The strong stench of hay and musk greeted me upon entering the stables. I walked over to the bucket of day old water and dumped it just outside the wooden gate before turning the faucet connected to the well outside of our home and filling it with fresh liquid.
This was one of the many inventions Julius' father had conjured upon entering our village years ago. He had told me one day that it was inspired by a day when he'd watched a younger me with his son, making the heavy trek towards the well to retrieve fresh fluid for the mares my family carried. It had sparked a loving interest to bloom when he'd spoken about it. Gordon was always such a considerate man and I appreciated that about the Ocean child.
After the water was filled to the brim, I hoisted the bucket up with surprising ease. Years ago, I would only be able to fill about half of the trinket, until I started working out regularly with Julius. I could now see what good that's done me.
"Hello my love," I greet the muscularly beautiful mare that was sniffing and quietly whining in her stall. "Did you miss me?" I wondered with a smile after placing the bucket on the wooden stool in front of her gate. I reached up and smoothed down a peculiar lick in her mane, chuckling softly when she stuffed her wet nose into my neck, her breath hot as it touched my skin.
"I missed you too," I whispered, engulfing her long, thick neck into a hug. Frida was a Marchador, and a gorgeous one at that. She was a present for me on my 8th birthday from my father, and before Julius came around, she was considered my best friend. Where she once held a soft, nearly white coat, it had long ago turned black and gray in certain areas around her face and hind. She was still beautiful, however. My beauty.
"We don't have much time, Frida," I say to the mare as I lovingly rub her neck while she gulps down the water I'd offered her. "But I wanted to come by and see you, if only for a short while." I held back a sob as I spoke those last words, my voice breaking slightly. Don't well up, Ana. I placed my cheek against her muscular neck and sighed heavily as I closed my eyes. "You mean so much to me, Frida. I don't even think you realize."
There was a guttural huff from her throat that vibrated my cheek, almost like a response.
I smiled. "Okay, maybe you do."
I spent the better part of five minutes watching and talking as Frida slurped her water and ate the carrots I'd snagged from mothers garden. "And you better be a very good girl to mother and father. I know they'll take good care of you while I'm gone. But absolutely no stealing from the apple tree when you're out on your runs, okay?" She whinnied gently, her beady eyes almost narrowing at me in judgement. I laughed quietly.
"I'm serious, Frida!"
"Do you truly believe that mare will abide by anything you say?"
I stood up from my sat position on an empty bucket and sharply turned to the new voice, my eyes instantly narrowing when I recognized the guardian Rowen. He was leaning casually against a post by the door, arms crossed as he silently judged me with a face void of emotion.
Though he was in uniform, I couldn't help noting how much younger he appeared than his partner. It was said that guardians of the Court were chosen after thirty years of life, as they would have better experience with their powers, in order to properly protect their masters.
The one stood before me couldn't have been more than a few years older than myself. If that were the case, he must be an incredibly strong elemental.
"Frida is a good listener," I say after a moment, turning back to the mare in speaking and quietly whispering for her to not to listen to dimwitted spatz like him. On command, she huffed, spraying a sheen of snot over my shoulder, as if to agree. I smiled, but hid it against her coat.
