Fall Into You

1

greedy people never win

The weather was warm, the sun was out, and people were busy. The kingdom was busy daily, specifically, the castle where King Sutcliffe and the rest of his family resided. Soldiers prepping for any war that might come across, servants tending to any and every need of the infamous family.

The Sutcliffes had ruled the Kingdom of Aradia for generations—King after King, heir after heir. One King would marry an allied family of a Kingdom nearby, they'd have a good-sized family, and when it was time - the heir would take over the Kingdom. They would make their own decisions and have loyal servants to do anything asked of them without the question they were being betrayed, and the people of Aradia loved it.

Well, most. Some of the townspeople disliked the family, all due to their negligence of the poor. They cared more about the material things - buildings, balls, and allyships - rather than the people who had little to none. Some people begged on the streets all day, whereas some worked day and night to barely get by.

They were ignored, however, as the town thought there were more important matters at hand. Keeping war little to none was their most concerning 'problem', despite the fact that that wasn't even an issue needing to be tended to. It was their excuse for not doing anything for the poor, ones the town fed into and joined in on very quickly.

Nicollette walked through the grass, not caring that little bits of dirt gathered on the hem of her dress. She just watched her feet as she walked toward the stables - a place she liked to spend most of her time if her parents weren't forcing her to do something.

The sounds of the animals were heard the closer she got, a small smile growing on her face as she saw the door opening. Holding a hand over her face to prevent the sun from shining in her eyes, she smiled wider as her best friend exited the stables with a saddle.

"I thought you needed to do some work?" Charles Langston asked as he saw the girl approaching, his voice loud enough for her to hear from the distance apart they were.

"Did it," Nicollette responded, moving her hand as she stepped into the shade. "Thought I'd come to help you."

"You know I don't need any help, right?" Charles asked as he wiped the saddle with a rag he pulled from the back of his pants. "This is my job, not yours."

"So? You just not wanting to spend any time with me or anything, Charlie?" Nicollette walked past him and into the stables anyway, quickly greeting each of the horses.

She stopped as she got to the midnight black one, leaning her arms against the door to the stall. "Well hello, Mr. Maximus, did you sleep well?" She cooed at the horse, touching the tips of her fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"I've got thirty minutes to finish my duties, are you going to be a distraction again?" Charles asked as he came back into the stables, putting the saddle away.

Nicollette glanced at her friend with a look before back at the horse in front of her, pulling a giant carrot from her pocket. "Here's a treat for being so cute." She cooed again, petting his mane as he gratefully took the snack. "Charles, I wouldn't be a distraction if I were to help you, now would I?"

Charles bit the inside of his lip, thinking. "You're quite the distraction. Especially when you're feeding the animals before it's feeding time."

"It's just a snack, Maximus appreciates the gesture," She mumbled, putting her attention back on the horse in front of her.

"Matthias is going to be mad when he finds out you fed his horse... again." Charles scolded slightly, beginning to work on some of the other small jobs he needed to finish.