My Kingdom For A Horse (Open To Anyone & Everyone!

[Nessie]

(ooc: I couldn't help the title. XD This is just an open thread for Sir Nathan Dunbar to meet some people. Hope this is OK with you all that I have a thread like this not strictly related to the plot!)


His horse was in a bad mood today, a mood to match his in fact. It trotted when he wanted it to gallop, galloped when he wanted it to trot and refused to stop when he wanted it to. When Sir Nathan Dunbar eventually dismounted the dull brown mare it was with an ill will towards it, and all creatures.

Having returned its saddle and bridle to the barn, Nathan let the horse loose into the paddock, watching it with beady eyes as it trotted happily away, all too glad to be rid of him, he supposed. Ah well.

He hopped nimbly over the paddock fence and landed feet first on the grass on the other side. Leaning against the fence he looked up at the castle, absent-mindedly fingering the dagger on his belt as he did so. He hadn't had to use it for a long time now. Too long?

It was not as though Dunbar was eager for violence. But these were dangerous times. Yet it seemed as though the dangers here lay more in words and looks than actual physical fighting. He had no idea, of course, of the Silian King's planned invasion of Regina; how could he know? If he had known he might have been less irritable but as it was he was in the foulest of tempers.

And why? Because it had happened again. The guilt and remorse that he'd been trying to quell for the past year had made itself known to him once again, in a nightmare so vivid he'd awoken with a terrified cry. He hadn't let himself fall prey to such emotions for so long but it was clear the feelings weren't done with him yet.

As if to try and drown out his thoughts, Nathan began to whistle through his teeth; the tune was one he'd heard down at the local tavern a few nights prior. Sir Nathan Dunbar may have been of noble blood, but he rubbed elbows with the peasants and low lifes much more often than the average aristocrat.

The tune was whistled and done with and yet the thought of the murder still lingered on the fringes of his mind. Infuriated, Dunbar had the momentary idea if drawing his dagger and stabbing something, anything, as a means of ridding himself of his fury. But no...that was how he'd killed the victim. Stabbed him in his sleep.

Nathan gave an involuntary shudder and slumped against the fence, his legs seeming to give way beneath him as he manoeuvred himself into a sitting position, steadying his breathing, arms wrapped tight around his knees. He needed something, anything, to distract him from his thoughts...

[ollie]

[/color] she wondered, looking him over for wounds or bruises. She’d before found those attacked by her horses, and this wouldn’t be the first Hurricane or Honeybee (a palomino mare with one hell of a bite) had brought someone misery and terror to an otherwise fantastic day.

(ooc) i hope my horse dork vocabulary doesn't scare you. D8
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[Nessie]

He needed a distraction and he most certainly got one, in the form of Lady Odette. The surprising thing was how she was dressed; in men's riding garb of all things! Nathan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her attire. Of course she must have been riding one of her horses, he'd heard the noise of its hooves in the back of his mind while the rest deigned it best to focus on other things.

“Got kicked by a horse?”

Well, thank goodness she wasn't just going to stand there leaning down to look at him all day. That would be a distraction, of course, but not one that Sir Dunbar thought would be entirely pleasant. Her question caught him off guard somewhat despite the fact he'd been expecting her to speak at some point; the query was blunt and could be considered somewhat offensive...why, simply because he looked out of sorts was no reason to assume he'd been kicked by a horse...

Then again, the question made sense considering their location, and the fact that the majority of the horses belonged to Lady Odette. The only horse in the paddock at that point that wasn't hers, as far as Nathan could tell from where he sat huddled against the fence, was his own mare; a dull and rather plain looking steed amongst the other very smart, very noble looking horses.

He decided at last, having thought all this through in his head, to make a reply, not only because it would be rude not to but because, despite it all, this young lady had effectively distracted him from further thoughts of daggers and bloodstains.

Quite unlike him really, to be so easily distracted by female companionship.

"No," Nathan replied somewhat sullenly, forgoing his usual formalities. "Not yet, at least. But my time will come sooner or later; animals have a tendency to dislike me, God knows why."


ooc: That's perfectly fine; I used to be a horse dork myself when I was younger. ^___^

[ollie]

[/color] The way he said it, he didn’t seem to be happy about it, but she didn’t ask why. She frowned, glancing up at the horses – mostly checking of Honeybee was pestering anyone; no, she was chasing Hurricane in what appeared to be a game of tag.

She shrugged calmly. “If animals dislike you so much,” she said, leaning back on the heels of her riding boots, “I don’t see why you choose to stay out here. Horses are no different than any other animals, if not more volatile. I would know.” But that was why she was attracted to them, wasn’t it? Everything else in her life was predictable – that is, except Berlus, but even the day after she couldn’t decide what to think about the prince she was so evidently infatuated by – but her horses. They were wild, and their personalities sparked like firecrackers; and were just as dangerous, at times.

