Snow's White | ✓

6. Red Buds

Lucas kicked his horse's rear with his boot, the horse neighing as its speckled legs beat the grassy ground. Lucas's knuckles were blanched as he fisted the leather reigns tightly, short nails digging into the fleshy palm of his hand. He had felt sick when he saw his stablehand, a mere stablehand, blatantly ravaging Keir's body with his eyes in front of him, and before he could even process what was happening, he had wedged himself defiantly between the two. 'To defend the dignity of his future brother-in-law,' Lucas thought bitterly to himself, 'to disrespect him is to disrespect the royal family itself.'

Keir hadn't seemed to notice the stablehand's advances, or so Lucas thought. While Lucas's face had turned bright red with heat, Keir seemed completely unaffected, chatting amicably with the inappropriate stablehand about the various breeds and temperaments of his collection of horses, his face never swaying from the expression of polite disinterest. 

"I should mention something about it to him later," Lucas sighed, "he should be more wary of his surroundings."

Lucas was sure that Keir wasn't a stranger to the fawning admiration of others, not with his fetching appearance - his own mother had been swooning at the younger man throughout dinner last night - but Keir's obliviousness to the suggestive courting of the unruly stablehand had concerned Lucas, probably more than it should.

Lucas's thoughts were broken when he heard his fiancé calling out from behind. Pulling gentle on his reigns, Lucas slowed his steed to a leisurely trot, turning back to glance behind him. Deep in thought, he had galloped far from the two siblings, completely unaware that he had almost left them behind in his dust. 'When had we reached the forest?' Lucas thought, shocked by his newfound surroundings.

"Are you trying to abandon us?" Rose huffed, as she pulled her own horse beside his. "I've been calling your name for a while now! Keir was almost about to chase after you."

"You are a skilled rider," Keir laughed, as he stroked his horse's neck affectionately. "Persephone and I here weren't sure if we could catch you even if we tried, isn't that right girl?" With Keir's rich timbre, his mare snorted and neighed playfully. 

"Persephone could have caught up, without a doubt," Lucas laughed, pushing his earlier thoughts from his mind as he watched Keir calmly smile down at his mount. "I'm surprised you managed to control her so well. She's always been the most stubborn of all my horses."

"Well, a little sweet talk can go a long way," Keir grinned, Persephone whinnying again.

"Brother has always had a habit of wooing his horses, even as a child," Rose giggled, loosening her grip on the reigns as her horse leaned down to nibble on some tall tufts of grass. "Father and I always found it so very odd."

"Says the girl that used to sing to birds," Keir replied, Lucas laughing as Rose lightly slapped her brother's arm. 

The trio were interrupted by the fast approach of another horse, a courier pulling up beside the royals. He dismounted quickly, giving a bow, before informing Lucas that his father required some assistance in his council meeting.

"We should head back, then," Keir noted, pulling on his reigns, Persephone snorting in complaint as she had found a patch of sweet grass that matched her palate perfectly. 

"No, it's alright," Lucas replied, giving Rose a quick kiss on the lips. "You two can enjoy your ride. No need to stop on my account."

"If you insist, my love," Rose laughed, pulling Keir by the arm. Keir gave Lucas an exaggeratedly pleading look as Rose continued to pull at his shirt, making the man stifle a chuckle. Bidding them farewell, Lucas nudged his hose forward towards to castle, momentarily forgetting the aching images of the stablehand's wayward gaze and Keir's own supposed naivety.