THE CONMAN AND THE MAID // Harry Styles

Fire in a Silver Storm

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Harry had never thought he would live to see this day. He had just helped a maid take down two guards twice her size and steal their weapons, and now they were heading to the stable to steal the king's horses. He'd been arrested for unintentional murder, but it wasn't until tonight that he was truly considered a criminal.

The worst thing was that he barely knew this girl. All he knew was her name, which sounded as fake as the Northerners' hospitality, and she used to be the princess' maid before she was a thief. The only thing they had in common was their fate if they ended up getting caught. They would both be dead, probably hanging side by side on the curtain wall.

"Find the prisoner! Find whoever helped him escape!" one guard shouted to the other and they both deserted their posts to rush back to the keep. The stable door was left unguarded and Reyna silently gestured Harry to follow her inside.

He'd been warned about winter nights in Isolde, but tonight was the first time he'd got to really experience it. He ran like his limbs didn't belong to him, his body heat was fading, and he only had a coat which she'd brought for him to keep himself warm. They entered in silence and shut the stable door. It was warmer inside, and for a split second, Harry actually considered staying instead of running away.

Anxiety intensified when he saw Reyna walk toward the most beautiful yet intimidating black horse he'd ever seen. He was about to warn her about what these animals could do if they got angry, but the horse's reaction to seeing Reyna was the opposite of what Harry had expected. The gelding reared his front legs upward, happily nickering at her.

"A friendly and handsome fellow." Harry tiptoed nearer and declared, "I'm getting this one."

"You're not getting this one. He's mine," she scolded him under her breath while petting the animal. "His name is Thunder. He's nicer than he looks."

"I guess this is the princess' horse?"

"It's Prince Egon's actually," Reyna scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Thunder was mistreated a lot. He was trained like a warhorse but he's actually a sweetheart."

"He likes you."

"I'm very likeable, that's a fact."

Her response made him chuckle. "I love the confidence, Peach."

"Do not call me Peach."

"Peach sounds better than your fake name."

Reyna widened her eyes at him, her jaw fell slack. "Rain isn't a fake name!"

"Oh please, who would name their child after drops of water from the sky?"

"Um, my mother? That was rude."

Thunder seemed to have taken a side as he flattened his ears backwards and snored at Harry.

"Okay, fine, I'm sorry." He scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "Thunder is yours. Which one can I get then?"

"That's Lonely," she said, pointing to a skinny white horse lying in the corner. If her tail wasn't moving, Harry would've thought she was dead.

With a smirk, Reyna said, "Lonely is going to die pretty soon so you'll do her a huge favour by taking her on an adventure."

"Okay, first of all, naming a horse Lonely is basically animal abuse," he said as she tried not to laugh too loud. "Second of all, we don't have time to fool around. Do you want to die, Peach?"