Frey stared at his chestnut horse. Then he turned his gaze to stare at the name sign recently added to its stall.
Then he turned to Marius, opening his mouth to speak with a painfully strained voice.
"You... Let young Lady Hargreaves name the horse?"
Marius' amused expression would probably have been rather endearing had the circumstances been different.
"Well, she had a suggestion, and who am I to talk back to a lady, my Lord?"
"... But Lord Neigh Clopsson?" Frey asked through gritted teeth, still attempting to obliterate the sign with his gaze.
In the end, Marius couldn't hold back a laugh and Frey closed his eyes as if that'd help.
He supposed he had himself to blame. He'd told Marius to come up with a new name for the poor chestnut horse while Luna had still been around and that girl had odd thoughts to spare, but he'd had no choice. What kind of a name had 'Happenstance' been anyway? Certainly not one for a well-bred horse from the best stud farms in West Kerilia.
"The audacity of that girl," he finally muttered. "Not only did she ruin my clothes because she supposedly fucked up some homebrewed exorcism, but she also had the nerve to mock my name like this?"
"I'd see it more like she's honouring his owner with such a name."
Frey only glared back at him, and Marius cleared his throat.
"But, um... Yes. It really is a shame about your clothes. One would think she'd be more careful with something designed by Everleigh"
"Fortunately for—" Frey interrupted himself, quite reluctantly as he narrowed his eyes in confusion. "I... What? What did you say?"
"That young Lady Hargreaves should have been more careful with your clothes."
"Yes, but you... Mentioned Everleigh?"
"Well, yes." Marius cocked an eyebrow. "Felt important to bring up, given the value of his clothes."
Frey blinked, searching his mind for any indication that a stable boy would know the slightest bit about fashion, aside from his rude comments when he'd first began working there. Did Everleigh design work attire? Saddles? Pitchforks?
"What's more, it takes some effort to travel to Wyrmdon for custom-made clothes as often as you buy new ones," Marius continued. "So I'd say that adds on to the tragedy as well, because now I assume you need to get new ones?"
It was unbelievable. At last, someone showed the accurate amount of sympathy regarding the tragic fate of Frey's clothes, and it had to be a servant.
"Well, Everleigh is not the only designer out there worth my time, and my fa—"
Frey's words choked, and to his dismay his lungs decided it would be a good time to start dry-coughing. It turned out to be a painfully long process as his throat refused to obey him, but as soon as the coughs died down he hurried back to the conversation.
"Damien pays him to come here whenever I need it." He swallowed down another, persistent itch in his throat. "Though honestly, I'm not sure he'd have to. Everleigh loves trying out new designs on me, so I'm sure he'd make the trip regardless of payment."
Marius smiled at him.
"I'm sure he would."
Frey was mortified to catch himself smiling back, but quickly made it a confident, bragging smile as opposed to the soft, genuine kind his mind had gone for at first.
"Surely you're not bothering Lord Clausson again, Marius?" The stable master walked through the doors, accompanied by Lord Carrigan, who immediately spotted Frey.
Frey held back a grimace.
"Just discussing the chestnut horse," Marius assured his overseer and obediently stepped back as the two new arrivals stopped in front of Frey.
"I hope everything's in order with Tea For Two, Lord Clausson," the stable master addressed Frey. "It seems her wounds are healing properly at least."
"Indeed." Frey ignored the stare from Lord Carrigan. "But right now, like the stable boy already told you, we are discussing the chestnut horse."
"I hope there's no problem with it," the stable master continued and Frey only threw a brief glance at the horrid name sign, hoping no one would pay attention to it.
"Of course not. He's one of mine after all."
"Then what are you still standing around for?" The stable master turned to Marius, who instantly turned on his heels to continue his work. With a brief bow in Frey's direction he walked off as well, possibly to scold Marius further where foul language couldn't reach the higher class' ears.
Frey returned to Tea For Two, making sure everything was in its place despite already knowing it would be.
