Show of Character

Justin kept cooing and clucking to his gelding, giving soft kicks in the side to reenforce his intentions, although he knew that it was not truly necessary. The very instant that Justin thought of what he wanted, he knew the horse he was riding would sense it and comply. However, he also knew that horses felt more incentivized when given direct rewards or punishments and work harder. He did not kick hard, he did not need to; horses were extremely sensitive and could feel if he even contracted his stomach muscles, so only a light tap was necessary to speed his horse along. He was soon right behind the two horses in front of him, and to his surprise, they were both side by side and the queen was on one of them.

~~~

Ava heard a wicker and looked back. She saw Justin on a raven-black horse, steadily catching up. Ava grinned, before spurring her own horse on, with whispers and pressure on her side. With delight, Ethan got the message and urged his horse forward too. They were nearing the stables, and Ava could see some of the other boys trying to coax the horses near the stables. She saw more than a couple still on the ground, wincing, a young horse dancing nearby.

Ava was close enough to see Asher and his large quiver when another mare cut her off. When Ava glanced at the white horse, she noticed that it did not have a rider. Prancer bucked, and the whole court gasped. Although Ava stayed on, she noticed that Ethan had taken the opportunity to race ahead without her.

~~~

Justin raced on, heading towards the stables as quick as the horse would take him when another horse raced in front of the Queen's mare and spooked her, he took the opportunity to race past the Queen herself and the mare she was riding and come in right behind the man on the Paint horse, showing off a very beautiful brown tovero coat. He 'woahed' his horse to a stop and released the pressure his legs were putting on the horse's sides. Justin reluctantly dismounted, but kept by his geldings side, petting him and letting him rest as a reward for doing so well. Horses loved to rest, so he viewed it as a reward.

~~~

Asher walked towards the two horses and noticed that Ava, again, was third. He frowned. It was not like her not to be first... perhaps these young men really were something. He handed each horse a carrot from his pocket. He was about to reach in to grab the last one for Prancer when he came up short. He glanced at the ground, confused, but understood when Ava dismounted her mare and grinned cheekily at him before saying, "I gave her, her prize a little early." Ava looked behind her at a large bay horse who had trotted up daintily behind them. She glanced at the rider but started when she realized that it was Ezra.

~~~

Ezra gave up on going to the training room and instead went outside to go by the track when he came upon some horses. He smirked, knowing there would not be random horses roaming about unless it was for a task and he was not about to give up the chance to show some of the men up with his horseback riding skills. He easily befriended a bay coated Arabian gelding and rode him to the stables, where he saw a few other horses trotting towards. He smirked when he noticed Ava with a startled look on her face.

~~~

Asher let out an inaudible gasp before poking Ava in the side. "How the hell...?" Ava took in the bay coat and slightly bowed out legs. She let out a cry before running towards the horse. Instead of shying away, the horse walked a few steps to meet her and she buried her head into the horse's neck. "Chance," she murmured, "I've missed you. Where did you go, boy?" She turned to Ezra, confusion written on her face. "Where did you find him?"

Asher explained to Justin and Ethan, "Chance went missing a couple of months ago without a trace. He is the colt of Prancer and a top racehorse. She bonded with him when he was a newborn, and they were practically inseparable.

~~~

Ezra cocked an eyebrow at Ava, wondering how they could miss a horse. He shrugged, "He just came up to sniff me, so I rode him back here...am I too late?" He responded breezily, quirking an eyebrow at the guard who was said to be in charge of handing out the arrows that determined who got a date with the queen. He wondered just how many tasks he missed, and how many blue-tipped arrows were left. However, it had not been too long since he found this boy and rode him to the stables, so he was not too worried.

~~~

Asher looked up at Ezra when Ava ignored him. "You're a little late for this task," he said, arms crossed. We already have our top three." With that, he blew a whistle to signal for everyone to come back to the stables. When they all got to the stables, some on horses, and some not, he surveyed the suitors. Some were wincing in pain, while others sat tall on their large horses. Asher grinned. They had no idea what was in store for them. Asher once again handed out the arrows. Ethan picked three, but a blue-tipped arrow was not part of it. Justin picked one, also not a blue-tipped one.

