kiss me, kiss me | cashton

♕ two

ashton brushed the dust and dirt off of the horse's coat, feeding a carrot to the animal.

out of all of his chores, he loved grooming the horses. it was the only time he could have time to himself, and not have to worry about breaking anything in the castle. there's just something about horses that ashton has a connection to. he's heard that horses are great for dealing with stress and anxiety, maybe just being in the atmosphere of the horses gave him a calming feeling.

the horse whined, letting ashton know that he was starving and was ready to eat.

"i hear you buddy, i know." ashton sighed, quickly brushing the horse's main and dumped his food into the bowl.

as the horse ate, ashton took the equipment on the horse off and walked to the shed to put it all away.

sometimes, ashton didn't understand why the owners couldn't groom their own horses. why did he have to do it? that's not his horse, he'll never have a horse, so why groom it if he can't even have it?

the horse already has some type of attachment to ashton, and that worries him. he could be punished, maybe, and punishments were awful.

"do you need help?"

ashton turned, smiling when he saw the prince and shook his head. "you know you're not aloud to help me."

calum shrugged. "if i help you, it means you can go to bed earlier. you must be exhausted from working non stop all day and doing unnecessary chores."

ashton set the saddle in the shed on the wooden post sticking out of the wall. "they aren't unnecessary if i am assigned to do them."

"don't you have to polish every decoration in the rooms, and the throne? does that not sound unnecessary to you?" calum questioned, holding the shed door open.

ashton didn't respond. yes, some chores he admits are pretty dumb, but if he doesn't do them then he's punished. ashton would rather do ridiculous chores than not have the chance to eat and sleep in the somewhat bed he has.

he remembers last time when king david swipes his finger across the golden arm of his throne, the slightest bit of dust being on his finger. ashton had to sleep outside while it was raining, and couldn't eat dinner.

"can you check if seth is done eating? he usually finishes pretty quickly." ashton asked calum, setting the bridle on a hook.

calum walked over to the stable, looking in seth's bowl for any left over food. the horse still had a bit left and calum chuckled. "you are like some vacuum cleaner." he said, stroking the top of the horse's head.

ashton always took good care of the horses. quill, calum's horse, always looked healthy and clean. he hates that ashton is the one who has to groom him and feed him, but at the same time it's good to let horses interact with other people. ashton is a sweetheart, and calum knows he wouldn't try to hurt anyone or the horses.

"you can go inside now, it's starting to get cold." ashton said, walking back to the stable with a lead in his hand.

"and let you freeze? no."

ashton groaned. "your highness, please. i don't want you to get in any trouble because of me."

"at least let me walk with you to take seth back to his pasture." calum begged.

ashton sighed, knowing calum wasn't going to go back inside and nodded his head. "if we are caught, i am taking the blame and there is nothing you are going to do about it, got it?"

calum was about to protest, but ashton raised his eyebrow and the prince huffed. "fine."

before ashton went to bed, calum gave ashton one of his coats, and the two boys fell asleep with huge smile on their faces.

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my goal is to update everyday, but we will see what happens