All Around You (Troyler AU)

Chapter 12: Flower Crowns and Jagga

Troye's P.O.V

"So every person in your family actually has their own personal horse?" asked Tyler.

We were walking up a slight hill behind the castle, heading towards the royal stables where the horses for my family were kept. Tyler and I had spent the entire day together, and I had told him early on that at some point I wanted to check up on my horse, which he agreed to.

The horses for the royal family had very easy lives considering they were very rarely ridden. My father's horse was the biggest of all. It was strong and nearly golden when its coat shined in the sun; it looked very intimidating. It was perfectly fitting for a King. My father used his horse the most frequently out of all of us, considering he had to ride it to other kingdoms for negotiations and such. Steele rode his horse almost as often as my father did, and most of the time for the same reasons my father did. But, aside from riding practice or leisurely strolls, the other horses were ridden very little. They were all basically spoiled considering they slept and ate all day.

Tyde and Sage visited their horses every now and again just to see them. There was no need for maintaining them because that was someone else's job. That was a different story with me, though. Sometimes I would tell the horse's keeper to take a break, and I would groom and feed her myself. It felt nice to have some sort of responsibility over something, especially considering I had riding lessons very rarely, so I felt the need to make it up to the horse; she was basically like my pet.

"Yeah, don't you?" I asked as we made our way up to the gates of the stable. "I know you and the other knights have riding and hunting training all the time- don't you have your own horse to go on?"

"They aren't ours. They either belong to the kingdom or the royal family- I don't know. There's just a big collection of horses and when it's time to train we all just pick one and go."

"But there isn't one that you specifically go for? One that you ride often- that you have a bond with?"

"Whichever one's fastest," shrugged Tyler.

"Would you ever want your own horse?" I asked, an idea brewing in my mind. I pictured myself giving Tyler a horse of his very own- one that was faster than any of the horses the knights had to train with. I wondered if Tyler would be impressed or speechless, and the thought brought the feeling of butterflies to my stomach.

Tyler must've caught on to what I was thinking, because he quickly nudged my side and smirked. "Don't even think about it," he said plainly as he stared straight ahead.

"You're no fun," I retorted and stuck my tongue out at him playfully.

We walked up to the stables. It was a large wooden fixture on top of a small hill, with aging oak panels weathered down by rain and wind. Each horse had its own slot in the stables, with an open space for it to roam freely in. Towards the end of the fixture was a small nook full of grooming supplies, carrots, oats, and reigns to ride with. My favorite part about this particular spot on the castle grounds is that it wasn't indoors; it was still outside in the fresh, open air.

"Whoa, that one's huge," said Tyler. His jaw had nearly dropped when we passed by my father's horse. I chuckled knowingly, because I had had the exact same reaction when I first saw him. The horse was more the size of a monster than an animal.

"Yep, that one's mine!" I said, motioning at the golden horse. Tyler's eyes grew comically wide as his head quickly snapped to look at me. I burst into a fit of chuckles and giggles, shaking my head quickly. "Kidding! Kidding! That's my dad's. Mine's further down the way!"

Tyler nodded slowly, but didn't take his eyes off of the horse. He seemed to be getting very defensive, as if any moment the animal would charge through its gate and attack (and at this point I wouldn't doubt that it would. That horse always did frighten me...).