WitchHunter ✔️

Speak

Stable Boy

Sweat rolls down my face despite the chill day. The Cleansing Festival always makes more work for me as I get charged with taking care of some of the horses brought in by guests staying at Fortress. My duties tend to pile up and the days afterward spent mucking stalls always leave me a bit more spent than normal. I dab my shirt against my brow, shoving shaggy hair from my eyes, and lean on my shovel.

Litty's stall lays clear of any remaining manure, a thin layer of yellow hay now cleanly waiting for her to come back in from grazing in the field. I had opened all the stalls to the pasture earlier, though only a few of the horses had taken advantage of it. Riley, Doc, Danny, Axel, and Red haven't left, instead opting to stay and lazily chew on their leftovers from breakfast. The low rumbling sounds of horses chewing is relaxing to me and the occasional, playful winnie from the field tells me the horses are happy as well. They're glad to have me all to themselves again.

I place the mucking rake back in the tack closet and reach to the rafters, retrieving my tin mug from the nail it calls home. My hand brushes the cool water as I dip my cup in the main water trough. I raise it to my lips just as I become aware of the heavy footsteps entering behind me.

I spin, sloshing water down my front. Cozen Nash stands in the doorway, blocking a decent bit of the light, an amused look on his face directed at me. His burn is barely visible, no different from those that I possess. I bow, dropping my mug to my feet. "Sir, I apologize. I wasn't informed you would be needing Danny today. Give me just a few minutes to tack him up an-"

"Relax, Stable Boy. I just came to visit him. I won't be taking him anywhere."

I straighten. "Of course. Yes, Sir."

Idiot. Don't ramble in front of a Witchhunter.

Cozen sidesteps me, holding one big hand out to land on Danny's nose. Danny continues chewing happily, spoiled to be both eating and receiving pets, any horse's dream. "You're young. You weren't here before Hale took us to Vetton, were you?"

It's with a start that I realize he's talking to me. He's making conversation... with me?

"I was, Sir. Though, back then I was merely Zeif's assistant. I wasn't allowed to leave the stables." Not that I really leave much now anyway.

"Oh right, Zeif. What ever happened to him anyway? He was a rather mean-spirited old man, wasn't he?"

I nod. "To put it mildly." I stuff my hands in my pockets. "He went missing around the same time the assassin master Niran did. It was a big deal for a while. Velius Dag thought a lochri force must have been behind it."

"That's a shame. I'm sorry that happened to your master."

"A shame indeed." I say, though I don't mean it. "Velius wasn't too put off by it though. Master Zeif had a bad case of sticky fingers and by the time he vanished, he didn't have any left."

Cozen laughs. I don't know if I've ever seen him do that before. His smile is nice, just like his brother's.

"Why did Velius keep him around for so long if he was a thief?"

I stoop to retrieve my mug from the rough wood floor. "He was Velius's childhood friend. He got away with much more than he should have."

Cozen's eyes find me and one eyebrow quirks up.

A sinking feeling fills me. I've said too much. "Not to say that Velius didn't make the correct decision of course because who am I to decide what the right course of action would be in that instance its not like I know anything and that's a big decision that I don't have to make thanks to Velius making the right de-"

Cozen's hand shoots out. "Stop." He says, a small smirk on his lips. "I won't tattle like a child. It's not as if I agree with every decision that man makes. Hale speaks out against him more than any of us." The blonde man rubs Danny's chin absently. "How did you learn to wield a pistol?" he asks.

A pistol. Of course. All the Hunters were gathered last night, in the circle, and they all saw me shoot. "I was never trained, sir. All I know is to pull the trigger to get the job done." The Ace had left her pistol on the ground when the Aquaous appeared. She left it for me. She put her life in my hands and I don't even know how to shoot.

"So you hit him on accident?"

"I didnt hit him, Sir." I can still feel that cool steel in my palm, how I raised that weight to my shoulder height. How I continued to raise it, high over the roofs of the homes behind, and aimed out over the sea. How I closed my eyes just before pulling the trigger to hide the blue glow that would accompany my next move. How I locked onto those ice blades and pulled them away with all the strength I could muster without giving myself away. The surprise I felt from the ice blades as I moved them. The lochri wasn't expecting another of his kind to be working against him. "I merely scared him."

Cozen nods understandingly. Did I just pass a test?

Heavy footsteps approach and Cruor's tall, angry form appears in the doorway. "Boy, where's my horse?"

My eyes widen. "He's grazing in the field, Sir. Do you have need of him?"

"Obviously I do, Go get him!"

I bow quickly. "Yes, Sir." I leap over the closed stall door, then turn back to Cozen. "It was a pleasure speaking with you, Sir."

"Now, Stable Boy!" Cruor booms, and I scurry out into the field, unable to make out the blonde man's reply.