Chapter Text
This day couldn’t get any worse. Well, you thought this day couldn’t get any worse. First the bucket handles broke while you were trying to bring water to the horses. Then you found out that rot had set in on their hay, and you had to shell out good chunk of your savings to get them new food. And now, grumbling as you step in a puddle, you're gallivanting around in the woods like a wild animal because one of the town boys thought it would be funny to let your prize stallion, Robas, out of the stable.
You see a clearing up ahead. You had escaped there every once and awhile over the past few years to get some peace and quiet while reading, including several times when you had ridden Robas to let him relax too. There was a stream running through the edge of the clearing with a good selection of grasses for him to munch on, and you cross your fingers that Robas remembered that.
As you step around a bush to head towards the clearing, you hear a voice and instinctively crouch down low. Peeking around the bush to try and get a view of the person, you hear it again. It’s a man, his voice like a deep purr with some strange accent, “Come here caballo, so that I may get ahold of you.”
Then you hear Robas whinny. Oh hell no. Jumping up, you storm through the undergrowth, only stopping to realize you didn’t actually have a plan after you broke though into the clearing. Robas is looking at you, and next to him is a man holding his reins and staring at you quizzically. You muster what courage you have, “Step away from the horse immediately.”
The man laughs. Only then do you actually look at him. He appears to be a solider, and not one of those preening ones dressed up in officer uniforms as they parade around during the town dances. No, this guy looked like he had just been pulled from a pile of bodies and was pissed about it. His black armor was dented and covered in dust, his brown hair disheveled and matted, and the scar running over one of his eyes gave him a permanent scowl that put a dark twist even on his laughter. Shit.
The man finally stops laughing at you and says, “No.”
You bristle, “Saying no is not an option. You will step away from the horse immediately.”
“Or what chica?” The man asks with a smirk, “Will you fight me?”
“I…” You wish you were better at thinking on the spot, “I’ll have you arrested and thrown in jail. That’s my horse. If you don’t give him back then you’re stealing and I will report you.”
The man looks Robas up and down and then turns back to you, his dark brown eyes scanning you up and down, leaving goosebumps in their wake. You shuffle, suddenly feeling naked, like his eyes are looking straight through your clothes. He finally breaks the silence, “A girl like you handling a big stallion like this? Unlikely.”
“Excuse you?” You take a step towards him, your temper flaring, “Don’t question my ability with horses.”
He quirks his eyebrow at you, “I never said anything about your abilities with horses. I just pointed out that this horse,” he gestures to Robas, “is a bit spirited. It took me an hour of coaxing him to just let me get near him.”
“That’s because I’ve trained him to only respond to my commands,” you reply, “so let him go and we won’t have an issue.”
The man stares at you, his gaze making your skin tingle, before a devilish half-smile crosses his face and he says “If you’ve truly trained him, then he should come at your calling and you wouldn’t need me to hand over the reins.”
You take a shaky breath. You had technically trained Robas, but he was like a cat in that sometimes he ignored your orders when he felt like it. Well, now or never. “Robas,” the stallion’s ears perk up as he hears you call for him and do the trained hand gesture, “Come here.”
Robas starts to walk forward and you grin…until the man pulls on the reins to keep the stallion from going any further. “Hey!” You call out, “A deal’s a deal, let him go!”
“I agreed to no deal, I only said-“ Robas suddenly surges forward, frustrated with the man and yanking the reins out of his grip, sending the man tumbling to the ground with a grunt.
Your stallion trots over to you and you scratch his neck before looking back at the stranger, groaning in the grass. With a hand on Robas’ reins, you slowly walk closer to the man and look down at him. As he lies in the grass, you get the sudden feeling that most of his scariness and stubbornness comes from extreme tiredness. You’re not sure entirely what comes over you, but you lean in and ask, “What’s your name?”
The man huffs, “Tovar,” before squinting up at you, “Why do you care, chiquita?”
“I like to know the names of the people I do business with.”
“What’re you talking about?” Tovar asks you.
You smile, “I’m assuming you tried to steal Robas” you gesture to your stallion before offering the man a hand up, “because you are in need of a horse Tovar. Luckily for you, I run the livery in town. If you follow me, I can take you to a selection of fine horses to choose from.”
Tovar looks at your hand before grumbling and getting up on his own. “What if I can’t afford your prices?” He asks, quirking a brow.
Rolling your eyes, you mounted Robas and replied, “Have you seen the Village? We all live off of travelers from the road. I wouldn’t get any business if I charged exorbitant prices.” Gently nudging your heels into Robas to start him walking, you look over your shoulder at Tovar, a bit of confidence returning now that something had gone your way, “If you really have no cash on you, you could always just steal enough to buy a horse.”