Whimsy!

{A Niall Horan Fan Fiction}

**Description**

The Estate is always buzzing.

Swarming with guards, servants, farm hands and stable boys, you can't help but hear rumors travel about the Castle and it's Master. Whether it be his newest scandal, the latest fling, or all the mistresses he'd bring in and toss out, there was hardly anything nice to say about the master of the Estate, who was known to cause trouble at the slightest inconvenience.

the infamously powerful Niall Horan.

Half of England knew his name and his wealth, and there was nothing stopping him from growing his success.

Until one disastrous stormy night, when Saffron Eclaire forced herself through his castle walls and into his life.

Written by hibiscuswhimsy

All rights reserved.

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Chapter One.

The rain pounds down on my back as I run through the alarmingly muddy trails of the forest in front of me, pushing deeper into the brush while attempting to escape the horses and lanterns drawing near. I can hear them calling for me, hunting me down with their dogs and beasts. the thin cloth of my dress is clinging to my body, my leathered boots sink into the soaked muddy ground. My hair is nearly blinding me mixed with the rain, wet unruly strands wildly clinging to my cheeks and eyes as I run with what little breath I have left inside of me.

"MEN! THIS WAY!"

the guards are drawing even closer now, and I decide my only chance at life would mean trying to hide. I can't run much longer, the air is continuing to fight its way into my lungs, and I can feel my chest burning through my corset. Up ahead, barely visible, I see a cobble stone wall- deteriorated in some places, I notice a crack within the walls just wide enough for me to crawl through.

As the glow amidst the rain grows brighter in my direction, I make a hard right and barrel into the cobblestone, squeezing my way through the walls in a panic. I can hear the end of my dress ripping as I make it through and feverishly press my back to the wall, hearing the clopping of horses race by. Before I can get a real moment to catch my breath, I feel a cold hand clamp down over my mouth and my eyes go wide, muffling the scream that was about to erupt out of my chest. 

"Shhh, alright? If you continue to scream into my palm like that m'lady, you're going to awake the entire bloody castle." The voice is low and soft, and I can't make out the features of the person it belongs to. It sounds male, and there's a certain comfort in the accent he holds. My entire body is still on high alert as he gently guides me towards a castle in the distance,  coming upon a small glimmering light emitting from one of the doorways we halted in front of.

As we step inside, I'm introduced to a small quaint kitchen; there’s a fireplace tucked into the corner and a stew boiling above it. Cupboards littered about, a spice rack off to the left. It made the room smell divine.

It takes me a second to adjust fully from the pouring rain to the illumination in the room, my eyes attempting to make out the features of the kitchen in full detail. when I decide I can finally see well enough, I turn to find that same man bustling around, opening the cupboards and pulling down breads and butters. He has curly brown hair, short on the sides and slightly moppy on top. When he looks over at me, I can see the flickering green color of his eyes from the fire, his friendly, chiseled face curving up into a smile. His voice rings in my ears as I hear him say "Well then ma'am, what brings you through the cracks of the Horan Estate?"

The Horan Estate? Shit.

Earlier? I had a plan, and now that plan was smothered by my own stupidity and this potential farm hand that dragged me deeper inside the wall with him.

Before I could find the words to answer his question, he quietly introduced himself. "I’m Harry. I work here as a stable boy for Mr. Horan" no last name. Just Harry.

Harry flashes me a kind smile before turning back to his duties at the table. I listen to him crisply butter the now toasted bread he pulled out earlier from the cupboards, pondering what to say to him- what identity I needed to take on to be safe in the situation I had now gotten myself into.

"I'm...." My eyes travel to a bottle of Saffron spice sitting on one of the wooden shelves in the corner, and I scramble to make up a name. An identity. "I'm Saffron Eclaire" I give him no more information other than that, a fake name. I don't have a new plan worked out yet and I don't know how I'm supposed to navigate my mission if I'm inside the Horan Estate already, it's too soon to be here.

My goal had steps and I had skipped about 15 of them on accident.

"It's nice to meet you Saffron. although I have many concerns about why you were fleeing from palace guards-" upon the mention of guards, I can feel my heart skip a beat. "-Let's get you warmed up and fed first, if you are to see Mr. Horan himself and have him sort you out"

"sort me out?" I question Harry, eyeing the plate of buttered toast he slid my way across the table. "Why yes, ma'am. You cannot just appear on the grounds of Estate and think that Mr. Horan would overlook your presence here. You'll need a job if you are to reside here even temporarily and make a living"  I pick at a piece of the toast and slowly put it in my mouth, savoring the greasy taste. I haven't eaten in a few days, and never anything so fresh. The most I've been able to manage is thrown out scraps behind taverns, or the ones left for the wolves to finish off outside the doors of cottages in nearby villages. "How do you know I don't already have a place in which to reside?" My mouth was full of  bread, my brown eyes tracking his green ones as he lets out a loud laugh.

