Feathers of Ice

4.

The castle was colossal and she found herself walking down two flights of staircases, through several winding corridors, one of which had a rather remarkable tapestry of a lion hanging across it, to an archway that signified the entrance to the stables. The maids and courtiers loitering around paid her no attention, having become used to the sudden appearances and disappearances of Lady Gard's strange green-eyed daughter. The stables were the only part of the castle that had been constructed from wood and not stone slabs. One side opened out in to the castle grounds whereas the other joined on to the west wing of the castle and inside there were more than a hundred stalls, each with it's own horse.

Lara gave a small smile to Job the stable master, the man was pouring water from a bucket into a trough. Job was a rather odd looking man, with a long greying beard that reached his chest and sharp brown eyes, he had been a soldier in his younger days but had turned to stable minding in his old age.

"Evening Miss Gard", Job called to her with a shake of his beard.

"Good afternoon Job- how are you today".

"Very well Miss", Job walked over to her, "you going to see Red".

"Yes- you haven't brushed him yet have you", Lara asked.

Job gave a deep vibrating laugh, "don't worry miss- I would never steal that pleasure from you", he paused and held out his wrinkled hands, "you may want to give him this though".

Lara smiled, "oh yes- I completely forgot to get him something", she took the pile of sugar cubes from him and dipped her head in a thank you as the old man went back to his bucket of water.

Red had learned to know Lara's arrival by her footsteps and by the time Lara was at the stall, Red had already trotted over and gave a small whinny as he searched Lara's hands.

"Oh stop it, you big oaf", Lara smiled and held up the sugar cubes, "you're lucky Job even had these".

Red gave an indignant snort as he chewed the cubes and trotted back inside. Lara rolled her eyes and walked in to the stall and towards the basket that rested near the walls. She rummaged around inside for a brush and having found the one with the perfect length of bristles set about to brush Red down.

Brushing Red was one of Lara's best loved chores, the quiet surroundings and the repetitive motions often allowed her to get lost in her thoughts, once she had spent the entire night in Red's stable thinking about what life would be like as a groom's daughter and only realised it was morning when Job had shrieked out when he'd discovered her at dawn. That day had been, perhaps, the angriest Lara had ever seen her mother and Lady Gard had even threatened to have Red sold.

She stroked Red's mane of long sleek hairs, taking her time to untangle the knots and smiled when Red gave snorts of encouragement as she worked, "enjoying yourself are you", she muttered.

The stables were always kept warm for the horses, it was quiet apart from the occasional neighing of a horse in one of the other stables. The only light came from the open end of the stables but the grey mountain skies would often mean the stables were dimly lit and the smell of fresh hay would waft out if a breeze blew in. Job always made sure the stable boys kept the stalls clean and airy and fresh bales of hay formed an enclave inside. Lara worked her way down Red's flank and sat on one of the bales of hay to work on his legs, giving gentle strokes but soon found herself resting her head against another bale as she watched Red trot around in a circle and sit down close to her. She smiled as the large horse whinnied and a yawn escaped her as Red turned his head and his soft mane brushed past her arms.

-

It was nearly sunset when Lara woke. She was nestled in a crook between Red's large frame and the stacks of hay behind, a thick patchy blanket was covering her and she realised Job must have put it over her as she slept. The horse gave her a snort as he turned his head and fixed is large brown gaze on her.

"How long have I been asleep", Lara murmured as she rubbed her eyes.

Red snorted again. Lara smiled and shook herself in to a seated position. The sun was already halfway under the horizon and it's orange light flooded the stables making everything look aflame, the hay looked golden and the horse's coats were almost shining in the half light. She moved back and winced when the streaks of the remaining sunlight caught her eyes.

As she stretched her arms out and yawned, a quick movement caught her attention. Her gaze moved towards the front of Red's stall. On a wooden ledge sat a black coloured bird and she froze as she took it in.

It was monstrous, almost the size of her entire torso and Lara felt a tremor travel up her back as she took in it's inky gaze and slanted grey beak.

"Red-", Lara murmured daring to move her eyes to the horse but the horse was equally as still as her and watching the bird with ferocious intent. Lara moved her eyes back to the bird and found it had cocked it's head as it continued watching her. An ominous gleam had entered it's eyes. It looked like it possessed an intelligence that was far above it's animal exterior and Lara felt another shiver pass through her as it drank her in with it's gaze.

Almost immediately the moment was broken as Red made a sound like a growl and took a step towards the bird. It looked at the huge horse for a moment, took a final glance at Lara and opened it's wings.

As Lara watched it fly out of the stable, she let out a shaky breath.

"What was that thing", she murmured as she watched it become barely a speck on the horizon.

Red gave another snort and Lara looked back at the horse with disbelief, "-and what on earth happened to you- since when have you growled".

Red snorted and turned away.

Lara was still for a second wondering whether the event had even taken place or perhaps she was still asleep and dreaming. She scanned the stables for any other signs of disturbance when her eyes fell to the floor directly beneath the ledge the monstrous bird had been sitting on. A large feather lay on the hay and as she strode towards it and picked it up, Lara realised something. The bird hadn't been black. It had been blue, a dark navy blue and when she held the feather up to the dying sunlight, it looked almost sapphire.