~~~

Justin blinked when that man from before showed up, on a horse that had apparently gone missing. He scrunched up his eyebrows at the guard who regarded him so callously, especially if the man had just found their missing horse. He looked to the guard and then to the queen, wanting to speak up more than being afraid of getting in trouble for doing something wrong. He always felt the need to stand up for his beliefs, and most of the times it got him in trouble with his father, but he couldn't live with himself if he didn't stand up for mother. Now was similar, it wasn't fair that the suitor didn't get something in return for bringing back the horse that the queen was fond of.

"I think he should get an arrow for bringing back the horse. He can have mine. I don't mind." He spoke up timidly, but with resolution evident in his tone. He looked at the queen shyly, hoping she wouldn't be too mad at him for disobeying.

~~~

Ezra pursed his lips when the guard said he was too late, pissed that there were only three winners for any given task, and the queen herself was apparently one of them each time. However annoyed he was with the verdict, however, his entire mouth opened in shock as pansy-ass Justin offered up his own arrow. His respect for the baby boy went up a notch and he smirked at the guard who had so rudely disregarded him in the first place. Looking at Ava to see what she makes of this, he waited for both of their responses.

~~~

Ava looked up, still hugging Chance's neck, catching eyes with Ezra. His intense green eyes met hers, almost... warily. It was almost as if he was waiting for her permission to take the arrow. She gave him a little shrug before going over to Justin. "That is incredibly generous of you," she said, taking the arrow out of his outstretched hand. She walked back over to Ezra, noticing Asher's scowl, before turning back and whispering to Asher, "Don't have such a sourpuss face." She winked, and returned to Ezra, handing him the arrow. Ava then asked him, in a quiet voice, "May I please have my horse back, Ezra? You may take my other one if you would still like to ride."

~~~

Justin nodded at the queen, glad that she didn't seem to be mad at him for disobeying; the guard, on the other hand, didn't look so thrilled. He turned around to focus on his gelding, petting him and letting his anxiety wash away with each stroke of his hand on the Friesian's mane. Justin read once that petting an animal, whether it be a horse, a dog, or a cat, releases serotonin, which is a feel-good hormone. He knew this to be true personally, whenever he was extremely stressed back home and didn't have time or ability to run (which releases endorphins, an anxiety or stress-related hormone that reduces the sense of pain, not unlike morphine), he would go to the stables and pet or groom his horses.

~~~

Ezra looked at Ava intensely, watching as she hugged her horse, not realizing he was still on the horse until Ava asked for him to get off. He chuckled and dismounted, taking the arrow from her as he did. He placed the arrow into his own quiver on his back and walked over to Ava's own mare, deciding he would mount her and ride, since the queen so generously offered. He wondered what she thought about Justin giving up his arrow, it was a valiant offer, but maybe that was what he was going for...to look like the generous one and seem more appealing...Ezra was suspicious of his motives, to say the least, but he didn't say anything, it would just make him seem like the paranoid type.

~~~

After Ezra dismounted, Ava vaulted onto Chance's back and looked at Asher. Ezra had mounted Prancer, and some of the other boys were on their own steeds. Ava nodded at Asher, asking if he could continue and he did. As she was third, she reached her hand in and plucked a single arrow, which, of course, was not the blue one. Ezra's eyes held a question, but Ava did not understand what that question was. Afterward, Ava could see the many grooms and stablehands going out to round up the rest of the horses.

~~~

Justin watched the queen and Ezra, as she called him, mount each other's horse, but he continued to stay on the ground preferring to pet his Friesian from the side, absentmindedly playing with the horse's luxurious mane.