“As a tip,” she said calmly, “when you do ride again, if you find your horse feeding off of your bad mood, it often helps to think of them as a way to stop thinking. Stop brooding over the rest of your life and focus on the horse’s gates and beats and how to perfect them. Regard it as an escape rather than a time to think.” Then, as if she hadn’t said it before, or thought about it before, she shrugged carelessly. “Just a thought,” she added, with her quirky smile at the irony of what she’d just said.
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[Nessie]

“If animals dislike you so much, I don’t see why you choose to stay out here. Horses are no different than any other animals, if not more volatile. I would know.”

Nathan smiled wryly and nodded; what Odette was saying was true. And yet he felt within the confines of the castle he was more likely to think on his misdeeds, especially considering that the duke was around somewhere. He had hoped the outdoors would help to clear his head and ease his troubled mind. Besides, usually his horse was co-operative and didn't serve to intensify his bad mood.

“As a tip, when you do ride again, if you find your horse feeding off of your bad mood, it often helps to think of them as a way to stop thinking. Stop brooding over the rest of your life and focus on the horse’s gates and beats and how to perfect them. Regard it as an escape rather than a time to think.”

That was exactly what Nathan had wanted to do in the first place; either Lady Odette could read minds, or she was very perceptive. Maybe focusing on the horse rather than his past misdeeds was a sensible and practical idea. It probably was. And yet how could he help it, after that dream? After that reality?

Suddenly, it seemed to dawn on Nathan how disrespectful he was being. He couldn't recall if he'd been formally introduced to Lady Odette before; he knew her by sight of course but that was about it. As Odette straightened up and leant back on the heels of her boots, Nathan took the opportunity to scramble to his feet and scrape a hasty bow. It was all rather ungainly but then he wasn't as used to the formalities of nobility as he perhaps should have been.

"I thank you for your advice, Lady Odette, and I apologize for not introducing myself as I ought to have done. Sir Nathan Dunbar, at your service."

[ollie]

[/color] She had expected a bow earlier, as most men did so when she was in one of her good moods (as she was now) but she didn’t mind the delay. As long as he had manners enough to apologize for not introducing himself, she was fine – he was gentlemanly enough.

“It’s quite alright. I’m not royal or anything of the sort. Simply affiliated,” she said, though there was a hook in her voice as she said it. Affiliated wasn’t really affiliated – it was more like the closest friend to the princess. She could do just about anything and get away with it with her close ties, even though that wasn’t why she was so fond of Adalia. It was the fact that she had never had much of a choice but to – and if she wasn’t fond of Adalia, every day of her childhood and early adolescence would have been torture. The girls had been trained into ladies together, though Odette had had much more training in the art of the lady. She’d never been too keen on manners, though now they were beginning to be expected.

She was about to say anything else but then there was the thunder of hooves, and the before blissful Hurricane and Honeybee were galloping along the fence, making a circle and slowing to a halt almost instantaneously when they got to the fence Nathan and Odette were standing at. Honeybee, a very pretty mare, though an evidently wild one, let out a wild cry and craned her neck over the fence, nipping the air near Nathan as she stretched her neck out to Odette. It was strange, how they were attracted towards her, and Odette didn’t seem to even be very much surprised as she scratched Honeybee’s maw before swatting at it, sending the mare leaving as fast as she’d come. Hurricane, on the other hand, stayed behind, and nudged Nathan playfully.

“It’s odd, how sometimes the least likely become fond of you,” she said, as Hurricane lipped at the man’s back, obviously playing, though just a little obnoxious. “Swat him away, if you’d like, but I think he’s taken a liking towards you. He can be a little fickle, and you seem to be his type.”
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[Nessie]

“It’s quite alright. I’m not royal or anything of the sort. Simply affiliated."

Still, Nathan thought, it had been rather rude of him. But he wasn't about to point that out again; he'd already apologized and once was enough. She was still smiling, which was surely a good thing.

It was at this point that the sound of wildly galloping hooves accosted Nathan's ears; he turned just in time to see one of Odette's horses, the name of which he couldn't recall, craning its neck over the fence towards its owner. Nathan started a little as the horse nipped at the air near him, but tried to mask his obvious fear by focussing his attention on how Odette handled the horse.

However, this exercise was short lived. The other horse, which had remained behind after the other galloped off, nudged him playfully in the back before proceeding to go further. Nathan was certain he'd paled at the horse's actions (his own horse was never anywhere near as affectionate) but turned to face him all the same, proceeding to pat him, albeit awkwardly, as though unsure of how to handle him.

“It’s odd, how sometimes the least likely become fond of you,”

Nathan nodded at this with a wry smile, his mind subconsciously thinking of the duke and his attachment to him. Yes, it was odd how he, a a rich and powerful noble, was prepared to part with such amounts to get him to do his dirty work...

He pulled himself back to the conversation at hand, willing himself not to dwell on the duke any longer today. He hoped he had the willpower to see that decision through.

“Swat him away, if you’d like, but I think he’s taken a liking towards you. He can be a little fickle, and you seem to be his type.”

Nathan let out a small laugh; his laugh was usually mirthless but this one seemed to have at least a little humour injected into it somehow.

"He's taken a liking to me, eh? Well there's a turner for the books." He gave Odette a weak attempt at a smile before continuing. "Might I inquire as to how I'm his type, if you don't mind my asking? I wouldn't have thought you and I were much alike."