[Flashback] A Look Back (Alevadra)

[Rhuryc]

Spring 68, 498 AV Syliran Stables Rhuryc go get this. Rhuryc go get that. Rhuryc take these shoes to the stables. Blah blah blah. Why was he the errand boy? He didn't even work in the forge! Forge forge forge. Any more forging and he was going to cut his father's arm off. That would teach the old bastard to make him run things around the city. Pah! Foo. Damn it. Petch? Petch! The young boy shimmied through the streets. He took a roundabout path of course, cutting paste the bakery and whisking a cake or two away from the window before he blasted down the street to gobble down his well earned treat. Never mind the fact that he left a few coins where it had been to pay for it, he had stolen it fair and squire. Yes indeed! Yup. And now where was he? The boy spun about on heel, his squat, small self doing what it could to see over the roving crowds. He hopped. Nothing. He jumped. Still nothing. Bah! Why was he so short?! His father was over six feet! Frustrated, Rhuryc run to the side of the street though the mass of people, twisting and diving through the thick traffic with ease. He wiggled out of the crowd and climbed up the side of a small building, his nubby fingers digging into the stone to give him a view. Ah! He was right by the stables. Oh. Jump! He hit the ground, his knees buckling for a spectacular landing. A few bystanders gave the boy an odd look, one laughed, and Rhuryc bowed. He hopped up and started off back into the crowd, a small, commonly dressed boy once more losing himself in the masses. At more than a few points he bounced off a more steady commoner. Some cursed. Most just ignored him. He dipped, he shoved, but ultimately Rhuryc made it free unscathed, stopping at the entrance to the stables. He spun around again. With a hoist he lifted the bag he carried into the air and observed its exterior before continuing on to the innards, counting aloud the number of shoes he could make out. One, two three, four. Five. Seven? No. Yes! Eight. Good. They were well crafted, these shoes. At least that's what he was supposed to say. Something about special metal. He had forgotten on the way over. "Helloooooo!" The boy's light tenor echoed throughout the the stalls. Some of the horses snorted in response. "Quiet you! Where's the stable master?" Rhuryc said, stepping up and turning to face one of the animals. "Well? The horse was silent. The boy's eyes narrowed as he stared at the animal, accusing and harsh in his manner. "Not talking, huh? We'll see what he has to say when these shoes go missing! I bet they're for you, too. How about that?!" The horse shifted its tail and stared. Rhuryc stared back. There they stood, staring one another down, eleven-year-old boy versus unperturbed animal. A clash for the ages.

[Alevadra Druva]

Ale had gotten to the stable early that morning, like she had most mornings that season. Lyris was not the only horse she carried for, she had also gotten in the habit of looking after Patrick's giant stallion. Of course, Ale was there with several apples, carefully grooming Lyris, a relaxing and happy task. While the Druva was brushing down the mare's coat, the stable master approached the squire. “I have to step out of the stables for a short while. I'm expecting a delivery of horseshoes, there should be eight.” The man said calmly, holding out a small pouch. “There are some mizas here, pay the delivery boy and put four horse shoes with Red and Petry, both of them need new shoes.” Alevadra took the small pouch with an obedient nod and smile. “Yes, Ser.” The man left Alevadra to her duties, it was her week to keep the stables kept and there was a load of more chores to do before she could break and take Lyris out for a romp. Ale finished brushing down Lyris's coat to a slight sheen. Some how the mare always managed to get so dusty in such a short span of time. “I don't know why I spend so much time cleaning you when you're just going to get this dirty my morning.” Ale rolled her eyes at the mare before leaving the mare. The squire still had to fetch water and feed the horses. Ale was small, especially for her age, she looked like a child still, not a young woman. Her clothes were dirty with dust and bit of hay, her hair was pulled back in a long, blond braid that trailed down her spine, bits of hay appeared stuck to that too. Ale had grown a bit sense she was squired over a season prior, about two inches, she had officially broken the four foot marker. The small woman fetched the water buckets and left the stable to gather water from their well. It was still early when Ale lowered the buckets, she watched the morning crowds bustling, it was nice having the stable so quiet, it gave her time to think, relax. Brown eyes shut for a moment, enjoying the sun against her face. A light splash sound alerted Ale, the bucket had hit water. The process of gathering was repeated so there were two full buckets of water. With a groan, the squire lifted the buckets and headed back to the stables. Upon reaching the large, open door, Ale spotted a boy, carrying a bag and speaking loudly to the stable. “Helloooooo!” The boy called, Alevadra stopped in mid step to quizzically look over the youth. He seemed perturbed by the snorts and whinnies his announcement caused. [color=brown] “Quiet you! Where's the stable master?” He quickly interrogated the horse, a smile crossed Ale's face, what a queer child. “Not talking, huh? We'll see what he has to say when these shows go missing! I bet they're for you, too. How about that?!” The squire couldn't hold it in, the buckets were set down as Ale leaned over, a roar of laughter leaving her mouth. It took her a moment to regain and compose herself again before she could address the boy. “The horse has little to do with the goings ons of the stable.” Ale picked the buckets up again, her muscles tensing under the weight. “The stable master stepped out for the time, I have your money, as I'm sure you'd like to be paid.” The squire passed the boy and walked up next to the horse he had been interrogating. She dumped a bucket into a small metal tub which was low on water, filling it back up. “I'm Ale,” She threw a lopsided smile over her shoulder at the younger boy. “Alevadra Druva. And who might you be?” The woman dragged the remain bucket of water down to Lyris's paddock, dumping it into the mare's metal tub. The Druva discarded the bucket and dug in the pouch she had been given. “You have eight horseshoes, yes? One gold miza should cover that, right?” Ale held out the piece of metal between her thumb and forefinger. Her other hand was held out for the shoes.

