eldia

29 | ambrose

You fall right off your horse and come crashing down into the mud for the fifth time in a row. Kai passes by you on his horse, laughing his ass off while you shoot him the finger.

Elijah was off in the distance, his horse effortlessly hopping over every hurdle like it was nothing. Kai was following right behind.

Ambrose hops off his horse and tries his best not to laugh at you who was coated in mud from the several failed attempts of trying to keep up with your brothers. "Don't you dare laugh." You warn him.

He laughs anyway and takes a seat beside you. He lets out an exasperated sigh when he does. "I can't keep up with them."

"It's so annoying how they're always so perfect at everything." You agree as you wipe mud off your forehead.

"Tell me about it." Ambrose replies. "Elijah came out the womb perfect at everything and Kai can do anything after he sees someone do it one time."

You bring your knees to your chest so you can hold your head up. "Then there's us."

Ambrose was a lot smaller back then. He hadn't hit puberty yet so his growth spurt hadn't kicked in. Elijah succeeded all of them in height and strength at this time.

He wasn't coated in as much mud as you were, but he had stains here and there from falling too.

"Do you ever feel useless?" He asks. "I mean, in comparison to them."

You sigh. "All the time. Elijah is the golden child so he's naturally our parent's favorite and Kai is the funny one who everyone else loves."

"And then there's us." Ambrose says.

"And then there's us." You repeat. "Just filling up the space in between. No one's favorite anything. We just... exist."

He scoffs. "You at least can do that weird shit with your hands. I got nothing."

Ambrose watches them intently as they gallop around the open field, never falling, never messing up. "One day, I'm going to get strong. So strong that I can beat those two in anything."

You look at him, his shiny curls were much bouncier at 14. He kept looking forward, his nails picking at the skin on his hands. "I will practice every damn day until I'm better than them. Better than anyone."

"Easy for you to say." You say. "You're a man so you have the freedom to come out here and waste your day practicing to be the best. As a woman, I don't have that luxury. I'm only allowed outside for a certain amount of time."

He finally looks your way. "That sucks."

You smack his arm playfully and he laughs. When he stops, you both watch your brothers quietly.

Around this time, Jean had just left and your brothers were in disarray without their fourth member.

You found a way to bond with Elijah over literature and art. Kai was easy to bond with as long as you could take a joke. All there was left was Ambrose and he was the biggest challenge. You could never find anything to bond over.

Until now.

"I know this sounds messed up," You begin. "But I don't want you to get strong. If you practice everyday, you'll eventually leave me behind too."

"I won't." He stands back up again, holding his hand out for you to use. "No matter how big I get, I'll never leave you behind. Even if I'm on top of the world, I'll always make sure you're up there with me."

You narrow your eyes and furrow your brows, not fully convinced. "You promise?"

"As long as you promise to always get back up every time you fall." He answers.