Ascension (15 page)

But it seemed
that the other girls at the table weren't as content to listen to
the girl
’
s
complaints. Finally, one changed the subject as the complainer
paused to take a breath.

"Have you heard about the Prince?"
Despite myself, my interest was immediately sparked. My head shot
up, bread forgotten. "I heard today that he was engaged to a
princess from Ethera. The King is attempting to make some kind of
alliance."

"I think her name is Lena. Everyone
is saying that she is absolutely beautiful," another girl chimed
in. It seemed like I was not the only one whose interest was
piqued. Soon, the table was filled with chatter.

"We'll see if the
Prince can handle being tied down, if you know what I mean.
”
The other girls nodded, but this joke went over
my head.

“
I
don’
t,
’’
I
answered, now fully engaged in the conversation. One of the girls
sniggered, but I ignored it, thirsty for more
information.

"You know, the
way he always has a different women on his arm,
”
the girl on my right answered.
“
Not to mention he is always running off on 'adventures'.
I'm surprised he finally decided to settle down."

By the end of breakfast, I had
learned plenty about Prince Erik. There was a lot for me to ponder
as I made my way to the stables. From what I heard, he was a
notorious flirt, always reeling in women with his charm and good
looks. It also doesn't hurt that he's a Prince, I suppose.
Apparently, he leaves all the time, shirking his responsibilities
as a Prince, only returning to the castle when he needs more money
or to throw a great party. To be honest, the more I learned about
him, the less I admired him.

But still, the
news of his engagement stung more than I would have liked. Get over
it, I chastised myself, your one encounter in the stables was
nothing special. He
’
s probably forgotten all about it. And you should, too. I
slurped dow the rest of my soup, and stacked my bowl on the way out
with a decisive clink.

!

"Good morning, Heath," I called out
in greeting as I walked into the stables. I searched around, but
couldn't find any sign of him. "Heath? Where are you?"

"I'm back here!" I heard a loud
oomph, and made my way towards the direction of the sound. I found
him by the fire pit, his arms full of wood and his face black with
soot. I tried to hold back my laughter, but my attempts proved
futile. My giggling announced my presence, and Heath turned towards
me, his face now in full view. This new angle sent my giggling into
a full-blown laughing fit.

"What happened to you?" I walked up
and removed a few pieces of wood from the large pile he held,
although I was hardly any help, my laughter making my arms weak.
Heath rolled his eyes at me. "Enough, enough, lets get this wood
down and then I'll set you up with your job today."

I helped him set
down the rest of the wood in the fire pit, careful not to drop any
too hard. I still ended up with black soot spotting my dress and
skirting the edges, and I groaned inwardly, thinking that, at this
rate, I would probably have to wash my dress every evening before
dinner if I wanted to be on good terms with Mathelda, though I
wasn
’
t
completely sure that was possible.

"Since you're
here early, I
’
ll let you brush the horses and clean their hooves. I
normally do this every morning, but I haven't had the chance yet.
The brushes and picks are over there,
”
he
pointed to the rack against the wall.
“
I'll be in the back unloading hay if you need me." Heath
walked out of the stables, and I grabbed the brush and hoof
pick.

Approaching the first horse, I
glanced at the name plate, which read "Mac."

"Good morning, Mac," I told him as I
squeezed into the stall and began brushing his fur. When he was
good and clean, I looked down at his hooves. I tried to remember
how Heath had cleaned them, and bent down to pick up his hoof. It
didn't budge. "Come on, Mac, help me out!" I tugged at it, pulled
at it from many different angles, and finally, the horse raised his
hoof, more out of irritation than obedience. I awkwardly held his
foot between my knees while I scraped the dirt out of his hoof, and
moved on to the next one. He seemed to know what I was doing,
because his other three hooves proved much easier. Making my way
down the line, I found that I enjoyed brushing the horses much more
than I did shoveling the stalls. I noticed that some of the horses
had been shifted around, and that there were some new members while
other stalls were empty. Much to my disappointment, Elana's stall
was among the empty ones.

After I finished that job, I went to
find out what Heath needed me to do next. I found him out back,
unloading hay from a cart. The cart was hitched to a mule, and a
man sat at the front of it.

Heath saw me and motioned for me to
come to him.

"Ah, Fara! Come 'ere and help me
unload this cart!" I hustled over and started grabbing bales of
hay, walking them to the growing haystack. In no time, Heath and I
had cleared the cart. I noticed that the merchant never once
offered to help us unload. Then again, his arms were so thin that I
couldn't imagine him being able to carry more than two.

"Alright, thanks for waiting." Heath
dusted off his hands and held one out for a handshake. The merchant
just scowled at the hand as he said, "That will be 5 silvers."
Heath, unbothered, smoothly slipped his outstretched hand into his
pocket to pull out the man's pay.

“
On second
thought,
”
the merchant interrupted, "you
could let just me take your barn girl out for a
night."

Unaware that the merchant had even
noticed me up to this point, I was startled by his request. Heath,
however, remained composed. "She is not up for offer. Take your
silvers and leave."

"Are you sure, old man?
She
’
s a Nether, am I
right? She
’
s
not even worth a bale of hay, but I
’
m willing to cut you a deal. A
night with her in exchange for free deliveries for the month. I'll
even throw in some apples and alfalfa. Still want to refuse?" The
merchant looked confident, and, to my horror, Heath seemed to be
considering. I begged him with my eyes, but he wasn't looking my
way. The merchant, on the other hand, was looking at me with a
slimy smirk pasted on his face, pleased with his apparent
conquest.

