The King.

Chapter 3

I was woken to the booming voice of Howard, ringing throughout the barn. And a few soft nickers proved I was not the only one waken from my beauty sleep at this noise. The comforting Click, Clack, Click, Clack of heels that sounded after it promised that the woman was with him. My ears swiveled, and I picked up the sound of another pair of footsteps. 

I lifted my head, groggily peering out into the isle way, parting my jaws in a yawn. What I saw lifted my spirits a bit, and I let out a somewhat excited nicker.

Howard was the leader of the group, his long strides very awake for this early in the morning. He was fiddling with the ends of his jacket as he talked (and talked, and talked, and talked) to the three behind him, only pausing from his sentences to sip on his coffee, in which between these breaks the trio behind him would look relieved. He was obviously a morning person. Side by side was my master and the woman, and on the womans hip was Rosy. My master was obviously tired, possibly as tired as I am. His face was slightly unshaven, his messy brown hair might have looked a bit messier, and his feet were dragging slightly, making soft scuffing noises against the concrete. The woman looked flustered, her steps short and quick, constantly correcting her already-flawless, light blonde hair, rubbing her lips together every now and then to spread the cherry red lipstick across her lips. Rosy was practically passed out on her shoulder, clinging to it, her thumb hanging out of her partly open mouth.

"Are you positive, Howard? This might be risky..." James said slowly, as if processing these words, his brain not working quite fast enough. The woman shot him a look, pursing her lips, but he ignored this. He learned to somewhere along the years.

"Now now, dear, the horse will be fine." She said briskly, her eyes still fixed on his face. She was obviously not a morning person. Not tired, but very snippy. Howard ignored what she said, much to her displeasure, and nodded to James. She was stuck with possibly the two only men on planet earth that was not intimidated by her.

"Yes, my boy, I'm more positive than I have ever been! This horse is more than capable, and we haven't even seen what hes fully capable of yet!" He spoke quickly and joyfully, sipping on his coffee again. The three paused in front of my stall, and suddenly all eyes were on me, proving the subject of the conversation was me. My tail swished, and I greeted them with a soft nicker, which caused Rosy to stir a bit on her mothers shoulder.

"I just don't want him getting hurt..." James said worriedly, a light frown tugging at the corner of his lips. He took a step closer to me, slipping his hand between the bars of the stall. I pressed my nose in his palm, sniffing lightly, tickling his palm with the whiskers on my muzzle. Glancing at the three adults, one ear cocking back in question. What were they talking about? That's when the woman smiled wide, looking very excited all of a sudden.

"Oh, honey, hes going to win the Triple Crown!" She said breathlessly, her smile widening, if that was possible. Rosy woke, raising her head, blinking a few times, glancing around her, trying to recollect where she was. She rubbed her bright blue eyes with her tiny fist, parting her pink lips in a yawn. The woman glanced at her, giving her a wet, affectionate kiss on the cheek, before looking back at me, her eyes lit with pride.

"Now, no promises... Anything could happen." Howard said, for once slowly, cautiously. So maybe he was a bit intimidated by her. "Oh, but I'm sure hes going to win!" He quickly added after the look the woman shot him, her eyes daring him to displease her.

"Ooh, Sarah. Can you believe this?" James asked, not bothered at all by the way his wife was treating Howard, rubbing his wives shoulder, his eyes fixed on mine. My gaze landing on each of the adults face, I could easily trace similar emotions.

Pride, hope, and excitement.

No way I was going to let them down.

I will win the Triple Crown.

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"Goooood boooy!" Cooed George by my side. He was perched on the edge of the treadmill that I was cantering along, the sound of my horseshoes against the machine unnatural. Unsettling. I always hated working on the treadmill, but I put up with it, for every ones sake. I would give Richard a hard time, all the time, when he would try to get me onto this thing, but he was the only exception. But ever since the incident, he hasn't cared for me. Trust me, I'm not complaining. "Now, with this whole Tripl' Crown bidness goin on, yerr gunna have to work extra, extra hard. So... Don' hate me when I push ya'" He grinned. He was a handsome man. He had really nice teeth (Which might be an odd thing to point out...), charming icy blue eyes, and his white hair went quite well with them. The only drawback was his height, and (for some) his accent. But he wasn't interested in dating. I nickered softly in response, and refused to look at him, not too happy with him. And I won't be for a while. Not until all of these straps were off! I watched him out of the corner of my eyes as he casually reached for the nob labeled speed, and my ears pinned flat against my head, but he ignored me. He turned it up a bit, forcing me into a gallop, all while whistling a soft tune. Not quite my racing gallop, because that would be far too dangerous to preform on the treadmill. But a gallop, none the less. I began puffing lightly, my rhythmic beating of my hooves against the track fading into the back round. I could feel the sweat beginning to stick to me, but I kept going, my eyes focused on the wall in front of me.

After a while of that, I could feel the treadmill slowing below my feet. I dropped into a trot, and eventually a walk. And then, thankfully, a halt. I was puffing now, my nostrils flared, my sides heaving, and the occasionally sweat drop dripping from my flank and onto the machine. I peered at George as his arm moved from the nob, and he dropped down from the treadmill nimbly. He approached my back side, being sure to stay far to the side (because honestly, I wouldn't feel to guilty about kicking him right now.) He undid those straps, then, walking a complete circle around me, his fingers were working quickly to remove all of the others. I sighed in relief, once I was released from them, lowering my head, stretching out my neck. He swung open the bar in front of me, slowly leading me down the ramp, his blue eyes trained on me, making sure I didn't stumble. We both stopped, me still panting, and he grinned.

"Okay. A quick hose-down-and-wipe-off, a little somtin' to drink, and off to the track we go..." He said slyly, turning and leading me into the barn.

My ears flattened, my tail lashing.

What did he just say?

Later that day, George did not have a fun ride.

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I'm aware/sorry that this chapter had like... Nothing in it... Buuut... I don't want to rush things. Soo... Yea ^^ I'm currently working on the next one (Really trying to decide what will be in it... I'm making this up as I go along... Lol), and it will be done sooon!!