Dragon Blossom

That one and the girl

Eri didn't like to travel by carriage.

Carriages were closed, you had to be careful with everything and you couldn't see the scenery. In the cart there were interesting things, it was cool, you could see everything and there were Koro and the coachman. Mom and Mrs. Mera were in the carriage, but so was that one. Eri only got in the carriage if they were traveling at night or if Dad got in too. But he was always there.

Eri had gotten mad at a lot of people in her life, the man at the door, the green dragon, the bandits who beat up Mom, but that one, he bothered her more than anyone, seeing him made her turn red and clench her fists, he... the one who wanted to steal Dad. In Meyrin, he had said horrible things to her and made her cry, she still didn't feel quite right, but this...

Every day of the trip, Dad would go into that one's tent and wake him up; Dad would make him polish armor, take care of the horses, take down the tents, he was very bad at everything, and Dad would spend all morning with him. Sometimes Dad even made him ride and go with him to watch over the caravan, Eri couldn't do that, Mom had given her a foal just before they left for Meyrin, but it was still too small to ride and they had left it in Artemia. It wasn't fair, Eri wanted to be a squire too. They had told her that princesses weren't squires, but he, that one was a prince.

She didn't give up. On the third day of the trip she got up with the first rays of the sun, went in among the horses and waited. Mrs. Mera didn't like Eri to smell like horses but this was very important.

"Today I want you to check the horses' hooves," Dad told that one as they approached, "the coachmen will be the ones to change the horseshoes, but we must decide which horses need to be shod and which can wait. You must always do this when you go out with a caravan. Each horse must be attended to if it has dents, loose nails or cracks. I'll show you how to get the animal to show you its hooves without making them nervous, have the rasp handy..."

"Again teaching me peasant things?" That one answered, "we have people for that. People of my rank cannot waste time on such trivial matters. It's outrageous." When that one spoke, he always raised his head like the princesses, Mom said that was how people were better convinced, but it never seemed to work for him.

Dad raised his hand, Eri thought he should give him a good slap, but he just put it on that one's shoulder.

"Listen to me, boy," Dad seemed to be talking to that one's shoes, "I'm not teaching you to shoe horses, I'm teaching you to make decisions. If you are the one who does this, and if you do it right, the blacksmiths and stable boys will do what you tell them out of sheer respect. Whenever a leader gives an order he must know what the order implies, the consequences and reasons behind it. He must be able to instruct someone who does it wrong and know when something is done right. I could simply order that every horse be shod right now, but that would take us as much time as adding a day to the journey, and tell me, do you know how many horseshoes the stable boys carry with them?"

Dad was really great. He made everything sound important.

"I know, Daddy." Everyone turned to look at her, apparently they had just realized she was there, she started counting on her fingers, as Mrs. Mera had taught her. "The coachman says they bring two for each horse, and we bring... let's see..."

"We bring fifteen horses, girl." That one always got into everything, "so we bring thirty horseshoes."

"Very good, Bestenar." Dad spoke to him in a tone Eri had never heard him use, similar to how some people in castles spoke, "Your math is better than that of a six-year-old girl. Now, if the trip lasts fifteen days, and you must take into account that there could be unforeseen events, how many can you use each day?"

That one made a wrinkled face, she loved that face, Eri didn't know why, because it made him look ugly.

"I don't know, I guess two a day, one on some days."

"How many legs do horses have, Bestenar?"

This time the face he made seemed very funny to Eri. He didn't want to answer.

"That's why we do this, the ideal is to change all the horseshoes of a horse, it's best not to use the available horseshoes unless it's necessary, we don't bring enough to shoe them all because..."

"I know," Eri raised her hand and jumped up and down, as when she went to class with Mrs. Mera, "because they are heavy and use too much space, the coachman always makes me move the boxes with horseshoes or heavy things."

Dad smiled at Eri, she stuck her tongue out at that one.

"Eri," he said, still smiling, "if your mom doesn't mind, you can come with us today, maybe you can learn some things, the prince can teach you what he has already learned."

Although Eri didn't want that one to teach her anything, if she could spend more time with Dad she didn't mind.

"Yes! The coachman and Koro have shown me a lot of things. I want to help."

"This is bad enough, girl, I don't need you around," who had asked that one anything? "I'm not going to take care of you if something happens."

"And that's why you have to go through this Bestenar." Daddy was truly amazing. "A leader never misses an opportunity to be a teacher. I know you have the potential inside of you. Eri is your inexhaustible opportunity to be an example, when she joins us, you will be responsible for what she learns, if she learns, I will know that you have mastered it."

Eri looked at that one, who was also looking at her with his wrinkled face, they both nodded, but that was going to be very little fun. That one only knew how to complain; but Eri would never let him steal Dad from her.

"Well, now check the horses." Said Dad.

He taught them to check if the animals were nervous, to lift only one front leg a little, that horses could kick forward and backward, that lesson was very useful to that one, who almost got hit by getting impatient when pulling the hind leg of a particularly nervous young colt. Eri was trying very hard, but the truth was that she was having a hard time. She knew what she was doing, but she needed help, so, reluctantly, she went to that one, who wasn't having a better time.

"Amm... hey... you." His name stuck in her throat, "I need help calming the horses."

"Go away girl, I can't calm them down enough either, this one almost hurt me, I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

"I know," she said, "you have to pet him on the neck like this." She patted her own neck, "but only if he behaves, if you do it when he's angry he gets angrier. Then you have to..."

"If you know so much, why don't you do it yourself?"

Eri answered with a red face. "I can't reach. And... I'm afraid of hurting them."

"You can't be serious." Dad, who was watching them, twisted his mouth from the log where he had sat down to drink a hot tea, that one almost roared, "argh, okay, I'll calm the horse, while you lift its legs and check if it needs new horseshoes. Just tell me again what I have to do if he's angry."

The girl had come to complicate everything, it was not enough the constant lecturing of the peasant, he thought he was so clever, they had taken forever to check the horses and the caravan had left late, not too much, besides they had found that one of the horses pulling the royal carriage was hurting from a stone in its hoof, the coachman had replaced it and had taken the stone out. That explained why sometimes the carriage went slower.

It was like Erina all over again, that girl was everyone's fascination, she even got into his punishment, she had to have it all. That girl was treated better than even her parents had treated Erina. But this time...

This time he had been the older brother. It was... nice that someone needed him. He couldn't say exactly how he felt, but when at the end of the task she said "Thank you Bestenar"...

He had replied "you're welcome Eri".