uncover | newtmas

𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞.

Thomas was awake long before Lady Agnes. The sky had barely been tinted with colour from the rising sun by the time he was in the stables.

He was dressed in his riding leathers and thick boots, awaiting his father to join him. Thomas and the King went for an early morning ride at least twice a week. "A man needs his own time," his father would say. "When you marry Lady Agnes you will understand."

Thomas believed he already had a slight understand of his fathers words. The castle could get rather suffocating at times when Brenda refused to leave him alone. It was not the same as having a wife but Thomas was sure he would find no woman as irritating as his older sister.

And although he didn't agree with his father's excuses to go riding, Thomas enjoyed the early morning rides he went on with his father, where the air was crisp and cold and the sun could barely be seen over the horizon.

He cherished these moments.

Thomas tightened the saddle on his horse's back. The creature had a gorgeous white man of flowing hair that was cropped short every month. Thomas loved his horse, and was careful to look after the majestic animal with such kindness. Somedays he would race Brenda through the forest as she rode on her horse, with hair as dark as a starless night sky.

The sound of gravel under foot made Thomas' ears prick. The Prince turned his head to the open wall of the stables and watched his father approach. He wore the same riding leathers as Thomas, but was wrapped in a thick woollen coat to keep him warm. Thomas didn't mind the cold of the morning.

"You are early, son," were the King's first words to his son that morning.

Thomas bowed his head. "I had a troublesome sleep. I did not wish to wait."

Both men mounted their horses in silence. The stable boy would not be up until the sun had touched the first clouds. The rest of the horses lowered their heads as Thomas and his father rode out past the castle walls.

The gravel crunched under the horse's shoes, the wind whipping through Thomas' short hair. He kept his eyes ahead of him, carefully watching the trees above him. His horse moved at a steady pace, just behind his father. They rode through the woods around the town quietly, the only sound being the laboured breaths of horse and man, and the rhythmic gallop of the large animal.

They rode to the large hill that overlooked the greater part of the woods. the trees grew thicker here, casting deep shadows across the ground. Thomas watched the world around him turn steadily brighter as the sky flushed a delicious pink.

"You spoke with Teresa at the feast last night."

Thomas and his father never spoke on their rides. There was a comfortable silence that rested between them. Even if that had wished to speak, their words were most likely swept away by the wind.

Now, standing atop the hill with no wind but the gentle breeze that touched their hair, they could speak properly.

Thomas nodded gently. "I gave her permission to call me by name."

Thomas did not know how he expected the king to react. Angry? Proud? He had not expected a pleasant laugh to break from the great man's chest.

"You did now, did you?"

Thomas nodded again.

The King smiled. "You're mother and I knew each other long before we were to wed. We referred to each other with more than our first names."

Thomas let a smile touch his features. "I have heard the charming little name mother has bestowed upon you."

Robert smiled heartily. "If you get the chance, make sure to pick a pet name before Lady Agnes does."