[Rhuryc]

Ah! Rhuryc jumped. He spun around in a wild twist to face this new aggressor, this laughing girl. Huh. Who was she? She was short! Just like him! Huzzah! Rhuryc, albeit alarmed at first, warmed up to this new arrival and offered her a toothy grin as she spoke, one hand rising to rub the back of his head. His hair was rather long, wasn't it? Wasn't that bad?! No! Petch! He shook his head and did what he could to smooth over his unruly head, beating at the mop of blond that decorated his scalp. It took only a few chimes to realize that the girl was still, indeed, there. Oh. He blinked. Was he supposed to say something? The boy fumbled. Bag? What bag? That bag! In a flurry he lifted the horseshoes and offered them forward. "Uh yea. I'm s'pose to collect the coin I think, I dunno how much they cost they." He shrugged and exchanged the bag for the coin, pocketing the latter. No doubt he would forget about it and wonder off to spend his new treasure later. That meant his job was done. Yes! Didn't father say something about coming back after? Nah. "I'm Rhuryc." He grinned again and stepped forward, inspecting just what it was that Ale had done with his previous interrogation subjection. Water huh? It looked sort of nasty. "Roo-hur-ick. Most people have a hard time pronouncing it. I think its supposed to be an Eyktol name or something. I dunno." He gabbed. Already he had decided that this girl was his new friend, being the subject of his rampant curiosity. "A lot different than Al-E-Vaa-Drah! Why just ale? Do you like the taste of it or sumfin?" Rhuryc spun back about and glanced at his new friend, both of them similar in height. Gods was he short. But so was she! That made everything okay, didn't it? With a skip the boy started to glance about the stable, eying the horses and the various stalls in a wide, sweeping glance. He had never really spent time with horses. Seen them, sure, but never interacted with them in any way. Something about the smell. And yet now, being here, he was alight with a ferocious desire to learn more. Maybe Ale knew about them. She must have! "Soooo Ale, wat'cha do here? Or are you just pretending to be an assistant to steal the horseshoes?!"

[Alevadra Druva]

Strange. This boy was probably one of the worst delivery boys Alevadra had ever encountered. She raised a brow at the boys strange actions. The squire peered into the bag. Yep, there were eight, perfect. Four of the shoes went to Red, a ruddy brown stallion, she left them hanging over the gate. The other four went to Petry, a white speckled brown mare; her shoes were also hung over the gate. “I'm Rhuryc.” The squire smiled and nodded slightly. “Nice to meet you, Rhuryc.” “Why just Ale?” She echoed the boy, blinking a few times. It was a good question, Ale was a strange nickname, some called her Al-Ee, other Ale, like the drink. It came back to her slowly, Patrick, most things went back to him. “I've been called that for a long time. My patron knight, Ser Patrick, I think he was the one who started it. He squired to my father, Victor Druva, so he was around me a lot when I was a kid. He started calling me Ale, and it stuck. Sometimes he'll call me Ale, Al-Ee.” The Squire looked up and down at the boy. He was nearly the same height as her. Sigh. The Druva gathered the buckets again. He had six more horses that needed more water. Then all twenty needed to be fed, two cups of grain each, and a pitchfork of hay. “Soooo Ale, wat'cha do here? Or are you just pretending to be an assistant to steal the horseshoes?!” The accusation was an amusing one, the young squire giggled and shook her head. “No, no. I'm a squire.” She puffed out her chest, feeling important. “It's my week to care for the horses. After I finish giving the horses water and food, I'll be taking Lyris there,” The woman motion to the old gray mare. “Out for a ride.” Ale began to walk back to the well with the two buckets only to pause, she had an opportunity, one that would make her morning go by much faster. “You know, Rhuryc... If you help me with the water and feed, I'll take you with me on my ride.” She said, hoping to entice the youth into assistance.

