``.finding strength. [OPEN]

[Peregrine Alexander]

xx

buddy, you're a boy,
make a big noise playing in the street,
you're gonna be a big man someday.
you've got mud on your face,
your big disgrace,
kicking your can all over the place.

A young boy led a slender, dark bay gelding out of his stall, leading him by the reins of his elegant bridle down the aisle of the royal stables.

...except the boy wasn't all that young.

He was eighteen years old, to be exact, but he looked a few years younger than he really was and had the grooms not known who he was, they would have stopped him for leading such a horse. The animal had a reputation of skittish and even dangerous at times. But Peregrine Alexander had a reputation too.

He was one of the best horseman in Saor and for miles around its border. He had practically grown up in the saddle and he was gifted with horses. Keeping one lithe hand on the reins, he lifted a casual hand to push his dark hair out of his eyes, which were an intense, emerald green. His skin was a light olive tone and he was lightly built. His frame still hadn't quite developed that skinny, lanky build, but he had grown a grand total of two inches over the past summer, making it past five feet and six inches to five feet and eight inches. No, he wasn't very tall, but he wasn't exactly short anymore. No facial hair had yet grown on his chin and his face still retained an oddly youthful quality. All in all, he looked to be around fourteen or fifteen years old.

He had never been an ugly boy, but it was only lately that his face had been developing into the face that would most probably follow him the rest of his youth and prime. he was still boyish in his appearance, but he was no newcomer to the world, having participated in three battles and fought in endless skirmishes. He was a fantastic warrior: quick on his feet, strong and clever, but he didn't always agree with the world and from his point of view, the world didn't agree with him. Here he was, the crown prince of Saor and he had found the love of his life in an ex-slave of Sceith, he defied his father, the king, on a daily basis. And he flirted with danger on the border of Sceith almost daily. He was fast becoming a roguish, wild youth. He had always been out of control as far as his family had been concerned, but they didn't know about half of the stuff he did.

One of Eirian's--or Pearl's servant girls passed him as he came out of the stables and onto a pathway. She lifted her sweetly-veiled face to gaze at him for a moment and then looked away. But before she had turned her face away from him, he had seen the color rising in the cheeks. Feeling vaguely flattered, he offered her a courteous smile, which she did not catch. So, he was attracting the attention of teenage girls, was he? Well, he already had a girl, or rather, she had him and that wasn't about to change.

Diamond had wanted to spent time with Meg that day and although the prince had been opposed to the idea at first, he eventually gave in and let the two girls go off. Mere days after he had returned Meg to Saor, they both discovered that Peregrine never leaving Meg's side was both impossible and impractical. He spent every available moment with her, but they couldn't be together all of the time. He had been anxious to return to her--to see that she was safe, every time he was called from her.

He turned Dogstar off the pathway and onto the slippery grass. Why didn't they have a pathway leading down to the covered arena? And then he remembered, the royal establishment was stupid in everything from running the kingdom to constructing proper pathways, but he was not intending for something as simple as bad construction at the hand of his father piss him off this early in the morning.

He held Dogstar's reins in one hand as he pulled the door to the arena open with the other. He had unusual strength for his size and it only showed when he used it. Then, as quickly as possible, he pulled the nervous animal into the dimly-lit room.

Dogstar pranced and his delicate nostrils flared as he realized his surroundings, which took him all of two seconds. He didn't like the dark. He didn't like the roof and the four walls and he didn't like being bridled. He liked the boy more than he liked other people, but that wasn't saying much.

Peregrine glanced at Dogstar, keeping him in check with his strong, skilled fingers. He could ride a horse when he was in this frame of mind, but it wouldn't be easy, or particularly fun. So, making a decision, he cautiously approached the Thoroughbred and unbuckled his girth, slipping his saddle off. Then, his sharp eyes traveling around the room once, making sure that all the gates were secured, he unclipped the gelding's reins.

Dogstar just stood there for a moment, looking at his master with uncertainty. What was going on? Why was he just standing there? Well, he knew humans were odd...

Peregrine raised his arms and made a "ha!" sound and projected his energy toward his horse. Dogstar took the hint , and with one powerful leap, rocketed away from him.

buddy, you're young man,
hard man,
you're gonna take on the world someday.
you've got blood on your face,
your big disgrace,
waving your banner all over the place.

__________________________________________

word count: 928
listening to:

[/i][/b] i'm in love with a girl by gavin degraw
lyrics credit: we will rock you by queen
mood: pretty good
notes: yes! muse for long posts might be coming back
tagged: completely open

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[/blockquote] [/blockquote]

[Pearl Alexander]

x

She let out a small, airy, delicate sigh that was crisp and to the point; she was bored. She had just spent the last hour looking after her hair, and the hour before that tending to her nails, but now there wasn't a part of her body that could be made to look more beautiful, there were simply no improvements that could be made. She was like a walking statue, perfectly sculpted to look like a Roman goddess, and she wasn't too far from being a goddess, if you asked her. She always got what she wanted in the end.

Except something vaguely interesting to do. It seemed like ages had passed since anything amazing had gone by her senses. She'd have to tell her father she wanted to see some jousting or minstrels or play-battles or even ask him to just employ some attractive men that she could just look at. But no, no, each day was just as dull as the last, making herself beautiful, singing whenever anyone asked her to or when she felt the need, and engaging in little conversations with anyone she came by, if they deserved it.

Where were her cousins these days? They normally spent their days together but now it seemed she could never find them. She would even love to find Diana and give her a lecture on what she ought and oughtn't do, as she loved to do. She wanted to know the gossip and find out if any of her cousins had a love interest so she could tease them about it and then give them her wonderful advice, but lately the only news she had heard was from Violet and that was more distressing than entertaining. She decided not to ruin her posture with the weight of worrying about it.

She wanted something to think about, something that wouldn't make her head hurt but wasn't ordinary. She wanted to know a secret, and to mull over that secret ten times over in her head until every outcome was thought up and then she could continue it on in her head and create a wonderful little story and then maybe she'd write a poem or a song about it and she'd sing it to her family and they'd tell her how wonderful she was for making something so beautiful. That would be ideal.

She looked up from her slow walk, batting her eyes, wondering where her legs had taken her. Immediately she wrinkled her little button nose, wondering what that unusual stench was, before realizing it was just the smell of horses and everything that went with them. So she'd come to the stables? She sighed again, supposing she might be able to find something to do here. Horses were very beautiful, but she didn't like to be around them for there were just too many risks. Perhaps she could pet one or find a handsome groom to look at.

That was when she heard a startling loud noise coming outside from the arena. It shook her all over and upset her greatly. Well, she guessed now she had found something to do. She picked up her skirts and stormed outside across the grass, determination on her face with slight disgust at the slippery grass. How dreadful, making her come into the filthy air like this. What was even worse was that she'd have to raise her voice and that could do horrible things to it in the long run. It was going to be absolutely awful!

But, when she came to the place, she saw that it wasn't just anyone who had made the noise, it was her brother! All anger fell off her face to be replaced with a sweet, adoring smile and twinkling eyes. "Oh Peregrine, how skilled you are control such a wild animal," she complimented, though she really had no idea was she was talking about, nor did she have any idea what her brother was doing or why he would do it. "Is he a beautiful horse?" she asked. She would have just told him he had a beautiful horse but she didn't want to be mistaken just in case Peregrine actually thought he had an ugly horse, and so instead she asked him. "Oh, do show me something wonderful to see."