Our Lucky Chance

Train With Me

    A familiar face starts walking towards Meg in which Meg is still standing in shock. Meg takes it in as the figure starts walking towards her. In a quick instant she runs towards the figure and jumps on him giving him a hug, almost knocking him.
"ALEXANDER" She yells like a puppy when it sees its owner when they come back from work.
"Hello!" He says, putting her back on the ground from the hug. She still hung onto him like a sloth. He pulled her away and looked at her condition.
"You have a lot of new scars" he took in.
"Yeah..." She said while touching her cheek to feel the new formed bumps on her cheek.
"If you want me to be honest, it kinda makes you look like a badass."
She perked up at the compliment. She had never been happy with her scars, but if they made her look like that, she wanted to embrace them more.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yeah! It makes you look awesome." he said
She looked up at him with a sweet grin.
"Thank you" She said with the biggest smile on her face. "So... what are you doing?".
"Oh, I'm just tending to the horses. Would you like to take a look?" He asked
"Yes!" She quickly agreed.
Alexander then motioned her to follow him to the horse stable. The closer they came, the more it smelled like manure.
"Now, it's going to smell really bad over here." He says as he leads Meg over to the stables. He takes a whiff of the smell and immediately regrets it. He looks to his left to see Meg who is completely unphased by the smell.
"What do you think of the smell?" he said, expecting her to say that it is disgusting.
"It's fine, I don't mind it." She said
\"Wha- How?" He asked, causing her to look him in the eyes.
"Alexander, I was in that prison for six months and I was an assassin. I've smelled enough to be prone to manure."
He looks at her and then they both laugh.
"Here, take a look at the horses." He brought Meg near a stable.
Though it would be thought that she would have, Meg had never really had been in contact with a horse properly. In her condition, whenever a horse would be around her it would have either run away before she could get near it or it would just be dead. This was completely new. Alexander led her up to the horse stables and the closer she got, the more nervous she got. Alexander seemed to notice this when they got to the stables. They browsed over all the horses.
"Hey, it's okay. It's safe." He reassured her. "Here," he said, handing her an apple.
"What is this for?" she asked.
"Well, it's time for us to feed the horses." he explained. " Just take the apple and reach your hand out in the stable.".
"They won't hurt me?"
"I promise.".
He then led her up to a stable and had her hold the apple in the pen for the horse to take. Noticing she was still scared, he stuck his hand through the stable and held her hand as she held the apple. She saw the horse come up to her. She squeezed her eyes shut as if her hand was going to get bit off. She then felt a damp but very soft muzzle gently taking the apple out of her hand.
She opened her eyes and looked at Alexander.
"I did it!" she exclaimed.
"Good job." responded Alexander.
Noticing that more horses needed to be fed, Meg went around with Alexander, feeding all the horses. Eventually Meg got the courage to actually go into one of the stables.
"Here. Take this brush and softly brush the side of the horse.". Said Alexander.
Meg took the brush from Alexander and hesitantly brushed the side of the horse. After the first couple strokes she looked back at Alexander with a look of pride on her face. Her eyes lit up when she brushed the horse some more. Alexander leaned on the door frame of the stable watching her brush the horse with pride and excitement, giggling as she did so. Every now and then Alexander would let out a chuckle due to how excited she seemed to be when she was with the horses. He thought for a second and realized something that would make her day even better.
"You know... Since you are a guard, you get to pick out your own horse." He explained to Meg.
Her head whipped around faster than you could blink.
"Really?" she half yelled.
"Yes! If you would like, we could go around the stables and find you a horse"  he said, making Meg practically jump in excitement.
"Then what are we waiting for?" She said running out of the stable.
"Okay- wait, do you even know where you're going?!" He yelled as she started running through the stables.
They walked through the stables, slowly observing all the horses available. After about an hour of searching Meg found a horse. A big horse who was brown with white spots, the horse had beautiful chocolate brown eyes and a soft muzzle. Alexander stopped walking and noticed her looking at the horse.
She looked over at Alexander.
"Can I have this one?" She asked.
"Sure, let's walk into the stable to get a better look at the horse.".
They walked into the stable not only to see beautiful hooves but also a silky smooth white mane.
"Yup, this is the one." Said Meg, still looking up at the horse in awe.
"Okay, it's yours!". He said.
"Does it have a name?" Meg asked.
"No, he doesn't have a name. You can name him if you want." said Alexander, making Meg think for a second.
"Hm." She thought."What if I named him... Tucker." She said,
"I think that's a good name for him! He looks like a Tucker." he said.
"Now do you know how to ride a horse?" He asked, obviously knowing the answer but still asking which led Meg to nod her head no.
"Okay, you are going to want to move out of the way for a second. Step out of the stable please." Alexander said, getting her to step out of the horse stable.
Alexander grabbed a muzzle and a rope and put it on the horse, and then took the horse out of the stable, which confused Meg. He then led Tucker out of the stable area, bringing him somewhat near the training field, and tying him to a fence and then going over to a bin. In that bin was saddles. He reached in and found a saddle and put it on the horse. Meg looked confused as Alexander brought her over to the horse.
"So I am going to teach you how to ride a horse." He explained as she nodded, down to go along with the lesson.
"So, you must first be able to safely secure a saddle onto a horse." In which he showed her how to safely secure a saddle. He then showed her how to take care of a horse and the horse's needs. He showed her what will keep a horse calm and what will cause the horse anxiety. He then went to show her how to get on the horse.
"Okay, you see these two handle like things on the saddle? That is a stirrup. That is what we use to board the horse." He explained. "Now, to board the horse you are going to put your foot in the stirrup. After your foot has been secured in the stirrup, you will then swing your body over the horse to properly sit on it.". Alexander then went up to the horse and gave a demonstration of how to board a horse. "It's that easy". He said.
