𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖐 𝕺𝖓𝖊
𝔖𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔶: A high-school project gone wrong sends Astraea Aphelion fifteen centuries back in time, where she has to face a world of dragons, magic, and evil sorcerers. Luckily, she is not alone. In between hardships, she finds a...
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📍 Camelot
⏳ October, 503 AD
"Hey, what's the deal with the dark bay mare?" I asked Arthur as he entered the stables atop a bronze brown horse, returning from a leisure ride with his father. I'd been waiting for them to get back for about half-an-hour, wishing to get more information on the mare that had piqued my curiosity. "She was a spontaneous gift from one of our ally kingdoms. We thought it to be a nice gesture at first, but we slowly realised that they were simply looking to get rid of her. She is a handful," he explained as he hopped off his horse and handed him over to a stable-hand. "She can't be that bad," I reasoned with a frown. "She is. I have hired many renowned horse trainers to work with her, to no avail," Uther pitched in after getting off his black horse that resembled a Friesian.
"Could I take a crack at her?" I dared to ask, which earned me confused looks from both males. "Um. Could I attempt to train her myself?" I rephrased, realising that they obviously did not understand modern colloquial terms. The two Pendragon men shared an amused look and burst out laughing. I clenched my jaw, but stood my ground. "Sure, be my guest," Uther extended his arms, still cackling. "Awesome, thanks!" I said happily, ignoring their mockery as I headed towards the mare's stall.
"Hey, pretty lady," I greeted her as she lifted her head upon hearing my footsteps. She stared at me for a few seconds and hesitantly took a step forwards. I pulled a carrot out of my pocket and offered it to her. She stretched her neck, her lips barely reaching to touch the vegetable, and she quickly grabbed it. I inspected her body from afar to make that sure she did not have any physical issues and noticed some scars on her sides, legs, bum, and mouth. "No wonder you're so scared of people," I whispered, feeling a pang in my heart.
I was surprised when she walked closer and allowed me to pet her face, so I gave her another carrot as positive reinforcement while continuing to speak softly to her.
After I managed to get her to be relatively calm in my presence, I led her out of the stables and towards an empty paddock, where I turned her loose and allowed her to blow off some steam before getting to work with her. I sat on the fence and watched with a smile as she galloped up and down the field, running alongside Dallas – who proved to be much faster than her.
Once she got bored of doing that, she approached me again in curiosity and I slowly hopped off the fence, crouching on the grass to appear less intimidating. She walked closer and sniffed my hair, then dropped her head to the side and grazed a little. I made a 'cluck' sound with my tongue and gave her another piece of carrot.
The first thing I had to work on was getting her to accept physical touch. So I gently touched her shoulder, then clucked and rewarded her for remaining still. Then I went a step further and rubbed her shoulder, rewarding her once again when all I got was a side glance while she continued to enjoy the grass and the carrots. After about an hour, I was able to groom her without any protest.