Finally, Heath
spoke. "Nope, I don't think that will do. She works for me in my
stable, and that work is worth more than a few apples and bales of
hay. Now move along, before I tell your wife what
you
’
ve been up
to, tormenting innocent girls and such.
”

“
You
wouldn
’
t dare.
I have connections with people much higher than you.
You
’
d want to
consider getting on my bad side before doing anything rash.
”
Heath shrugged off the threats, which only
seemed to further enrage the merchant.
“
Well, I'll be back, just wait. I'll wipe that smug grin off
your face, Heath. You
’
ll see.
”
He whipped his mule into
a walk and pattered down the road until he was out of
sight.

I exhaled a shaky sigh of relief,
and admitted to Heath, "I thought you were truly considering the
deal!" Heath said nothing. "Truly, Heath, where you?" Heath just
shrugged his shoulders.

"I'd be a fool
not to. It was a mighty fine deal. But some men in this town think
that they own any women who hasn't already been married off. It's
time someone showed them otherwise. Although it
’
ll prove a hassle to find
another merchant to sell me hay, it was worth it to teach someone a
lesson.
”
He looked angry as he
considered, "I know if anyone tried to get to my daughter like
that, I would be on him with a branding iron before he got past the
first button."

"You have a
daughter?
”
For some reason, I couldn't
imagine Heath's large, strong hands carrying a small child. But
then I thought back to how gentle he was with the horses, and knew
at that moment that he must be a good father.

"Oh boy, set
myself up for that, didn
’
t I?" Heath took a seat down on
the hay we had just finished unpacking, clasping his hands together
and watching his thumbs twirl as he spoke. "My dear wife Erna,
bless her soul, gave me three good, strong boys many years ago, and
they've grown to start families of their own. Some years ago, she
became pregnant again, but this time the pregnancy hit her hard,
and she passed shortly after child birth. She had finally brought
us the daughter she'd always wanted." Heath sniffed, and I watched
a fat, swollen tear roll down his cheek, carving a trail through
the leftover soot. "Now, little Shawna is my heart and joy." He
looked at me as if from a distance, and then announced, "Actually,
she reminds me a lot of you. She'll grow into a stubborn, beautiful
girl, capable of carrying her own."

I smiled bashfully at Heath, and the
burly man's face reddened underneath the soot. He stood up and
turned around, rubbing his jaw. "Enough jabbering, we've got work
to do," he declared gruffly, and then walked off. Still smiling, I
followed after him.

Chapter
16

The days turned into weeks, and I
grew accustomed to the routine of life here in the city of
Stonewall. Wake up, go to breakfast, go to work, leave work, wash
for supper, eat, go to sleep. Of course, it was adorned with
conversations with Jean and her friends, as well as joking with
Heath. During the day, I had little time to think about anything
other than the work I had to do. But there were some nights when I
would be laying in bed, unable to sleep, and those were the times
when my homesickness would sneak up on me and I would fall into its
grip. Eventually, it got easier and easier to pull myself out, to
tear myself away from the grief I associated with leaving and focus
more on what I am here to fight for.

Through Jean, I met many girls from
different underground colonies. Some were more akin to living on
the surface, never looking back to those they left behind. But most
of the girls were like me, missing home and wanting to do something
to help. In the back of my mind, I was constantly thinking about
the revolt, gauging whom I could trust to help when the time arose.
I had to be careful, though, and didn't actually say anything about
my plans. If I told the wrong person, if I made the mistake of
telling a girl loyal to Mathelda, it would all be over. I couldn't
imagine the consequences, nor did I try to. So instead, I spoke to
the girls in an easy, conversational manner, hoping to gleam some
hints on where they came from. But for all my talking, I still had
yet to find a way back to the colonies, a way to tell them that
they weren't alone, and that, together, we could fight. Whenever
this problem arose, my mind always flitted back to
Croxley.

Even if I could trust him, and I
didn't know if I could, I hadn't seen him since he left me here, so
I had no way to ask him for help. In an odd way, I missed him.
What's more, the Prince hasn't returned. Every day I went to the
stables, I found myself checking to see if Elana was in her stall,
but it was always vacant. It had been empty for nearly a month. I
briefly wondered if it was I who set the Prince off, if my rudeness
made him leave, but then I remembered what the girls had said about
the Prince. That he loves to run off, go on adventures. Plus, he
had just been engaged to marry. That's enough to make a man run
off.

I chastised myself for imagining
that I was important enough to be the reason for his sudden
disappearance. Please, you're just a stable hand, here to pick up
horse poop. I shook myself of my reflections as I approached the
stables. By now, I knew what to do and where to go. I called out a
greeting to Heath and made my way to the brush bucket, grabbing a
handful of sugar cubes on the way.

"Hello Mac. Here you go." While Mac
was chewing on his sugar cube, I cleaned his hooves and brushed him
down, then moving on to the next horse, settling into the familiar
rhythm of the day. That is, until I saw Sir Thunder.

"Sir Thunder," I exclaimed, "and
Sam, who I found in the next stall. I threw my hands around Sir
Thunder's thick, muscular neck. Apparently the excitement wasn't
mutual, because as I was holding him, he careened his neck around
over my shoulder to grab the sugar cubes from my dress pocket. I
laughed and pushed myself off of him, giving him a cube, and then
went to Sam, who showed me the same amount of interest. I cleaned
their hooves and brushed them with extra care, noting that they was
exceptionally dirty.

“
Now where did
Croxley take you two,
”
I wondered aloud.
Then it hit me. If Sir Thunder and Sam were back, that meant that
Croxley was back. I mulled this over in my mind with mixed emotions
as I moved from one horse to the next.