Ascension (13 page)

When I finally made it to the dining
hall after a few wrong turns, I saw Mathelda waiting for me, her
face bearing its seemingly permanent scowl. "Now that you're
finished wasting my time, may we go?"

“
Yes, ma
’
am. Sorry."

!

Mathelda dumped me at the horse
stables, leaving me in the hands of a tan, burly man who went by
the name of Heathrow. "But you can call me Heath", he said with a
firm handshake. He flashed a smile, showing off his laugh lines and
the creases around his light blue eyes. I couldn't help but smile
in return. "And what do I call you?"

"923, sir."

“
That
ain
’
t no name
for a person. Nope, that won
’
t do. Come on, I know you've got
something better."

"I go by Fara, I suppose," I said
with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Fara? That's much better. Now,
what's a young lass like you doing in a place like this?" He gave
my hand, which was still in his tight grasp, a soft squeeze before
releasing it. I subtly tried to shake it out, the blood rushing
back in with a sharp tingle.

"I'm here to work with the horses. I
was just...ah, evaluated. They told me I was to work with you." I
watched his face as I explained the situation, but if Heath was at
all concerned about my heritage, he didn't show it.

"How much experience do you have
with horses, Fara?" He asked me.

"I've been riding
for little over a week. Well, actually, I was riding a mule, but
my
…”
I paused, stumbling over the
word
“
friend
”
in reference to Croxley. After what happened in the
evaluation room, I wasn't sure who Croxley was to me. "My escort",
I finally decided on, "rode a stallion."

"And they sent you to me, eh?" Heath
scanned my thin arms and soft hands, his expression skeptical.
"Well, I'll take yah, as long as you're willing to
work."

"Absolutely, sir. I'll try my
best."

"That's what I like about you
Nethers. You work harder than Ahrenian servants, and you don't
complain nearly as much!" Heath clapped his rather large and
calloused hands together, the sudden movement and loud sound
scaring the nearby horse. He patted its neck, his hands gentle for
a man of such large size. "Come on in, I'll introduce you to
everyone. "

Entering the stables, the first
thing that hit me was the smell. It was obvious that a large number
of animals resided here. My distaste must have registered on my
face, because Heath laughed and told me I'd get used to it after a
while. He walked me through the stable, introducing me to the
horses as we passed, giving me time to let each one sniff my hand,
feed it a sugar cube, and, as he put it, "get
acquainted."

We made our way down the row, and I
was surprised at the variation of horses in the stables. There were
many brown horses like Sir Thunder, though none with the same
speckled bottom. There were also white horses, black horses,
spotted horses, and countless other combinations. When I thought I
had seen it all, the last horse proved me wrong.

"It's
beautiful,
”
I whispered, standing in
front of a horse whose fur shined like the gold we mined back home.
I slowly held out my hand like I had with all the other horses. It
hovered its nose in front of my palm, the warm breathe making me
shiver. After a few moments of hesitation, it finally leaned its
nose into my hand and motioned its head down, as if asking for a
rub. I happily obliged, gently rubbing the top of its
head.

"She sure is. This mare's name is
Elana. Looks like she likes you! Here, give her a sugar cube.
That's a girl."

Heath looked at each horse like they
were his pride and joy, but his eye twinkled just a bit brighter
when he spoke about Elana. "I raised this one as a foal. You should
'a seen her, all leg and no body. But she filled out nice, didn't
she? If I were a stallion... " He waggled his eyebrows
suggestively, and I laughed.

Elana put her head down, over the
edge of the stall, and I rubbed my hands along her cheeks, then ran
my fingers through the tuft of mane hanging on her forehead. The
tips were sun bleached, nearly white, while the roots were a rich,
golden blonde, creating a most unique gradient.

"Well, now that you've met everyone,
it's time to get the real work done. Since you came so late in the
day, you're getting off easy this time. All ya gotta do is shovel
their stalls and give them their nightly feed. Here's your shovel,"
he handed me a heavy, wide headed shovel and a wooden bucket. "When
you're done with that, just toss the rubbish in the fire pit and
come to me so I can show you where I keep the hay."

He left me with the shovel and
bucket and headed out of the stables.

Shoveling the stalls was a smelly,
dirty job, but one that I could handle without too much difficulty.
Once I got the hang of carrying the shovel back to the bucket
without losing all of its load, I was able to finish in little over
two hours. The horses barely seemed to notice my presence in their
stall as I cleaned up their messes.

When I got to Elana's stall, she
prodded me with her head the entire time I cleaned, probably hoping
I would give her another sugar cube.

"Sorry, Elana! I don
’
t have anymore!" I patted her
neck and backed out of her stall, tugging the bucket along the
ground, now that it was heavy with waste, when I bumped into
someone.

"Sorry!" I turned around to
apologize, and found myself staring straight into the shining green
eyes of the Prince. "Oh!" In my surprise, I stepped back, tripping
over and falling into the bucket. "Yuck," I moaned. After multiple
unsuccessful attempts to pull myself free, I realized with fallen
spirits that I was stuck.

The Prince's spirits, however,
seemed to be in good sorts. He was doubled over, fanning his hand
in front of his face and plugging his nose, all the while laughing
uncontrollably. When he finally gained control of himself, he
reached out his hands.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Here, let me
help you up," he offered breathlessly. Before I could refuse, he
gripped my hands and pulled me up, straight into his chest. For a
few moments, I just stayed there, a warmth creeping in through my
body, until I realized what I was doing, and pushed myself away.
"Sorry," I exclaimed.

