(Sierra, thank-you so much for that review! Yes, my brother (and sister) is preparing for his mission. And, Ares does nearly kick him, as you will see...Yes, Lance must vocalize his love for Minerva to break the spell, but admitting it helps a lot!(:

Ah, yes I forgot to address that. Why is Minerva awake. Remember back in the Justice camp Minerva was in the care of her 'magical' mother who knew a few tricks. She gave Minerva an herb that would allow her to go through the whole day, Friday, without help. So she's awake for twenty four hours, it is still Friday.

And you guys are great guessers, and have nearly the whole story figured out! Thank-you all for the reviews.

By the way he hasn't totally admitted it yet. But here...)

Chapter 40

I stopped pacing to consider it fully. I suppose it could be possible, I mean, it's not like I was immune to love. I was human even if I was the King of the most powerful nation in the world. But then again...

The pacing returned.

I could not believe that I was thinking this. For the longest time I had gotten it into my system that I was never going to love her. The fact of her dying had been inevitable, hard, but true. I had never even let this possibility come into my mind. But here it was, hard but true!

No! It couldn't be true! I had never fallen into this trap I couldn't! Conrad may have, Minerva may have, even Florian has, but not me!

"Ach, just admit it, Lance, you stubborn dolt."

I froze and sucked in my breath in surprise.

Who had just said that?

It was a male voice and right next to me, but Conrad was had left five minutes ago and even Rose couldn't pull off such a deep voice. It was rich and full of annoyance and liveliness. I turned, warily.

The horses were already dozing peacefully except for Ares who was just standing there chewing nonchalantly.

"Who said that?"

"Your evil spirit," said the voice dryly, and I jumped. "No, it was me, Ares. Anyway, like I was saying..."

"Ares?" my voice sprang an octave higher.

"Yes, that's my name."

"Ares!" I said again staring at my calm horse with eyes as big as plates. "You can speak!"

"Yes, but I can't sing, I'm sorry."

"Why didn't you tell me!"

"Oh, forgive me." He bobbed his head then said, and I could see his jaw moving, "I can speak, Master Lance. Surprise, surprise. But you knew that I could, at least down inside you did. You knew I was special, yes? Of course yes."

Truth was, I felt like I already did know that. I knew that my horse was one special animal, but not that special. I mulled this new fact over and got over it. "Ok, I can buy that fact. It would have been nice if you had spoken before though,"

"Yes, I actually agree. I was very tempted when you and Conrad walked up to the trap, also when you were whistling so loud the whole of Robina's men heard you. There was also the time..." he stopped himself and shrugged, if horses could shrug. I was glad. He wasn't like Rose, who talked all the time uncontrollably.

"But I am speaking now, because I couldn't just let your silly mind win over your heart, and it was pretty darn close."

I remembered my previous wrestle and felt embarrassed. I shuffled and messed up my hair, again. I also remembered that my horse had insulted me. Dolt. Indeed.

"You are a stubborn dolt," retorted Ares.

I jerked my head up.

"You can read minds too?"

"Yes," he said as if I had just asked if he was a horse. "I'm from Gaul, remember. Same place Minerva and Frieda are from. Horses there are magical, if you haven't noticed already; but back to the subject at hand. I am not only a mind reader, Lance. I know you."

"I know you too," I said absently, thinking hard.

"No, I mean I know what you feel, deep down."

"Like my conscience? Holy smokes this was creepy."

"Why?"

I glared at him.

"You're a horse!"

"A very intelligent horse, mind you. But you are trying to get away from the subject at hand, Mr. King of Adelfos. You are in love with Minerva of Gaul. Face it. You should be happy. After all she loves you back, she's beautiful and talented, you can easily break her spell, and you two can get married and rule the kingdom happily."

"I wish it were so easy," I muttered.

"It is!" cried Ares with an irritated neigh. "The fighting has already been done! All you gotta do is tell her you love her and then whisk her away to the wonderful castle. Don't you realize that this is a rare and choice moment of your life? Since when do people marry for love? Never! You remember Anastasia, you were gonna be forced to marry her! Now you can marry who you want and someone who wants you."

"But didn't you just see where she ran off to? She was flirting with those wood choppers. I'm not positive about..."

But my sentence was cut off by a shrieking neigh from Ares. He appeared to be laughing, because he shook his head and his neigh trembled with amusement. He practically dropped to the floor with hysterical fits of neighing laughter. I knew he was mocking me, but I didn't know whether to feel insulted and dumb or to laugh at the sight, since it was very strange to see a horse dying of laughter. In the end I just stood there with my hands in my pockets, waiting patiently for him to finish and explain this unusual conduct.

He coughed and said with a chuckle, "She was flirting wasn't she, ha, that is funny. I guess I wasn't the one who knocked the sense into your head. Oh, but she is a smart girl!" He suddenly became stern and took the command of shoving sense and light into my mind. "Lance! She feels nothing for those lads. She was simply nudging you forward into the light. You were immediately jealous when she did this, yes? Don't even try to deny it."

