The Winter Sun

Chapter 4

Booted feet dragged through the snow as Lach made his way toward the stables. Upon seeing him, Rid's lips morphed into a smirk Lach was sure he wouldn't be able to wipe the rest of the day.

The sandy-blond opened his mouth, the beginning of a snarky remark on his tongue, but Lach had known him long enough to cut it before it reached the tip of his lips. "Keep your remarks down your throat." Rid's lips closed tightly as he swallowed it back, bobbing his Adam apple hard as if he had engulfed the biggest comeback of the century. Lach playfully rolled his eyes, but the knot inside his stomach hadn't left since he made that promise to his mother the night before.

The stablemaster's grogginess was intact as the hard snow clinging on rooftops this early morning. "I expect only the best of you stablemen," he pointed a thick finger. "Do not, in any case, disrespect the name of the stablemaster." Which was obliviously him.

The young stablemen nodded. "Yes, sir!"

Snowy lands and muddy roads stretched ahead as they rode the carriage to the castle. The horses' hooves clacked on the cobblestones as they passed through the city.

Lach had seen these landscapes many times as a young boy with dreams-filled eyes. Riding with his father and observing the city dwellers were a weekly occurrence. Women would stroll into their most elegant, flowing gowns with sun-shaped headdresses. Meanwhile, Men arbored sleek hoses, fine tunics, and surcoats. It hadn't changed much. The upper class was still strolling through cobblestones streets. However, the time with the blessed abundance of the earth was gone like the vibrance of attires, replaced with heavy coats needed to keep the bones from freezing to their core.

A taste of the abundance Lach could only wish to access one day.

Upon seeing the gold gates, a knot started to form inside Lach's stomach, tightening his face while Rid's was washed with awe. The grid of the gates extended so high it almost touched the clouds, and they glowed by their golden hues, blinding the newcomers as if to prevent them from seeing what was inside. The silhouettes of two soldiers slowly fleshed out as the carriage approached, and the knot tightened.

They peered at them through the slit of their silver helmets. Authorization papers awaiting their opened palms. The stablemaster rummaged inside his coat before handing the documents with a slightly shaky hand that spurred an exchanging gaze from his subordinates. One soldier scanned it as his eyes sharply went through every line while the other stared at the newcomers.

After a few pounding heartbeats they let them in. The castle stood as grandiose and robust as Lach remembered. Long blocks of thick stones twirled into towers connected by walls of rocks extending beyond imagination. A fortified stone structure so high and rigid it could have been made by giants, unbendable from years of dominance and power.

The interior of this antiquity was still unexplored by Lach, for he was never allowed inside, and this day wasn't any dissimilar. The carriage rolled on the snowy garden to stop in front of a large and wide wooden structure. The stables. As gigantic as the rest of the constructions.

Lach felt the shiver of the past prickling his skin. It used to be his made-up playground while his father busied himself with deliveries. Something caught in his throat as he remembered those days full of laughter and adventure with his father. When his sole preoccupation laid in finding the next entertainment. The stablemaster's lips were moving, certainly giving them instructions, but Lach was already washed over by the memories of the past. Melodic giggles rung through his ears, and the depth of soft deer-like eyes observed him from behind a wooden pole.

"You found me." And indeed he had, but Lach also found himself disarmed by the softness of her a smile. His wood stick laid on the ground.

The girl eyes dropped on the wood stick before they rose again to Lach, a soft eyebrow up. "You let your wood stick fall."