Ascending Pride

The journey begins

Ashton ignored the open carriage door, Thomas had splurged and boughten him his own mount, not impressive by any means but the 10-year-old grey work horse had the best endurance from a large ranch about 6 days away.

Lucian watched as Ashton elegantly flipped into the saddle with practiced ease. The horse only had two saddle bags and Ashton had his own backpack on, while he was dressed for the weather winter had only just begun. He could wait for Ashton to tire of the saddle before inviting him into the carriage.

Ashton wanted to roll his eyes when there was always at least one guard tailing him. Looks like him and Shawn were going to be joined at the hip. Ashton eyed Shawn Miles, 27 years old, 5'11, brown hair, boyish smile, bright brown eyes, his body looked too broad for his boyish face. Change his armor and he could pass for a farmer; he was also the most talkative of the group chattering away endlessly.

Patrick (Pat) Houghton was the oldest at 33, 6'1 stern grey eyes, dark brown hair with just a hint of grey sneaking in, sharp features, a chunk cut out of the top of his left ear, also broad shouldered. He was brusque and made it clear he and David didn't particularly care for Ashton.

David Karbonovich was the youngest of the four at 23, 5'10, blue eyes and brown hair made a striking contrast on his handsome face. He was also the 3rd son of a count which no doubt contributed to his insufferable, arrogant attitude toward all commoners. He was slimmer than the others but still looked twice Ashton's size in his armor.

Bert Dallen was the head of the guards, at only 32 he'd fought with Lucian on the battlefield just before Lucian became the emperor. His black hair and eyes were placid and observant, he was narrower than Patrick but moved like a viper in practice.

Ashton stayed clear of Patrick and David since they showed such obvious distaste for him, Bert was neutral so far, but Shawn was actively trying to engage in any kind of conversation. Devlin had given up about four hours into their journey and was sitting with Lucian and Aaron while Damian was sitting with Bert to man the carriage. Fun times all around.

Ashton was glad to be rid of Shawn during the guard shift every two hours, but now David was glowering as he edged his horse closer and closer. Ashton kept his grey mount steady and ignored the childish antics, but he also noted that not once in the last hours had Bert said anything. Wonderful, a month of stalking in his own home wasn't enough, they wanted to keep testing his boundaries.

Eventually David was so close Ashton's horse flicked his tail and hit David's horses face, causing a chain reaction of David's horse biting in retaliation, then Ashton's grey mount to kick back, startling David when his horse reared back and David to fall off. Ashton tightened his grip then brought his horse to a stop eyeing David, "Perhaps you should keep a healthier distance, Lord David."

David cursed as he had to roll to the side to get up, his armor was now dirty from the damp ground, "You did that on purpose!" he roared charging forward to grab Ashton.

Ashton kicked his horse lightly then continued as if the interruption never happened. He'd had to check the bite when they stopped but a quick glance didn't even show any broken skin.

Bert turned his horse as Ashton continued past to follow the carriage, he then signaled Pat to take tail. He led his horse beside David and just stared at him, David lowered his head to hide his glare, he then trotted to check on his horse which was bleeding from a neck wound. He applied a basic salve then mounted to continue. Patrick had fallen back to tail that arrogant commoner.

Ashton didn't even bother to look at Pat, but he couldn't not see Damian and Shawn looking back at the commotion. Soon enough Patrick and Bert kicked their horses into a trot as David caught up.