A/N Yay, I'm not dead! lmao Thank you Pca student, jimxariel4everfan19, DMxxfreek, kitty-kat-girlyyyxxx, PlatinumGal, CrazyPops D, and redrosegirl3 for reviewing! Dear gods, i love you guys! ^_^ Well, this chapter is less fluffy than the last one, but fluff is still to come! I posted this right before i have to get to school, so I'm sorry for any typos and grammar errors. please Review, since reviews are my food, and i don't want to starve to death! lmao I don't own Shrek 3 or its characters, i only own Eva and any other OC that's in here!
We made our way down the hallway and eventually reached the front doors to the castle. Who knew the frickin' building would be so big? Anyway, we stopped and asked a guard, who pointed us in the right direction. After thanking him, we followed his directions down the cobblestone driveway and towards a smaller part of town, where all of the livestock were kept. I smelt the animals before I saw the building in the distance. It took about a half hour to get from my room to the stables.
We carefully made our way inside of the building and gaped at the amount of horses that were in there. The magnificent beasts came in practically every color you can imagine. A stable hand spotted us in the doorway and made his way towards us.
'Hi, how can I help you?', he asked once he was standing in front of us.
'Hi, we're looking for a horse, one that can go long distances without tiring itself out', I said, gazing around the stable at all of the horses.
He hummed and rubbed his chin in thought.
'I know the perfect horse for you, then. Follow me', he stated, walking off and gesturing us to follow.
We wandered through the rows of horses and stopped in front of a stall.
'Well, this young lady doesn't have a name. The owner of the stables didn't give her one when she was born, oddly enough. But, she has a lot of endurance and is fairly fast for a mare her age', the stable hand said, gesturing to the horse that was inside of the stall.
I stood on my tiptoes to see inside of the stall. Dear spirits this horse is gorgeous!
She has a dark brown, almost black, coat, her mane's a fiery red, and her eyes are ice blue.
She nickered when she saw me and came to hang her head over the stall door. I slowly reached my hand out to her and let her sniff it before placing it on her nose. She closed her eyes as I gently rubbed my hand over her strong neck.
'Hmm, strange. She doesn't normally take to others that quickly', the stable hand commented from behind me.
'Maybe because she's never encountered and elf before', I stated lightly, patting her neck and turning around.
The stable hand looked surprised then curious.
'You're an elf?', he asked in awe, looking over my facial features carefully.
I notice his eyes hadn't strayed to my body at all during this visit. It's good to know that there's more than one respectable human guy in this world. Anyway, I nodded and turned back to the horse when she nudged me. Stroking her neck, I carefully examined the mare carefully, looking for any injuries. When I didn't find any, I nodded my satisfaction.
'How much is she?', I asked, turning away from the horse.
'Um, let me get the owner', the stable hand said and walked off.
I turned my head slightly only to see Artie glaring at the stable hand as he walked out the doors on the other side.
'What's with you?', I asked, startling him out of his gaze.
'I don't like the way he was looking at you', he stated simply, crossing his arms defiantly.
I shook my head and said, 'I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself'.
'I'm aware of that! It just reminded me of the way Charming looked at you before...', he trailed off when he saw my eyes harden.
'Sorry, I forgot you're still touchy on that subject', he apologized after a few seconds.
I let myself relax when I felt the horse nudge my arm.
Smiling softly, I petted the horse's velvety snout and murmured, 'It's alright. What's in the past should stay in the past'.
Artie visibly relaxed after my statement. A few minutes later, the stable hand came back with another man.
'So I hear you want to buy this beauty?', the man asked, patting the mare's neck gently.
I nodded and asked, 'How much do you want for her?'
The man glanced at the mare and said, '*£3,300 and no lower'.
Artie stepped forward and asked, 'How much would she be if I bought her?'
The man looked taken aback.
'Well, you Majesty, she would be only £100 if you bought her, bu-', he started only for Artie to cut him off.
'Sold', he stated, looking the owner in the eye.
Honestly, I was surprised that Artie would buy me something so expensive.
The owner blinked and then asked, 'Would you like to ride her, Your Majesty?'
Artie shook his head then replied, 'No. I bought her for Eva. She's the one who will need her'
The owner glanced at me and then turned to the stable hand.
'Get her tack. Lady Eva is riding her today'
Hmm, Lady Eva? I like the sound of that. As the stable hand scurried away, the owner opened the stall and led the mare out by the bridle. The mare moved elegantly and fluidly as she walked out of her stall. A few moments later, the stablehand came back with her saddle and other pieces of her tack. He showed me how to correctly put the tack on and how to properly mount her. After I was mounted, I gently touched my heels to her flank and she started walking. Her movements were just as fluid as I observed. Soon, I was cantering around the corral like I had ridden horses all my life. When I dismounted her, the mare was hardly tired. The stablehand also showed me how to remove her tack and cool her down before I took her back to her stall.
When she was comfortably in her stall, the owner turned to me and asked, 'So, what are you gonna name her?'
That was a good question. I carefully looked her over again, taking in her most notable features. I then went over the words I knew in the Ancient Language then decided on a name.
'I like Voniata', I said after a few minutes.
The owner looked a bit confused, but wrote it down after asking me how it's spelled.
'Alright, she's yours to take whenever you want', the owner stated after he tucked the slip of paper into his pocket.
'Cool!', I said, turning to Artie and asking, 'Shall we go back up to the castle?'
He smiled and nodded, thanking the owner again and leaving out the doors with me.
'Well, that was cool', I stated once we were on the path back to the castle.
He nodded and glanced over his shoulder. Rolling my eyes, I turned back to the road that was ahead of us and concentrated on that until Artie turned back around. I swear that boy is so over-protective sometimes! Though, it is one of his admirable qualities, even if it's annoying. We walked back to the castle in silence.
When we got to the front doors, Artie turned to me and said, 'I think Aunt Lillian is waiting for me to continue with my lessons. I'll come get you when its time for dinner'.
I nodded and gave him a brief hug. When he was out of my sight, I turned and wandered around the castle parameter. The back of the castle was facing the ocean with a small courtyard by the castle. A shiver of fear ran up my spine at the sight of the blue waters. Ya, that incident with the boat didn't help my fear any.
I quickly spun on my heel and walked the other way into a small forest. Taking a deep breath of the earthly air, I jumped into a tree and started making my way to the top of it. About half way up, I stopped on a thick branch and sat down, swinging my legs over the edge.
Spirits, I have a lot of time to think.
Sighing, I leaned against the cool bark and closed my eyes, visioning the day Artie and I met. The memories made me smile. Like Artie said, who knew such a small thing could begin a wonderful friendship, and possibly a relationship.
I chuckled to myself under my breath. Wow, I never knew how many mental walls I put up to isolate myself until Artie started to tear them down, one by one. That reminds me of a song I heard a while back called Halo. Don't you hate it when songs describe your life perfectly? I can name quite a few songs that do just that.
Shifting slightly, I opened my eyes and started to climb down from the tree, jumping the last 10 feet. After I was on the ground, I made my way back to the castle and up to my room.
When I pushed the wooden door open, I headed straight for the radio and turned it on. An unfamiliar song came on, so I just sat on my desk and painted a little more. The paintings I did earlier were finally dry, so I put them in the desk until I would need them. After packing up my painting stuff and washing up, I slipped out the door and headed for the library. Perhaps I could find a good book.
*I live in America, so i have no idea if this is a fair price for a horse. If someone could educate this dumbass on that, it is much appretiated! ^_^
~Meerkatgirl13