"You said that already," he
chuckled, the smile revealing a gap between his two front teeth
that I hadn't noticed before. In a way, it made his regal features
less intimidating. Regardless, I still didn't know how to respond,
and I wracked my brain for something to say that would fill the
increasingly awkward silence.

I finally blurted
out,
”
What are you doing
here?
”

Brilliant.

"What am I doing here? What are you
doing with my horse?" He shot back.

"Elana is your horse?" I asked,
incredulously.

"Yes, she is my horse, thank you
very much. And I would appreciate it if you didn't fatten her up by
feeding her sugar cubes all day!" He looked confused by my fowl
temper, and I berated myself for being rude, but I just couldn't
help it. His presence essentially was turning my mind to
mush.

I scowled and turned around to pick
up the bucket. "If you don't mind, I need to get back to work." I
shoved past him, dragging the waste-laden bucket to the fire pit. I
held my breath while dumping it into the fire, but to be honest, it
smelled much better than the latrines at home. That was one thing I
definitely didn't miss.

The Prince was still following me,
making it impossible to think. "What?" I finally cried out,
exasperated. It had been a long day, and my small burst of energy
that came with meeting all of the horses was quickly
fading.

"Look, " he said, grabbing my arm so
that I faced him, but after seeing the fear in my face, he quickly
let it go.

"I'm
sorry,
”
He said, puling his hands back to
his sides,
“
thank you for your work with
the horses. I appreciate you taking care of
Elana."

I grumbled a "your welcome," and
went out to meet Heath, leaving the Prince standing alone in the
stalls.

"Ah, so
you
’
ve finished
up-good lord! Now what have ya gone and done to yourself? Turn
around,
”
Heath commanded upon seeing, and
most likely smelling me. I obeyed, and Heath released a loud
guffaw, "I don't even want to know what happened here!" He
considered it, then said," Well, actually, it might make for a good
story, but we'll save it for later. You've still got some work to
do!" He pushed himself up from the table he was working at and
motioned for me to follow.

We walked to the back of the barn to
a large pile of hay.

"Now, what you
wanna do is take this pitchfork here," he picked up the thick tool
and handed it to me. I nearly dropped it, its weight coming as a
surprise.
“
Be careful now! Alright, go
ahead and stick that in the hay, and when it comes out, use your
hand to hold it against the fork. You're gonna want to give each
horse a stack about the size of your head. Good luck!
”
He patted me on the shoulder and returned to his
work, leaving me standing there, hopelessly comparing the size of
the haystack to myself. I was definitely the smaller
one.

Straining under
the weight of the pitchfork, I was panting and dripping in sweat by
the time I finished giving the horses their food. The Prince must
have left while I was getting the hay, because he was gone when I
returned. Although it wasn
’
t as though I was looking for
him, I tried telling myself, but I knew in the back of my head that
I would
’
ve
liked him to see me working. Why, I have no idea. That fact alone
infuriated me, and I exhausted all my confused emotions by stabbing
passionately into the haystack with my pitchfork. Finally, I put
the pitchfork back where Heath had gotten it, the hay stack now
closer to my size, and fruitlessly tried to tidy myself up a bit
before returning to the stables.

"Heath! I've finished up!" I found
Heath in one of the stalls, picking dirt out of one of the horse's
hooves. He lifted his head and said, "Go on and get yourself a good
rest. I've got some hard work planned for tomorrow!" I hurried on
my way back to the servant chambers, not wanting to be late, racing
against the setting sun while my stomach growled in
anticipation.

Chapter
14

"How dare you
come back here looking like this!" In my rush to get to the main
room on time, I had forgotten about the mess that was made of my
dress. To my horror, Mathelda noticed it immediately and stormed
across the dining room. Before I could react, she grabbed my ear,
pulling me out of the dining room and back into the entrance
corridor. She whispered into it sharply,
“
Do you have any sense or are you completely daft?
You
’
ve gone and
ruined your dress, and yet you still have the audacity to come in,
late, and interrupt our meal."

Releasing my ear from her grip, she
told me to go directly to my room without supper, before I "fouled
up the place."

Anger made my eyes water, but I
refused to gratify her with my tears, so I held them in and walked
across the room with as much dignity as I could muster. The girls
seated at the tables in the dining room craned their necks to peer
into the entranceway where Mathelda had dragged me, and I had to
endure their their mocking laughs, their sneers, and their harsh
words as I walked back through the dining room and out through the
back corridor. With laugher at my back, I finally reached the
exit.

As soon as I was sure I was out of
sight, I hitched up my skirt and started to run, no longer trying
to hold back my tears. All of the memories from my youth at the
schools, where the girls would ridicule me and single me out, came
flooding back. At the end of the corridor, I turned into my room
and threw myself onto the cot, exhaustion, hunger, and shame taking
over. Quiet sobs racked my body, and I buried my face into the
pillow so no one could hear, lest I get reprimanded for that as
well.

Eventually, I ran out of tears, and
I was able to calm myself down. It was only then that I felt
another presence in the room. I looked up, and to my astonishment,
there was another servant girl in the room, standing at the foot of
the bed.

The shock of recognition stopped my
tears short. It was the maid from the inn!

"Are you done yet? I don't mean to
be rude, but that's my cot you're crying on."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know!" I
quickly pushed myself up and off her cot, now standing awkwardly in
the middle of the room.

"Don't worry
about it, I
’
ve
just had a long day and need to get these shoes off my feet. I'm
Jean, by the way," she said, setting down her bag as she sat on the
edge of her cot. She sighed with pleasure as she removed her
slippers, massaging her feet for a few moments before looking back
up at me. I stared back, dumbfounded, and decided that I should say
something else to my new roommate.