Feathers of Ice

5.

The morning had not started out well. It was midsummer's eve and the castle was in turmoil. That was the only word that Lara could think of that could describe the current state of affairs, all the maids were rushing to and fro in packs of five making adjustments to the most minuscule of details. The cooks were preparing a lavish feast and the castle kitchens resembled more of a farm than it did kitchens. The courtiers were all holed up in their rooms trying on their new suits and gowns. Peculiar looking tradesmen rushed in and out of the castle with their orders and as a result the queen had increased the number of guardsmen by thrice as much. In short, the castle was teeming with people and even the stables weren't a safe refuge because of the number of new stablehands and horse keepers that had been employed by Job to accommodate the arrival of the Hazarian steeds.

"Lara- are you listening to me".

Lara stopped watching the tiny maid that was soaking down the velvet curtains and turned to her mother. Lady Gard was standing with her arms crossed and had a look of irritation across her features, her grey eyes seemed more misted than usual and she was looking at her daughter expectantly.

"I apologise mother", Lara muttered, "I must have gotten lost in my thoughts".

They were not alone and Lara's gaze found itself back on the team of small statured women who were brushing, mopping and polishing their way through every corner of her chamber. To Lara's dismay, as soon as she'd dressed for the day, her mother had arrived with a team of maids to clean the room and as they did so, the Lady Gard had proceeded to giving her daughter a set of strict rules to follow.

The Lady made a squeak of indignation, "Lara- do you not understand that they will be here tommorow- we must be prepared".

"We are prepared mother", Lara almost snapped, "have you not seen what the castle looks like right now".

Lady Gard was silent as she took in Lara's words and when she spoke she had a straightness in her words that made Lara glance up, "You do not understand the full scale of these events my dear- the Hazarians are not merely visitors- they are here for official purpose".

"Yes- I understand but-".

"There is a great deal of importance resting on this", Lady Gard's eyes were faraway for a second before she fixed her gaze back on her daughter, "and I need you to be perfect for the duration of their trip- do you understand".

"Of course mother", Lara muttered.

"You will be a representation of me and as my daughter-", Lady Gard turned her body away from Lara as she walked towards the window, "I expect you to do exactly as I say without question".

"Yes mother".

Lady Gard turned back around and Lara saw a parchment of paper in her mother's hand, "I need you to go to Constance's townhouse and ask for these things", She walked towards her daughter and handed it to her.

Lara grimaced at the thought of Constance and glanced down at the list, "Who are these for".

"For you", the lady replied curtly, "do you truly believe your wardrobe is suitable as a daughter of one of the queen's ladies".

The parchment listed a dozen different types of gowns and cloaks as well as several new pairs of shoes.

"But must we go to all this trouble", Lara made a face at the list.

"Yes my dear", The lady made a last inspection and began to walk towards the door, "it is all necessary for things to go smoothly",  she said and as a parting thought added, "take one of the carriages when you go".

The maids avoided eye contact with Lara as she said some rather unsavoury terms at the thought of travelling in one of the ridiculously stuffy carriages, "Right then- I guess we're going to the stables", she said to no one in particular and grabbed her cloak from it's hook.

-

"Miss Gard- I was instructed not to let you take any of the horses".

"By whom", Lara questioned Job whose eyes darted from stableboy to stableboy as he watched what they were doing.

"Your mother Miss Gard", he continued.

The stables were in a commotion, the horses had been exercised that morning and it was proving a feat to get them back in to the stalls.

"I'm sure she didn't mean it Job", Lara said.

"Miss- I have strict instructions-", Job's beard twitched as his eyes went wide, "You there boy", he shouted, "what are you doing to Golly".

Lara looked back at the small boy who was trying to put a small black mare in to a stall that was already occupied by an even darker coloured horse. She turned back to Job who looked like he wanted her to disappear, "I'll be back by the afternoon Job I promise".

Job groaned and his beard twitched again when he noticed another stableboy trying to feed the horses tomatoes, "-Be sure you do miss", he replied and stomped off towards the unfortunate boy.

Lara nodded and jogged to Red's stall who, as usual, recognised her footsteps and trotted out to look for snacks, "you really are a greedy pig aren't you", she smiled as she picked a saddle from the stands and arranged it on Red's back. Red, on cue, angled his long legs until he was at a height where Lara could jump on to him.

"Let's go", she whispered as Red started to trot out of the stables and towards the iron gated entrance of the castle. There was a steady stream of traffic as carriages and horses tried to get in to the castle grounds to deliver their wares but the exit way was completely empty and Red easily trotted out on to the road that led to Ring road.