The Head Lord and the Rat Thief {Kamisato Ayato FanFiction}

Chapter 23 ~ The Steed and the Crazy

A/N: Kind of boring chapter, you can skim through it 

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Chapter 23 ~ The Steed and the Crazy 

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       Ayaka's and Ayato's horses were the only white ones or at least resembling white, and Caiome understood why. As the owners of this residence, like any other lord or lady, the horses had to be light-colored, showing purity, power, elegance, and high status.

       But that didn't mean the rest of the horses were less impressive. They were arranged in a certain order, depending on the breed, implicitly sorted by size and color, from horses with completely black bodies, horses with reddish hair to those with a simple brown color. Many of them also had distinctive features, such as different colors on their legs or white with black spots... or vice versa. In short, Caiome knew that there was an entire history behind the horses, and often pairings were made between horse breeds. In general, each nation had its own main horse breed, but over thousands of years, they had interbred, leading to various other varieties with different physical traits or regarding speed and power. And even personality.

       Oh, Caiome loved horses. And they were all wonderful, and Caiome felt like a plague among them. She didn't dare try to touch one, considering Ayato was here.

       "What are we doing here anyway?" she finally asked, looking at each horse individually. "Shouldn't we go to the city for your errands and... your important visit?" She rolled her eyes in the end, more frustrated that she was here and still couldn't touch anything.

       "Since we will not go there via a telepoint, we have to go on horseback," was his answer.

       Caiome stopped in place, blinked a few times, then suddenly looked at him. Ayato had a cute smile on his face, as if he was finally thinking that the person on his left had caught on. Caiome started gesturing with her finger around her and towards herself, without finding her words.

       "So... I'm going to... Um..."

       "All my companions must have a horse to ride to the destination when accompanying me," he said. "And since you are officially my bodyguard accompanying me everywhere, just as I have a personal horse, you must have one too."

       "Really?" she said, jumping towards him, clenching her fists, and her eyes seemed to have taken the shape of stars. Her smile was too wide, and her expression was full of delight.

        Ayato couldn't answer her for some time, which in his head seemed like hours. He expected such a reaction from her. In fact, he wanted to see this reaction because it would mean he could see more emotions on her face, thus getting to know her easier. He had seen Caiome smiling before. He had seen her jumping of joy or laughing around him. But her current smile and delight weren't anything like that excitement when he let her go to the city; or when she managed to provoke him and get what she wanted; or when she proudly told him she was going to join the Shuumatsuban and even came up with an idea for her personal symbol. It wasn't that expression when she did her balancing exercises on logs or when she won a duel against one of his guards or when she amused herself at Mizuki falling face-first to the ground, amusing her.

       Ayato was aware that Caiome liked horses, but her reaction to the news was a bit beyond what he imagined. He had never seen her so happy...

       And he never imagined that this happiness suited her so well.

       "Of course," he finally said.

       "Which one?" she asked immediately, as if she already had the questions on the tip of her tongue.