to where she kept her things. Laying the blanket down, she picked up her bread.

"Here, milord," she said, holding the bread in one hand and offering it to him. "I would like ye ta take this bread for me knockin' ye into the manure yesterday."

"You don't need to apologize," he said.

The boy looked at Aiden with the eyes of a startled fawn. Aiden had never seen eyes that colour before. They reminded him of the colour of the sky on a sunny day when he lay on his back looking straight up, that sort of bright blue-violet.

"Please, milord," the boy said, offering him the bread again. "I couldna live with meself if ye didna let me apologize."

"I'll only take your bread if you promise to call me Cameron," Aiden persisted.

"Alright, milor- Cameron." Aiden took one of the loaves in his hand and saw a small smile of relief sweep across the boy's face.

"Thank you, Danni," Aiden said. He saw him start slightly at the use of his name.

"Ye're welcome, Cameron."

Later, as Theo and Aiden played chess before retiring, Aiden relayed the tale of his visit to his cousin.

"So, why did you tell him to call you Cameron?" Theo asked as Aiden's knight took his bishop.

"It's complicated Theo," Aiden replied. Theo took Aiden's rook with his queen.

"So explain it to me," he said, folding his hands under his chin. "Check."

Aiden moved his king and killed one of Theo's pawns. "He's the only person who doesn't know me as Prince Aiden. It's just, I don't know, kind of nice to be seen as a normal person for once."

Theo moved his remaining bishop into place. "I see you as a normal person. Check."

"But you're my cousin," Aiden protested as he blocked the bishop's path with his knight. "It's different. Besides, Danni intrigues me."

Theo frowned over the board, then moved his rook to take one of Aiden's knights. "How so?"

Aiden shrugged. "It's difficult to say. He's more skittish than a colt, that's for certain. And he's very honourable." He gave Theo a strange look.

"I heard him speaking to the horses before I announced myself. When I talked to him, he spoke with the commoner accent. But when speaking to the horses, he spoke the same as you or me. Why would he do that?" He moved a pawn forward a space.

"I don't know," Theo said, moving his queen. "Check."

Aiden used his own queen to capture Theo's. "I don't know either, but I'm going to find out. Checkmate."

"Damn it." Theo frowned at the board as if it had offended him somehow. "You are too good for your own good."

Aiden was about to leave to go to his own chambers. He turned and grinned at Theo. "I know."