Maids sweeping crunchy leaves off the pathway leading towards the stables leaned towards one another as Leonor walked by with a toss of her hair, tied up in a braid so it wouldn't bother her while she was horseback riding.
A guard followed her at a distance. He was hired by her father after the incident of the new stablehand seeing her hiding in the bushes. Even though he was a guard, he wasn't there for her protection but to report to her father whenever she did something he deemed suspicious.
"The young lady is surely visiting the stables far more frequently than normal, wouldn't you say?" one of the maids asked.
"Certainly," the other replied. "Her horse trainer isn't there this morning either."
It had been two months since new stablehands were hired to attend to the animals through the winter. Leonor showed an interest in equestrian activities seemingly out of nowhere. Before that, she had never once visited the beautiful white horse her mother bought her when she was twelve.
No one questioned her sudden hobby change. After all, she was doing lessons as ordered by her father and she wasn't resistant to riding horses. There was a collective sigh of relief in the manor that she was no longer spending time indoors and finding ways to upset the Count.
It was her habit to go to the stables after breakfast. Francia would help her into riding clothing and secure her hair before ushering her out the door. Once outside, the guard would escort her to the back of the Count's property where the stable stood. He watched until she was done riding for the day and reported back to the Count.
If someone paid closer attention to Leonor, they would see her wandering eye each time she walked through the stable doors. Her horse occupied her hands while her sapphire eyes sought the person who made her heart race. She continued hoping she would catch his name, too afraid to ask for it herself in case it made her come off too strongly.
That day, Leonor stepped through the threshold into the stable. She breathed a sigh heavy with conflicting relief and disappointment. She didn't see the stablehand right away. Her heart wanted him to be there but her mind was petrified at anyone who made her feel uncertain.
Blanca had already spotted her master and became energetic at the promise of a run and a hairbrush. Even though the true purpose for Leonor's visit wasn't there, she decided to press on. She had started to love the intelligent creature in the two months she had been riding.
The young lady opened the stall and led herself inside to get the horse together. First, she tossed the saddle blanket over Blanca's back, then she got the saddle off of the wooden fence where it was stored.
Even though she could reach the horse's back, securing the saddle was another issue. Usually, it was done for her by the horse trainer or one of the stablehands got to it before her. Leonor adjusted the saddle then she crouched to secure it underneath the stomach of the steed.
However, there was already someone crouching and doing it for her.
"Forgive me, my lady," the object of her curiosity muttered as he focused on the leather strap underneath the horse. "I didn't expect you to ride today considering the storm coming in from the coast or I would have put the saddle on myself."
Leonor fell backward into the hay that padded the bottom of the stall and a gasp escaped her lips. The sheer surprise of someone suddenly there along with it being the person she had been dying to see was too much for a moment. She placed a hand over her heart and her breath was ragged.
"That's- That's alright," Leonor said, attempting to right herself after such a surprise.
She pressed her gloved hands into the soft hay and began to get up but the stablehand moved unbelievably fast and grabbed one of her arms to stand her back up. When she cast him a look of pure shock, he quickly let go and raised his hands.
"I must beg for forgiveness now," he muttered. "I shouldn't have touched a noble lady."
Leonor brushed off her riding pants and cast a glance at the teenager. Her shock wasn't because she didn't want him to touch her. She felt incredibly insecure at being caught off guard.
"Please stop apologizing," Leonor responded quietly. "You surprised me. That's all."
He looked downward but his eyes were set on the girl before him. His worried expression became a small smile that she had observed from afar many times before. She was completely mesmerized.
"Then that's a relief," he said. "Be mindful of the impending rain, my lady."
Leonor watched as he deftly pulled himself over the fence, revealing to her how he silently got there in the first place.
As he disappeared, Leonor reached out, wanting to call him back and ask his name, but she never gained the courage. She was left with butterflies in her stomach and her heart pounding.
Each interaction they had up to that point was brief and there were always others around as a buffer so that she never had to address him directly. Yet as soon as an opportunity was presented to her to speak to him alone, she ruined it by allowing her nerves to eat her alive.
Once she had Blanca away from the stable and running through the short grass of the meadow, Leonor did her best to forget about the whole interaction. At least he would work for her family's stable until spring arrived again. They might offer to hire him more permanently if he proved gifted at his job.
At least he would still be there if she never gained the courage to ask him his name.
The impending rain made the world feel misty. Leonor shut her eyes for a moment as her horse ran forth. She held the reins lightly, hardly controlling the animal and allowing her to go forward alone.
Before she knew it, they made it towards the very end of the meadow and were overlooking sharp cliffs that led down to the water. Her thoughts carried her for a lot longer than she meant for them to. On a stormy day like that, the waves were crashing hard and seemed threatening rather than beautiful and inviting as usual.
Daring to go a bit closer, Leonor only regretted her decision when a large crack of thunder and burst of lightning lit up all of her senses, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. She was already stiff as a board when her horse lurched and jumped on its hind legs, getting spooked by the noise and flash of light.
While her horse was behaving much better because of her consistent attention for the past months, there was nothing but time that could instill proper reactions in a horse. Leonor learned why it was important to subject her horse to varying environments.
With the wet ground suddenly burdened with the horse and Leonor's weight in one single point, the mud started to slip and the horse was thrown onto its back.
In the split second it took for the horse and master to fall to the ground, the winter rain started in cold sheets. Leonor was soaked to her core and the horse panicked and thrashed until she could get back on her feet and run a short distance away.
However, Leonor's focus wasn't on the weather they had caught themselves in. It was on her left leg. When Blanca fell onto her back, she crushed Leonor's leg with the entirety of her weight.
The lady started to panic, realizing her leg wouldn't move and her horse wasn't close enough to climb onto and take them back home.