His eye twitched as he felt the presence of someone behind him.
"I had a feeling I would find you here," Lord Carrigan said, standing close enough for Frey to feel his breath against his neck, accompanied by the scent of tobacco. "I was hoping you'd be willing to meet up later."
"Pleasure as it is to see you, Lord Carrigan, I'm not sure we have much to discuss at the moment." Frey's voice was appropriately charming, but he wouldn't turn around, instead pretending to admire his horse's newly braided mane. He just wasn't in the mood. "I'll let you know if that changes."
"Oh, I think it will." The older man got up even closer, and Frey turned his head, still with a pleasant smile on his lips but his eyes were stern enough to petrify someone.
"Don't forget."
"No touching." Carrigan raised his hands as if not even thinking the thought. "As always."
Frey turned his back again.
"What do you want to talk about, anyway?"
"Lady Richter," Carrigan whispered, and Frey tensed up. "I'm under the impression you could use some dirt on her."
"... Depends on the dirt."
"Let's say it's more than enough for her to prefer it being kept a secret."
Frey wanted to groan. He'd barely bounced back enough to work at all, and he was far from in the mood to meet up with people after sundown. There was great value in having Lady Richter at his disposal though, and knowing her, there likely wouldn't be many opportunities.
"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to meet up later then after all." He untied Tea for Two and gave Lord Carrigan another cold smile, implying he should move. "I'll stop by to—"
"Is something wrong, my Lord?" Marius suddenly showed up beside them, keeping a respectful distance and briefly glancing over at Lord Carrigan with what Frey guessed had to be a rare look of contempt. "... Lords, I mean."
Lord Carrigan returned the disdain.
"Nothing was wrong, until a servant interrupted our conversation."
"Just got a bit worried when Lord Clausson hadn't left yet. Came to see if there was trouble with Tea for Two."
"Well, there shouldn't be room for trouble with the horse if you've done your job properly, should there?" Lord Carrigan wrinkled his nose as he walked past. "Until this evening, Lord Clausson."
"Until then," Frey said, barely audibly as the lord finally left and he could let out a sigh. Shoving dreadful horse names and creepy lords out of his mind, he could finally focus on taking Tea for Two out.
"He wasn't... Bothering you, was he?" Marius suddenly asked behind him, though at a much greater distance than the small space Carrigan had left between them earlier.
"No." Frey kept his reply short, though it was a bit of a lie. He didn't always mind the lord in question, seeing how he did come across valuable gossip now and then, but he also had no desire to talk to him outside of that. High class aside, Frey knew very well what kind of creep he was.
"You're certain?" Marius pressed on. "I don't want to assume, but you looked uncomfortable."
Frey frowned, but instead of admitting the truth he glanced over his shoulder to stare the man down. Perhaps it had been Lord Carrigan's presence, or Marius' insistence on asking intrusive questions, but Frey suddenly felt the need to once again establish their differences.
"I fail to see how that's any of your business."
Marius winced, and he averted his gaze.
"No. No, of course not." He put on a sheepish smile. "Apologies, my Lord."
A painful sensation crept up in Frey's chest, almost like a sting. Marius had just asked him a question out of concern, like always. Anyone witnessing Lord Carrigan's approach would assume there was more to it than just casual conversation. Still, justified or not, Marius had to remember his place, even if Frey sometimes seemed to forget it as well.
"I'll, um... I'll get back to the other horses then." Marius made a sloppy gesture towards the rest of the boxes and began backing away. "Sorry for—"
"You braided her mane," Frey interrupted him, and Marius blinked.
"I—Yes?"
Frey raised a hand to trace it along Tea for Two's braids.
"It looks good." He refused to face the man. He was rather certain he'd never complimented a servant before. "You should do it more often."
He could see in the corner of his eye how Marius' expression brightened.
"I can teach you how it's done if you want," he suggested, and Frey grimaced.
"Wouldn't keep stable boys around if I was to do their work myself."
Marius laughed softly.
"That's a good point."