Allured

Ch. 8

Raul was sprawled across the feathered cushioned mat that was on the wooden couch. He yawned as he sat up, putting his hand through his hair, lazily. "A new day." He sighed, remembering how last night went in an instant. Then he remembered that today was day two, which meant horse riding for the games.

Getting up quickly, he hurried over to the kitchen, where his mother had made breakfast already and just handed it to his father. "Morning, Raul." His mother said, smiling at him, warmly. "Ready to start your day?"

"Yes." Raul answered but his eyes went to his father. "Dad, I was thinking and---"

"No." His father responded, frowning at him. "Meadow isn't a meant to be a horse that runs long and hard. She's meant to help keep the cattle together."

"Meadow is a horse that has stamina." Raul disagreed. "She's always itching to run. She has a lot of spirit. Actually, she can get competitive even. Can you at least convince them to let us try?"

"No, cause you freeze under pressure." He disapproves again. "You'll end up hurting the poor girl."

"I trust her to be able to handle me at my worst."

"I said no, Raul." The father responded. "I knew you were going to ask so Meadow isn't even here. You won't be tempted to take her either."

Raul gaped at him. "You hid my horse?!"

"Just do you wouldn't do anything reckless and get the poor horse hurt." His father turned to look at him firmly. "My answer will stay the same. Now, go check on Banu and make sure she's okay this morning to eat something."

Raul made himself turn around and stalked back to his room, feeling frustrated. The one thing that he might be okay doing, after building himself some confidence that was, and they still said no. When he reached the door, he paused. Maybe he could ask Theron? Would he have influence on that? He wanted to smack himself. Why would he bother asking him? He showed that he won't do much.

Sighing, he realized he might be being too harsh on the poor guy. He needed to do more reflecting himself. Perhaps he would apologize to him today. Reaching up, he knocked on his bedroom door. "Banu? You up? My parents want to know if you want breakfast."

When she didn't respond, Raul counted to three for renewed patience as he shouldn't be upset with her when she had a very bad night last night. "I'll let them know that you don't want any, but make sure to have lunch." He told the door before walking back to the kitchen.

"So?" His mother asked.

"She didn't answer." Raul told her. "Maybe check in on her in an hour? I'm going to go out and take a walk since I can't take my horse." He gave his father a spiteful glare, who purposely didn't look up at him.

"Okay, see you later," His mother told him, smiling at him.

Raul nodded before leaving his house to go for his walk. He rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe he should go see Theron and apologize to him right off the bat? It was very early this morning, so he wouldn't be awake yet like most people on this island. It was dawn at the moment. The only ones that would be awake would be the chief himself, the livestock care takers, and the bakers.

He wondered if the chief would be home. Raul took a deep breath. The chief wasn't scary by any means but he was intimidating. Powerful. Looks like he had to learn to be brave to say hello to Theron. He headed towards the chief's home which was one of the homes a bit further away from the village as the chief liked watching it from afar than be protected by his own people. Most villages have their chief live in the middle, and, well, the chief in this village didn't like that.