"Umm.". Meg said nervously looking at Tucker and then at Alexander, quite nervous.
"Here let me help you," he said, walking her up to the horse.
"I'm going to get kicked off the horse!" she claimed.
"You are not going to get kicked off the horse. I promise, " he said. "Now take your foot and put it in the stirrup." He said helping her put her right foot into the stirrup.
"Now I am going to go to the other side of the horse. What you are going to do is just push yourself up and swing your leg over the horse." He explained, walking to the other side of the horse.
Meg still stood there hesitant about getting onto the horse.
"It's okay, trust me. You are going to be fine." he reassured in a gentle tone. "I am right here.".
Meg took a deep breath and swung her left leg across the horse towards Alexander.
"See? You did it! Easy peasy." he said while Meg celebrated.
"I DID IT!" She yelled.
'Okay, now this is how you are going to ride the horses."
Alexander explained the basics of riding a horse and after, he took her out for a ride around the track. He held the reins of the horse while she rode, him giving her orders on what to do to make the horse speed up or slow down. After about another hour of riding, the sun started to go down.
"Well, I think that's all we could get in today." Alexander explained.
"Awwww. Come on." Meg said disappointed.
"It is okay. You will see me here tomorrow. No worries." He said. "I am your permanent trainor after all.".
"Yes! Okay. I'll see you tomorrow!" She said, starting to walk down the path back to the palace.
"See you tomorrow Megan!" Alexander yelled to her in the distance. He then let out a content sigh and went to grab a notepad and a quill to plan the lesson plan for the day to come.
Meg went back into the palace. She walked down the hallways, down to the kitchen to pick up some food for herself before she went to bed. She wanted to stop in her room first to change out of her armour. When she came into her room there was a nice surprise for her. When she walked into her room she saw Elijah sitting on her bed with a plate of food.
"What are you doing here?" She said laughing, while coming up to Elijah.
"Well, I wanted to bring you some dinner, and I wanted to ask you about your first day of training!" he said, handing her the plate of food. She took the food and set it down on her desk, and she sat down and started to eat.
"Well... How was it?" He asked eagerly.
"It was really good!" Meg said with her mouth half full.
"Ewww. Chew with your mouth closed!" Said the prince while laughing, making Meg stick her tongue out at him once she swallowed her food.
"What did you learn?" Elijah asked.
"I learned a lot today! Mainly about horses.". She said with a smile, taking another bite of food.
"Really?" The prince added.
"Yes!" She exclaimed.
"Did you get a horse of your own yet?" he asked.
"I did! A pretty brown and white horse! I named him Tucker.". She said making the prince let out a chuckle.
"No one really names their horses." He elaborates.
"Well, I guess I'll be one of the first." she said.
"What exactly did you learn?" Elijah asked
"I learned about brushing, feeding, horse shoes, safety and how to board a horse!"She exclaimed, which made the prince happy.
"I actually do have a horse. If you would like to go on a ride with me when you improve a bit. I can even help teach you!" He exclaimed.
"I would love to go on a ride! It sounds fun! You don't have to teach me though, you're really busy and Alexander already has it covered so you don't have to worry about it!" She exclaimed with a smile.
"Oh..." Elijah said disappointed that he wouldn't be helping her with the riding. He was still happy that he would be able to ride with her though.
"I can't wait!" Elijah exclaimed.
Elijah was caught in thought for a second before he felt a piece of chicken hit his forehead which knocked him out of his thoughts.
"Earth to Elijah!" She asked "I've been calling your name for at least a minute now!" she pursued.
"Oh! I'm sorry. What were you saying?" He asked, picking up the chicken off his lap and then popping it into his mouth.
"What's on the schedule for tomorrow?" She asked.
"Oh. Well, We are to be taking care of the village needs, I will have to take a look at more suitors, I believe I might have a meeting with another prince. Specifically the price of Wolirefend. I also think it would be a good idea to visit the garden together if we have time to check up on how it is doing." He elaborated.
"UGH." She groaned, putting her head on her desk, moving her empty plate away from her.
"What?" Elijah asked, confused.
"I hate suitors." She admitted. "They all seem so snobby. You know what I mean?" She asked.
"Trust me Meg. I don't like them either. I do not plan on choosing any of them because frankly I am just not interested in any of them." He explained. "We'll get through it again. I promise.".
"Okay..." She said, turning her head to look at Elijah then smiling at Elijah.
    "I know this is sudden and is really corny, but I feel like I don't tell you how much I appreciate you Elijah. I don't think I've met anyone like you and this isn't because you are the prince. I genuinely think you are an amazing person and I am so lucky to have you in my life, You know that? I don't say it enough, but just know that I love you okay?" She admitted, causing the prince to blush.
    "I love you too Meg." He said getting up and kissing her on the forehead and engulfing her in a hug.
    "Okay, well I best head off. You as well. Tomorrow is a big day!" He said.
    "You say that everyday!" she said.
    "Yeah, well you know it's true!" he said, causing Meg to roll her eyes.
    "Good night princy boy." She said, ushering him out of her room.
    "Good night my little thief." He said before shutting the door behind him and then walking to his room, and then shutting the door to his room once he entered. He then flopped down onto his bed. He couldn't tell if he was happy or sad. He thought about how that was the first time she refused him to teach her something. She said she loved him, more than anyone else. Just thought of that made Elijah's heart flutter, but deep down he knew it was platonic.
    Of course Elijah went to his wardrobe and changed into pajamas and hopped into bed immediately falling asleep.
    He had a big day ahead of him.
    A big day ahead of him.