[Rhuryc]

Rhuryc bobbed his head along while Ale spoke. Some believed that meant he was just following along, but it usually meant he was just paying attention to a tune in his head. Now, for instance, he stopped paying much attention the moment she mirrored his question. His eyes wondered. They darted from the stalls to the girl, back to the horses, then to Ale, all over the place until she mentioned something about squires. Squires? Wasn't he supposed to stay away from them? Yus. His father did not like the knights for some reason. Oh well! "Oh! A squire. You're really small for a squire." The boy blinked, stepping forward and throwing out a hand at Ale's head. He was measuring her against himself. Yup. She was short. Like him! Hooray! "So you're Ale the Squire. The drinking squire! Hah!" He laughed. Then snorted. Then he followed her. The moment she turned away Rhuryc took chase, stepping up behind her and coming to just as brief a halt when she paused. He nodded, his attention now apt on every word from her mouth. Ride? Him? On a horse? Wasn't he supposed to say away from those two? Definitely! "Yeah! The boy was gone. Well, not gone, but 'off'. He dashed forward and grabbed one of the buckets from Alevadra, fighting with the handle away from the girl and skittering about. He was on the prow. Having watched her change the water from his chosen subject of Horse he did very much the same thing, looking for troves with little or no liquid in them and filling each back up. His enthusiasm was palpable. This was so much better then being a delivery boy! He didn't even like the forge. And now he got to go riding! Yes!

[Alevadra Druva]

“Oh! A squire. You're really small for a squire.” Had Alevadra not been in a good mood, she would have happily backhanded the boy. But the words of Tyveth and knight code told her other wise. “I'm not that small. I just haven't had my growth spurt yet.” The woman said through grinding teeth. “And I don't drink! I'm too young. And knights don't drink, we're too respectable for that.” The woman said with a great deal of pride, it was clear she placed knights on a pedestal. The bribe appeared to work better than the squire could have ever hoped, the boy ran from the well to the horses tubs. She should have thought of this sooner. The Druva let Rhuryc take care of the water, while she moved on to feed the horses. The woman gathered a bucket full of grain and began to dump two small cup fulls into each horses feed bucket. This didn't take her very long, the more mind numbing tasks were watering and bringing hay to each stall. The short woman left the stalls and returned with a wheelbarrow and pitchfork, she would gather hay from one of the store sheds on the other side of the well. The store shed was cracked open, the stable master had unlocked it before he left for Ale. The wheelbarrow was squeaky and protested the entire time she pushed it. With a thud, the wheelbarrow was set down and Ale went to the sweat inducing task of heaving hay into the container. After the barrow was filled she pushed it back into the stables and began to dish out hay. With one barrow full, she could feed five horses, it would take her more trips than she cared for, but it was her duty, and she was going to finish it. Sweat had built up across the young squires brow as she pushed the now empty wheelbarrow back to the shed and filled it up. Brown eyes glanced up to see Rhuryc finishing with his job. “I only have to do this twice more, than I'll be done, you can sweep the main walkway if you want, the broom is my the stable master's door in the back.” Ale called out to the youngin', gesturing towards the location of a large broom. It took nearly half a bell for Ale to finish all the chores with the help of Rhuryc, help which she greatly appreciated, even if she did have to take him for a ride. “Have you ever been on a horse?” Ale asked as she walked past the boy, wiping her face off on the sleeve of her tunic. “I can't let you ride separate, but you can ride Lyris with me, We're small enough that she probably won't notice there are two people.” The squire moved over to the gray mare, putting the reins over the horses neck and the bit into her mouth. “She's a good horse, we can take a ride out to the crops of you want, there are a lot of knights along that path, so it's safe to travel.” Ale hefted down a saddle blanket and flung it over the horse, then the saddle came down. “Help me with this, will you?” Alevadra grunted.