"I can tell you do not, simply by the way you look, and eat. Not to insult ma'am, but your dress is roughly stained and torn, and you are eating that bread as though you haven't eaten in weeks. You look very much in need of a place to live. In the kindest way, of course"  I don't take his words to heart, because deep down I know I must truly look like a wreck after all the weeks I've gone without a bath or a change of clothes. "I take no offense to your words, Harry. Your honesty is noted.” I see another smile pull from his lips before I turn back to my bread, finishing off the small plate he gave me before hearing his voice once more.

"If you are finished, I hope you wouldn't mind being escorted to the servants quarters to be drawn a bath? Not by me of course, that would be inappropriate, but Lucia can assist you with such task. When you are finished, I will be waiting outside the doors to escort you to Mr. Horan's chambers. Lucia is our resident kitchen cook, she tends to make a much better meal than I." He smiles. Now that I've had a good look at Harry, I can tell he is kind and hard working. He wore brown trousers with black leather boots, his white shirt now a bit dirty, and still wet. Earlier he had a cap, like a newsboy would, but now it’s evidently hanging on the hook by the entrance to the kitchen door we came through earlier. I couldn't help but feel as though I was lucky that Harry found me out by the wall, and not somebody else.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden presence arriving from a different archway on the other side of the kitchen. In walked a  young girl with black, curly hair, and the most vibrant hazel eyes. She smiled at both Harry and I, and I noticed how soft her features looked. Her nose was tiny like a button, and her teeth were hardly crooked. She surely was not a day over 22, at most. "This is Lucia. Lucia, this is Saffron. Normally Lucia would not be the one to escort you, Mr. Horan has other women to do that kind of job, but Lucia and I only some of the handful of workers that reside on the Estate overnight as a full time place to live" the explanation makes sense, Horan would have this place crawling with disposable women.

Figures.

I thank Harry before getting up and allowing Lucia to guide me to the bath, stopping in front of a pair of old oak doors. I watch as Lucia leans forward and opens the door for me, allowing me to step inside first before following behind and heading for a closet stowed away in the corner, pulling out two lavender towels after doing so. She points to a stool seated right beside the tub, a clean dress folded atop, followed by some undergarments. "I already prepared your clothing for when your bath is finished, Harry shall be waiting for you in about 10 minutes to take you to Mr. Horan" Lucia turns and gives me a once over before stepping behind me to help me lift my dress and untie my corset.

"Don't be nervous though, dear. You'll be okay as long you keep your head down and answer with 'yes sir' and 'no sir'. Do not hide anything from Mr. Horan, honesty is key at a place like this one" the last part feels hushed, but I listen still as Lucia gives me the whole run down before leaving me in my undergarments to begin my bath, having already drawn the water for it.

Once I step in, I can feel the steam rise off the edges of the tub before allowing myself to fully sink into it, the boiling water relaxing every muscle in my body. I let out a content sigh. Yeah, this was good. I've missed being able to bathe, and I've missed the feeling of being clean. I decide to scrub my hair under the water, trying to use my hands to get the most dirt out I can. It feels good to take care of the unruly mess and tangles of my hair, and I relish in the ability to brush it before deciding it was time to get out of the water, seeing how the temperature has gone from steaming hot to a lukewarm. I happily use the towels Lucia left me to dry off, before putting on the clothes she gave me and giving myself one good long look in the mirror.

My dark curly brown hair was much like Lucia's, when it was taken care of. I wore it in a way where it framed my face, hoping to cover many of my features. A pair of light brown eyes stared back at me in the reflection, and I felt like I could see every curve of my face for the first time. The slight bump in my nose, the way my mouth slightly parted when it rested, never really closing. I'm not sure what Mr. Horan will think.

Who cares? I don't know why it would matter to me anyways, I'm here for one purpose and one purpose only. I need to stay focused on my mission.

To successfully kill Mr. Horan and find my father.

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Authors Note:

Hey guys! It's hibiscuswhimsy :) I'm planning on making this story quite long, I've been reading a few castle era based fanfictions recently and have had a craving to write my own. I'm nervous about posting it of course, this will be my first published work overall, as well as it being an incompleted story and work  in progress. I'm hoping whoever reads this will stick with me! I love writing and I'd love to hear any plot suggestions as I continue to write and publish the chapters. I don't have an uploading schedule as of right now, but if this story gains traction and it turns out you're enjoying the tales of Saffron and Niall ;) I'll make sure to post on a more regular basis. Thank you for reading my first short chapter! It feels like a good introduction for what's to come. I am not exclusively a 1D fic writer,

I also plan on releasing independent smut in the future!!