Battle Horse

Chapter Six

It was close to ten that night when a sudden pounding erupted from her door. She was already in her nightgown, so she wrapped her quilt around her shoulders before running to the door. Malvin stood outside her room, with Kerry in tow.

"Hello." She said hesitantly. Kerry dragged Malvin inside her room and they both sat down on her bed. "Do please come in." She said sarcastically.

"What did Ulf say?" Kerry asked.

"Nothing. Only rexplained the rules, how I'm not allowed on the horses and such. I explained how you tried to stop me, Malvin, and he understood. He said you won't be punished." She said. Malvins eyes flickered up to hers with gratitude etched across his face.

"It's still my fault. I'm the oldest. You're my responsibility. I just got so irritated with Horace that I wasn't thinking clearly enough to stop you." He said. Ena smiled slightly.

"Horace is the cause for much trouble." She snickered.

"I don't know, he seems like a nice kid." Kerry said.

"Kid? You're only a year older than him." Ena said rolling her eyes. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"I'm more mature." He retorted. Ena raised her eyebrows and she and Malvin exchanged a look.

"Ah. Right." She said.

"So you're not leaving?" Malvin asked. She shook her head.

"Nope. You lot are stuck with me." She grinned proudly. She could have sworn she saw Kerry flash a look of disappointment. To bad. "And just because you're stuck with me, doesn't mean all day. I'd like to go to sleep, if you please." She said gesturing towards the door. Kerry rolled his eyes and headed towards the door. Malvin stood and nodded for Kerry to continue out the door. When he shut the door, Malvin turned back to Ena.

"Thank you, Ena. I would have been in big trouble with the horse master if you hadn't talked him out of it. How did you talk him out of it?" Ena gave him a small smirk.

"I simply admitted the one thing girls never admit, that I'm stubborn." He rose an eyebrow in question, but seeing that she wouldn't continue, he bid her goodnight and left her to her privacy.

***

Three weeks passed, and Ena was rather enjoying spending time with the horses more than people. Malvin, Kerry, and Jaryn were the only students she talked too, and she was alright with that.

One Saturday morning, as she was mucking out Kickers stall, she heard a set of feet run into the stables. Sir Ulf and Sir Rodney gave Horse school and Battle school students Saturday's off, so nobody stuck around longer in the stables than they needed too. Most of the boys would feed and do a poor job at cleaning the stalls before running off with the older students to a small creek down the road. Ena thought that a bunch of boys splashing around in the creek naked didn't sound too appealing. So she stayed behind to spend time with the horses. The first week however, Ulf had Jaryn stay behind to make sure she didn't try to ride again.

The sound of running feet got closer, and suddenly a large figure dashed into Kickers stall. The light brown hair and tall build was familiar, and she immediately knew who it was.

"What are you doing here, Horace?" His eyes widened and he dashed over to her, slapping a hand over her mouth to prevent her from speaking. She glared at him and licked his hand so he'd free her. He lurched back in surprise and glared at her, wiping her saliva on his vest.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" She whispered. She had the feeling he wanted her to be quiet, so she decided whispering would be safe.

"It doesn't matter, just hide me." He hissed. She rolled her eyes and grabbed him by his collar, dragging him into the supply room and locking the door. She then went back to Kickers stall as three new sets of footsteps entered the stables. Three fairly large, but not so large as Horace, battle School students entered. The three of them had a look of determination as they began to open each stall, in search of something. Ena's mind wandered back to Horace. Or someone.

"You there! Horsey brat!" The darker skinned one called. Ena rose an eyebrow and glared at them.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" She asked coldly. Over the past three weeks, the boy's in horse school learned to respect her. Yes, she was a girl, but she so far had accomplished everything the boy's had done with no trouble. The other boys also could tell that Sir Ulf favoured her. He had made it into a habit that every other night she would join him in his study for coffee and they'd talk about school and such. After about the third time, Ulf dropped the teacher act and from then on they became friends.

"Our names are our business." Ena scoffed at the answer. "We're looking for a first year cadet. He ran through here a minute ago?" Ena pointed towards the opposite door, that led out into the field.

"He ran that way. Better hurry though, he looked like he was in a hurry." She said. They nodded and ran after where they thought Horace was. Once they were gone, Ena unlocked the supply room, letting Horace out of it. He had been listening with his ear pressed against the door, so when she opened it up, he fell face forward. Horace quickly stood and brushed himself off.

"Thank you, Ena." He said quietly. Ena didn't know which was more shocking. The fact that Horace had just thanked her, or that he was sincere about it.

"No problem. Who where they?" She asked.

"Devil spawn." He snorted. She smiled.

"Don't get yourself into to much trouble, Horace." She said. He rolled his eyes.

"It's not like you care." He said bitterly.

"Who said that? If I didn't care, I would have shown them where you where." She pointed out. Horace bit his lip and nodded.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Thank you, Ena. I don't know how I'll repay you." He said. She smiled.

"No need, that's what ward mates do." She said. It looked as if a flash of relief went across his face. He looked younger then he had in three weeks. She could tell Battle school was a heavy burden, and she was sorry he was the one who had to carry it.

***

"So I was visiting an old friend and his apprentice today, and his apprentice taught me the greatest thing." Ulf said happily. They were currently sitting in his office and he had been telling her south's day, like a school boy. She found it quite amusing how much he trusted her. Some of the stories he told he she could definitely use as blackmail, but she knew that wasn't the right thing to do. Ulf handed her a cup of coffee, and poured a glob of honey it.

"Honey?" She asked.

"It tastes amazing. The ranger boy is quite the imaginative." He said. She looked up at him.

"Ranger boy? You mean Will?" She asked. He nodded.

"Yes, you know him?" He asked. She nodded eagerly.

"He was a ward mate of mine." She answered.

"Right, I knew that." He tried to say confidently. She rolled her eyes and took a sip of the honey filled coffee. The flavour was unbelievable.

"Why didn't Will ever share this with me?" She asked.

"Apparently, the boy didn't like coffee that much until he joined Halt. Halt can be quite persuasive." He said. Ena snorted.

"The Ranger?" Ulf nodded, chuckling as well.

"Yes, it's hard to believe, but Halt is great company. When he likes you of course." He said.

"Is Will doing alright?" She asked. He nodded.

"He's getting the hang of things. Halt is making him mainly do house work. The pour lad." He said. Ena glared at him.

"You make us do stable work!" She exclaimed.

"But that's part of your training!" He defended. She rolled over eyes.

"Well I don't feel sorry for Will. At least his house work doesn't require manure." She said. Ulf laughed again.

"For now. All right. Off to bed." He said. She smiled and bid him goodnight before leaving to head back to her room.

***

I personally love this chapter for some reason. I don't know why. I think I'll add Will in the next few chapters. What do you think? Please comment and vote!

~Avis