I scowled.

"See? You became jealous and finally realized you loved her, because your ego was pricked. My goodness, that was a good way to bring you from the darkness of ignorance and obstinacy; it's ok, man, she still loves you, and you can still have a happily ever after."

"Yeah, but..."

"There are no buts," said my horse firmly. We stared at each other stubbornly.

Finally I shrugged and said, "Ok, I'll buy that, I love her. I admit it. Happy now?"

"No. Not until she hears that."

"Well, by golly she's gone with Walter's sons! I can't do that now!"

"Well, then I'm happy for now."

"Good, does that mean you'll stop talking? It sure is annoying to have animals talk."

Ares stepped on my foot.

I yelped and grabbed my injury. "I'm kidding!" I apologized and retreated out of his stall. "I guess I was just thinking of Rose. But gosh, you have to admit, it's strange being bossed around by your mount."

"Sorry I gave you such a scare," sighed Ares. "But I was very tired of your stubborn ways and hard head. I just had to be the one to break it open and shove the sense in to it. Go eat and rest, finding yourself in love can get one very tired. Take Minerva for example. She's hardly woken up from the time she said she loved you."

I growled and he went back to chewing. I however did not go into the house. Instead I hung around outside the stalls. My eyes were too glued to the place where Minerva had left to pay attention to my weariness and hunger. I had admitted it. I did love her. For how long, I don't know. But everyone else seemed to know. I remember Rose's remarks about us being meant for each other and Grandmother Hazel's statement of knowing that Minerva's going with me would be good. They knew. But I didn't.

It felt strange, knowing you love someone. In this case it was also scary because I knew that if I somehow didn't manage to tell her, she would be gone, forever. This thought made me all the more impatient for her return. Thankfully my stomach growled to let me though that I could doing something other than standing around, and I started to the house.

My knock was answered by Conrad's hearty, "Come in and shut the door!"

I entered and found Walter and Rose in a heated friendly argument, while Conrad sat in a comfortable chair by the fire, reading a book. They looked to be already at home and on very friendly and casual terms.

"Hello, there, Lance," murmured Conrad without looking up from his book. He was eating an apple, and seemed content.

"Come on," said Rose, nudging a box toward the flustered old man. "It'll be fun I'll teach you how."

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks," insisted Walter. "I'll fail!"

"You have only failed when you fail to try," said Conrad, peering intently at the book. When we looked at him in surprise, he grinned and held up the book. It read, The Book of Adages. "It was written by Walter himself."

Walter reddened, embarrassed to be caught by his own words.

"You see," smiled Rose. "You can learn. Conrad, set out the chess pieces for me."

He grabbed the box with a sigh, "Yes, your majesty."

Before Rose could retort, Walter turned to me and said, "Don't be standing there like a stranger. Come in and grab a slice of pie, there's a gleam in your eye that tells me you are having hunger pains, lad. Go, go, the early bird gets the worm."

When I returned with my plate brimming with pie and a glass of milk, Rose and Walter were already deep in the game. I was content to watch silently, sometimes slipping into my own faraway thoughts. It was Walter's turn and he cackled away as he jumped a couple of Rose's pieces. She restrained her squawk as her opponent explained, "Beginner's luck."

"Don't move there," warned Conrad on the old man's next turn. "She'll get you good if you do."

"Conrad!" she screamed, "You are horrible at this game, so keep your ignorant mind out of this."

"Ah, but my dear," smiled Walter taking a different route, "The worst men oft give the best advice."

She did what she did best, and gave them a marvelous frog scowl. I had been looking at Conrad's book and now I smiled sweetly at her and said, "Looky here, a proverb just for those who know Rose and are still alive and not blown away with irritation. It says: Those persons who love roses will have patience with their thorns. Now ain't that nice to know we've got a virtue?"

"That's not nice!" protested Rose, but I could have sworn she was doing something akin to blushing, and she was trying hard not to sneak a smirk.

Walter laughed and Conrad muttered, "Well I don't know if I love her, but I know it is surprising how much patience I could have with one so annoying."

"I'm going to leave if you keep being mean," snarled Rose who was openly smiling now.

"Well, I'm not going to beg your forgiveness if that's what you want," growled Conrad, shoving his nose deeper into the book adages, probably looking for a solution for ill- tempered shrews.

I happened to glance out the window at this time and I noticed that it was already a little past noon. I immediately remembered Minerva and became suspicious. "It is sure is late."

Walter glanced up and said, "Time flies when you're having fun. Have another slice of pie, will you?"

I did so readily, but the suspicion did not leave. "Shouldn't they be back by now?" I asked, trying to act casual.

"They are probably taking their time, boys will be boys you know."

"Yes, but Minerva isn't a boy," I muttered; very glad this was true. I seated myself at the window and continued to glance out occasionally. I could hardly wait for them to return. I was after all, waiting for a sweetheart, and I could not miss this meeting.

Conrad and Rose looked at me, then each other, but did not say a word.

However I knew that actions speak louder than words.