[ota] stretching out

[theacethatmatters]

There was no 'business' excuse for Julien to take Padraig out today, but there was something to be said for letting the horse open up into a gallop out in the open fields of the Deck. There's something to be said for just...getting out of the Castle, even for one as tied to it as Julien is.

And if their gallop takes them close in to Town so it seems reasonable to slow to an ambling pace to let the horse cool off as they ride through the streets toward something warm to drink before they head back to the Castle? So much the better.

[ooc: Catch him if you're out riding too, or if you see him and Padraig 'ambling' down the street, or in the stables on the way out or when they return. :)]

Comments

[theacethatmatters]

"You're riding a prey animal with a mind of its own that can move incredibly fast when it puts its mind to it and weighs around a thousand pounds." There's that hint of a smile again. "It would be even more amazing if you never fell off."

The first few months when he was still new to the Deck and learning to ride are not to be spoken of. Ever.

[headfollowheart]

Zoe's smile is more of a quicksilver flash, not as exuberant as it once was, but with a certain knowing expression. "I don't think I stayed on my first pony for more than twenty minutes at a time for a good month. And even after that..."

Well, Itchy had seen a lot of her. For bumps and scratches and broken bones. She'd never seriously trained in sparring until she was an adult, but she'd had almost as many injuries as Hadyn had.

[theacethatmatters]

"Better a pony than a seventeen hand beast with a bad attitude." Not the horse he's riding now but the Spade stablemaster at the time and apparently believed strongly in the school of hard knocks.

Well, most Spade teachers seemed to go that route. Julien included.

[headfollowheart]

The Hearts were usually - but not always - ones for the gentler sorts of training methods. And it probably also had helped that Zoe had been an eight year old girl instead of a seventeen year old boy.

Then again, maybe she would have been tossed up on a seventeen hand gelding with a temper if she'd been born a Spade.

She glances at Padraig, though, who on the temper scale seems to be considerably more evenhanded than, say, Sirona. And Evander was the same, she recalled from riding with Eileen. "You seem to have upgraded."

[theacethatmatters]

"Mmmm, been working my way up, I suppose you might say."

Evander had actually been the first horse he'd chosen for himself once he'd been given the opportunity. He'd only had Padraig for the last couple of years or so now.

"We seem to suit each other well enough." It was a rather workmanlike relationship. He made sure the horse was impeccably trained, and the horse did as he asked of it. Based on Julien's reputation, some might have expected him to treat the animal harshly, but Julien had never seen much use in abusing his tools.

[headfollowheart]

Julien didn't strike her as the type who loved his horse. To him, it was just a horse, which is where they differed. Sirona had been her second best friend for several years now, especially once she and Hadyn began to be...less close.

The natural consequence of growing up, she supposed, and she looked a bit pensive for a moment, lost in thoughts enough for Sirona to test her hold.

"Mm," she said as she pulled the horse's head back up and looks around the town again. "You seem to. Do you wonder why everything got quiet again?" She doesn't think she needs to elaborate; the tension that had been roaring through Town just a week ago seems hidden behind it's sleepy facade again.

[theacethatmatters]

Julien glances back in the direction of Town, raises one shoulder slightly. "It's a false quiet, I believe. Perhaps the holidays have temporarily pushed it to the side. Perhaps one side or the other ...or both... is planning something spectacular." He certainly hoped not. "But I highly doubt it's over."

[headfollowheart]

"That's what I thought, too." It's one of those times when being right doesn't please her at all. There's still a tension, even through the holiday planning and revelry; there's a guardedness at every party she's been to so far, and it's early in the season yet. And then, of course, she can't miss what she sees. Victor's conversations with both Ben and Elisha have been quiet and near tense lately.

There were always skirmishes between Outsiders and Deckborns, she thinks, but usually only near the Outposts. Rarely does it make its way to Town.

"Some people think that it's heading towards civil war," she says out loud. "Do you think so?"

[theacethatmatters]

"I don't think it need go that far."

If the right measures were implemented. Though some might consider the right measures to be harsher than others.

[headfollowheart]

Those harsh measures could just as easily make the situation worse - or just refocus it - but Zoe's knowledge of the workings of politics and war was and always be skewed towards the theoretical.

It doesn't even really occur her to think about the measures necessary, not right now, and she shrugs a little. "It's gone further than it ever has before, that I know of."

[theacethatmatters]

"Then perhaps those involved won't care to step over the line."

Look how well he refrained from saying that if it was really going to go further, they'd have to assassinate a couple of Royals.

"As long as the rest of us do our part to discourage infractions. From both parties."

[headfollowheart]

She's not a fool. She knows that if they've escalated to attacking people - like her, like Tess, like Leigh - then murder will be next.

And since the root of this seems to be the Outsiders that are Faces, it seems logical that it would be someone like Elisha or Katya who was attacked. She doubts either would be successful. Elisha used to train Hadyn. She's seen what he can do, and she knows her Queen's reputation.

She slants a look at Julien, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I'm certainly not encouraging them," she says dryly. "I'd like to walk in Town without worrying so much about whether someone might be waiting in an alley."

[theacethatmatters]

"Yes," he says, slanting a look back over at her and her fading bruises. "I imagine you would. Are you looking for an escort back to the castle then?"

Though probably Sirona is escort enough.

[headfollowheart]

There's a flash of irritation in her eyes - a flash that only shows when her husband's mandated bodyguard is too difficult to shake. "I don't think it's necessary," she said blandly. "I imagine that someone's waiting at the stables."

Hasse, possibly, or maybe Victor instead. He'd kept closer since that night.