forum Kill The Prince, Steal The Crown // Private rp

Started May 30, 2019 by @croccin-champagne

tune

((I can't time, but I'm taking your word for it lmao))

Lily slipped quietly into the stables, after saying goodbye to the guard she'd been somehow roped into a conversation with while she walked. She had to admit, this whole endeavor had required more socializing than most things in her life, unless one could count…other things as socializing. She didn't though, and refused to. The guard had been nice, offering to show her around when he was off immediate duty.

Sighing, she looked around, a small smile flickering onto her face at the sight of the large animals around her. While she'd always loved animals, horses had a particular place in her heart, reminding her of simpler and happier times. Stepping up to one of the stall doors, she spoke in a quiet, soothing voice to the obviously finicky stallion residing in the stall. Soon enough, her smile had grown as she was allowed to scratch behind his ears.

"He seems to like you," Rhydar said as he led his own stallion into the stable, a light sheen of sweat covering both of them. However, Rhydar had a goofy grin on his face, and his eyes were bright with exhilaration. He had ran alongside Kaspa—a handsome and muscular buckskin stallion with a long and silky mane and tail the color of the midnight sky—in one of the meadows. He's also gone to his favorite pond for some chill time in the forest. It was a nice break before the ball.

Seeing Lily in the stables wasn't expected, but not unwelcome, either. He actually liked being around the surprisingly chill woman, as opposed to the others that just annoyed or bored him to death. He was also surprised to see her somewhat calm and happy in the stables. Again, a glaring difference from the other ladies his mother had picked out.

Lily jumped slightly, obviously startled by Rhydar's seemingly sudden appearance. She blinked, looking from the stallion to the Prince, but staying mostly relaxed. "You think?" She asked, tilting her head curiously. "Also, have fun on your escape ride?" She took in his appearance, her smile brightening just slightly.

He patted his stallion's neck affectionately. The beast snorted and came up to Lily, sniffing her curiously. Rhydar let him, knowing that Kaspa was friendly—a puppy, actually, in a horse's body. "This guy and I had quite a bit of fun, yeah." The corner of his lip curled up in a lopsided smile as he looked back at Lily. "And good ol' Danzing doesn't care too much for people. He has yet to be claimed by someone."

"He's so sweet though." Lily said, brows furrowing as she ruffled the stallion's mane and held out her other hand to Kaspa. "Both of them are." She sounded confused and slightly offended on Danzing's behalf, looking to Rhydar.

"I raised Kaspa," he said as he unsaddled and unbridled his stallion while the beast sniffed and nudged Lily without a care in the world. "Danzing used to have an owner, but he was killed during the most recent war. The poor guy's been left alone and has been slightly aloof ever since. He almost bit me the one time I tried feeding him some sugar cubes."

"Oh." She didn't seem to have a problem with Kaspa's nudging, even huffing a laugh as she moved her hand to scratch behind his ears. "Poor thing." She said, shaking her head as she happily gave both stallions attention. Danzing snorted, seemingly in response to the conversation.

He carried the tack to a spot next to an empty stall, the door labeled "Kaspa" in loopy handwriting. Once the tack was discarded, he dusted off his hands and spoke again. "I feel bad for him as well and would totally care for him, but he doesn't like me." He shrugged and leaned against a wooden pole attached to the nearby stall.

She attempted to blow her hair from her face, giving up fairly quickly. "When I was younger, my family had a work horse. He was the nastiest creature ever, according to my mother. I never had a problem with him. Do you keep sugar cubes here?"

He nodded and turned around somewhat to grab something behind him. "Right here," he said before tossing something at Lily. He cocked his head to the side as he thought about her words. She seems to have a way with horses. Wonder if she'll be able to melt that horse's frozen heart.

She caught the container easily, feeding one of the cubes to Kaspa with a smile, before placing another on her palm for Danzing. The stallion in question seemed visibly hesitant to accept it, but her soft, quiet murmuring in an almost musical sounding language seemed to convince him it was fine.

