Tilted Iron

One

The week leading up to the year starting was always chaotic. Mostly it was due to the boarders that came from out of the country.

Fortuna Liberta was open to the whole of Europe, the whole world actually but students from outside of Europe were uncommon. In fact there were only two attending the school out of the four grades the school took. Neither were in his year.

But due to the out of country boarders the school opened a week early to allow them to get settled back into the dorms and for those in the equestrian program to settle their horses into the barn should they be bringing their own horse.

Most of them did.

Feliks, since he only lived a few cities away, which meant it was still quite a drive, had opted to arrive Saturday evening. That way Avalon would be rested and ready to get straight into it on Monday when classes started up.

"Thank you, mama, I won't be too long," he said as he leaned over the center console to kiss her cheek before slipping out of the passenger seat. He rolled his eyes at Katja and Anja who blew kisses at him through the window as the car reversed out of the park and went back along the road to the academy entrance.

Mama had followed the float to the stables so he wouldn't have to make the trek down on foot to unload Avalon. He made his way over to the park float.

There were several others in the carpark, in varying stages of unloading their horses. They had clearly had the same idea as him about this arrival time.

He circled the float just as Jasmine was climbing out of the car. Thankfully the stable he kept Avalon at over summer break were kind enough to spare a stable hand to transport her too and from the academy since he was too young to drive and mama couldn't drive a trailer.

The stable hand of course received a rather nice cheque in exchange.

"Did she float alright?" While it was a question he already knew the answer. They followed the float the whole way there, if she fallen in the float then he would have seen Jasmine pull over to get her back up.

The woman nodded. "Yeah she was fine. She sat down at one point but got up a minute later without any issues." Feliks nodded. Avalon was prone to sitting down at least once during a long trip like this. In fact it would have surprised him if she didn't at this point.

Between him and Jasmine they got the side ramp down quickly enough and were met with the unimpressed gaze of the chestnut mare within, all bundled up in her fly sheet and travel boots. "Yes I know, it was a long trip, let's get you off here to stretch your legs yeah?"

Feliks stepped into the float, releasing the dividers latch at the back and the center before folding it in half and pushing it aside. The mare greeted him eagerly, snuffling near his pockets. Maybe he spoiled her with treats a little too often.

He untied her lead rope and guided her off the float. She stopped short on the ramp and raised her head high.

Feliks flicked a few stray strands of blonde hair out of his eyes as he squinted against the evening light to watch as an impressively large horse truck rolled up the drive.

His eyebrows rose. "That must have cost a pretty penny," he said aloud as he watched it maneuver itself into an empty section of the parking lot. Still he pulled his gaze away from it and gently wiggled the leadrope until the mare brought her attention back to him.

She released a loud puff before she obediently climbed the rest of the way off the ramp. He swung her around while Jasmine shut the ramp and instead he headed to the locker to grab a load. Keep the amount of trips minimal.