Chapter Text
You were at the Silverglade manor, mumbling a curse under your breath as you brushed out the knots of your mare's mane; You didn't even know what was past you was thinking when you had decided to put her in the pasture, knowing that she would end up rolling in whatever mud pile or dirt she could find. You were almost done; you could see the end of the tunnel of this, but as soon as you finished brushing the mane, the brush broke.
You look at the mare, then at the brush, then back at Venus, who looked rather pleased with herself. You started to wonder how your life would've been if your parents hadn't agreed to let you ride that lesson pony. You hadn't noticed the pair of footsteps (and hooves) approaching till a hand was on your shoulder. Startled, you look to see it was to see Sabine standing there.
"Sabine!"
"What? Not my fault, you weren't paying attention."
Sabine had to hold back a laugh at the annoyed look on your face; you looked both adorable and hilarious.
''wait, aren't you supposed to be at the open house?"
"I could ask you the same thing, soul rider."
"Well, I am tacking up Venus to go to the open house."
"Hm."
''Now answer my question, I answered yours."
"I am planning to let khaan rest for a bit before we have to deal with all the ruckus."
You let out a huff as you started to tack up Venus.
"The Ruckus that YOU cause?"
"Exactly."
You shook your head as you had finished tacking up Venus, You waved Sabine goodbye before loading Venus onto the trailer. The drive to the Jorvik stables was calm; your mind not spiraling with thoughts was quite nice as well. Once you had arrived, you unloaded Venus and walked to the Jorvik stables, where you greeted Lily Bones. As you two spoke, Lily was telling you about the festival and how they needed help with decorating. As you got onto Venus to help with decorating the place before the baroness arrived, it was a tedious task, but it seemed like ever since you arrived in Jorvik, the locals had forgotten how to do stuff on their own.
You were about to leave as you had finished the task, when you saw Anne, you had to double-take to make sure you weren't seeing things. Anne made her way over, but something was off in the way she was smiling, It seemed forced, as the smile didn't reach her eyes. You tried to shrug it off as a product of your overthinking.
''Y/n, pleasure to see you.''
''Nice...to see you too.''
A moment passes before you speak again.
''I thought you said you wouldn't be able to make it to this year's Open House.''
''I won't, I just came by to see you, I thought you were here with your friend.''
That rang an alarm bell in your head, and you let out an awkward chuckle as you tighten your hands on the reins.
''Well, what can I say, never-ending tasks, unfortunately, no friends today.''
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As you move along in your day, doing dailys and a bit of training, the encounter with Anne was still rubbing you the wrong way.
'Is everything okay?'
that startled you back to reality.
'Yeah...Just, don't you think something was off?''
'I need you to be specific.'
'The thing with Anne, she seemed-'
'stiff?'
You nod.
You didn't speak much or at all on the way back to the barn, yet as you and Venus made your way to the entrance of Greendale, to the path that leads to the Wolf Hall Inn, you noticed a squirrel or two at first, but you didn't pay it much mind. As you were about to turn to the path that led to Silverglade after passing the bridge, you noticed what seemed to be a tail of an animal but it was gone before you could fully register it.
You blink twice, nothing, you shake your head as you continue your way back to the stables.