Rhydar watched her curiously. Shit, that language… He quickly looked away, busying himself with grabbing a brush and grooming Kaspa quietly. The stallion didn't seem to care as he munched on the cube that Lily had given him and nudged her for more.

Lily's lips quirked up into a small smile, as she offered Kaspa another cube before returning most of her attention to Danzing. The stallion seemed much more relaxed, even to the point of nudging her slightly for another. Her smile grew, lighting up her face as she willingly fed him another.

He watched her with a small, idle smile as he brushed Kaspa. Yup, the grumpy stallion definitely seemed to be warming up to the curious woman before him. Rhydar watched as her face lit up when the stubborn beast asked for more sugar cubes.

Everyone gives up when you don't warm up quickly, huh? I get that. She shook her head, continuing to murmur and apparently unaware of the audience she had. There was no magic in use here, simply time and patience, the latter of which Lily had plenty of, paired with gentle and kind movements.

His smile grew slightly as he watched and listened to her, then turned his attention to Kaspa. He swept the brush over the stallion's hide, quietly listening to Lily as she soothed the other stallion. Kaspa bobbed his head up and down impatiently, stomping a hoof against the ground. If he wasn't running around, he was fidgety. He was calmer when he was running free and moving—kinda like Rhydar.

It wasn't all that long before she was in the stall, Danzing turning his head to watch her as she stroked his neck, continuing to speak softly. He made no move to bite her, or show that he was unhappy, even the opposite. "Rhydar? Where could I find a brush?"

He went over to grab another one, then came up to the stall. He kept a close eye on Danzing while he handed the brush to Lily. "Here you go, milady," he said. A curious creature, Kaspa stretched out his neck to sniff the other stallion. Stallions were usually kept apart due to aggressiveness, but Kaspa was pretty submissive for a stallion, so he usually didn't have problems with others.

"Thanks you. Though, really, just call me Lily." She shook her head, flashing him a smile before setting to work brushing Danzing. The stallion eyed Kaspa, but a word from Lily seemed to soothe any uneasiness, and he instead stayed still, huffing at Kaspa.

Rhydar chuckled and gently pushed Kaspa's head away from Danzing. "C'mon boy. Let's get you in your stall." The stallion huffed, but let himself be led into the empty stall. He flicked his tail at Rhydar as he closed the door. "Pff." The prince scrunched up his nose and swatted at the horse's tail. "Brat," he said.

Lily pressed a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter at the two, shaking her head. It startled her, the level of comfort she was feeling with another person in the vicinity, let alone a man, but it was…nice. A nice change from the usual fear, and wariness.

Despite the attack, Rhydar grabbed a special bag of treats and dumped three of them on his palm. He put the bag back and held his hand out for Kaspa. The stallion nickered and eagerly gobbled up the treats, then nudged Rhydar's face affectionately. Rhydar chuckled and stroked the horse's face and patted his cheek.

"How long have you two known each other?" Lily asked, voice still soft to keep from startling Danzing. The way she asked the question was more the way someone would ask about humans, not animals, but it sort of fit her general personality.

"As I said earlier, I raised Kaspa. He's around 5 right now." Rhydar patted the horse's neck and leaned against the stall door to look at Lily as he spoke to her. "So five years, give or take a few months." He silently marveled at how calm Danzing was, as well as how easily she seemed to have bonded with the horse.

Lily nodded, a small and slightly wistful smile playing on her lips as she kept her focus on Danzing. "That's quite a while. Explains how you two are so close." She wrapped up the grooming, as the stallion began to get a bit fidgety. She'd made progress, more than expected, but he'd still have some issues. She did too. Slipping back out of the stall, she gave him one last scratch behind the ears.

Rhydar smiled at Lily, then remembered there was a ball to attend. "Ah, we best be going," he said, pushing off of the stall door. "Well, at least I have to be going. There's a ball to attend." He rolled his eyes. "Just another excuse for me to be passed around like some kind of marvelous teddy bear."