' magdalena

Her optimism made him smile; he felt the ending of the war was a good thing and the peace negotiations were important. It ended years of bloodshed from both sides of the ear. But it was after all this that he wasn’t would happen. Did he return to Denmark and pick up on his life - present company excluded, he’d avoided the Danish envoy. “It’s at least a start to something, instead of fighting on a battlefront were now doing it with roofs overheads with ink and paper.” That was his cynicism of the whole thing showing. He gave an apologetic look, “I apologize, that’s probably the last thing you wanted to hear.” In a change of subject, he asked, “How do you like France?”

she had never truly grasped the meaning of the war.. the idea of it just never made sense to her.. and she probably wouldn’t have traveled here, had it not been in her mothers best interest that it would be a good place for her to meet a someone.. green hues peered up at the prince’s blue’s, nodding at what he said, “it’s a great start , absolutely..”  before she smiled, gently shaking her head, “there’s nothing for you to be apologizing for your highness.i. oh and france? to be quite honest im coming to slightly enjoy it.. its quite beautiful.. different from back home, but qute beautiful nonetheless..” she said and smiled once more.. “to be honest i don’t think i’d ever seen a mountain before i began the journey to come here..”

 He liked to think he didn’t forget a face - names, yes. But those green hues staring back made him recall another name. Even as she spoke, Alex’s own memories went back several years, a young teenager at a ball who hated to play dress up. His brother had recently just been crowned king and the nobility of Denmark had come to pay their respects. Lady Magdelena as she so intriduced. She was younger then he was, the same age as his own sister, but he recalled it all. He laughed, “Lord Beck’s household. I remember, even if it’s been some time.” He had made quite the scene with his brother choose to follow neutrality rather than join into the war effort. Most of the nobility had been then that day that he had not so gracefully used the words cowards and a few other choice phrases that didn’t need repeating. Not his finest moment as he looked back onto it. “Seeing you, I’m suddenly far more curious about what else I’ve missed out on back home. How much Denmark has changed.”

as the girl heard the other eventually recognize her, and on what felt like all automatic motions, she did her curtsy, bending her head down before looking back up at him, smiling gently. lifting her hands and let them lock behind her back. seeing him was odd after so many years really, he hadn’t changed really.. or a little bit.. he’d gone from looking like a boy to more like a man, and all she could remember was how she as well as any other girl all over the country had crushes on him... magdalena smile lingered on her lips, “it’s a little different but, i do think everything will be a lot better once all of this is over.. better for all of us at least..”

“I happen to know she likes compliments so even if it was the latter, you just called her beautiful so that gets a pass in her book.” HIs hand patted the mare on the side and she gave a soft neigh as if anything they said was understood by the animal. Maybe the horses were smarter than they actually gave them credit for. It was nice though to have someone other than the horse to talk to. “Forgive me being forward here,” Blue eyes staring intently at the girl before him. “Have we met before, you seem familiar like I somehow should know this.”

the girl felt a new smile form across her lips hearing the other hearing what the royal said, followed by a slight flush of pink spread across her cheeks as she felt herself blushing slightly.. “that’s great, cause she would be the last one i’d want to upset in any way..” she said as she continued glancing at the horse, only to turn her attention back at the man who was staring at her.. her green hues resting upon his blue’s. “oh well-- we have.. though its been a while..” she said as she thought back at the last time they’d sort off met.. at a ball when both of them were some years younger, and mostly just words in passing as she was being introduced, “im lady magdalena.. my family has been close to the royals for centuries..”

He recognized the hesitancy in her step, her last words only confirmed that it wasn’t him but the horse that caused it. Alex set down the brush onto a stool that was sitting on the ground beside him. “Well, this fine lady before me is Sauvignon,” His French was passable but not great. At the mention of her name, the horse’s head peaked up letting out a soft neigh. “She says hello,” He said with a smile, “Or stop bothering me, I’m not quite fluent in horse. But she belonged to a French Officer it was only right to bring her home.”

she felt a bit silly to say the least, for wanting to stand in the corner of the stable and look at the animals from afar, but the other didn’t seem to think so, or at least he wasn’t showing any signs that he thought so as he introduced her to the horse he was brushing, finding herself smiling even, “she’s beautiful..” she said before a small laugh passed her lips, “whatever it is, im hoping its not the latter..” she said as she smiled once more, tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ear.

Alex actually understood that quite well. The stables had always been a good place to escape to when he was a child. He loved being around the horses and it helped take your mind off of other things. Of course, he’d also spent time in the training yards watching the knights until he was old enough to swing a sword and found that helped just as much. But his response was shortened to, “I used to escape to the stables as well. I don’t know why that was always the last place they thought to look.” He mused with a small smirk, though he continued to work on brushing the horse before him. Alex glanced quickly over his shoulder to her, “If you want to be alone, I can finish up later and let you have the space.”

the girl slowly let down her dress before taking a small step towards the royal and the horse he was tend to, but kept her distance just to be sure.. despite liking to look at the horses, she felt far from completely safe around them.. but the girl’s green eyes lingered on the other, listening to him as he spoke, not helping the small smile that tucked at the corners of her lips, finding it endearing if anything. but when he asked if she wanted to be left alone, she bit the inside of her cheek.. “-- oh no, you really don’t have to leave.. im really just here to look.. i know nothing about horses really.”

He had always loved horses. His mother often had said that he had learned to ride before he could walk. It had been a sense of freedom though, being able to ride out on horseback and it was just you and the beast riding. Perhaps he felt a kindred spirit with the animals, adventures spirits. It would be no surprise to find he was at the stables. He had gone out riding early that morning; he hadn’t slept and being stuck behind rock walls all day drove him mad as he was discovering. He didn’t miss the way, no one could say they did, but he missed being out there with something to do. Doing nothing didn’t sit well with him.

Alex didn’t appear much as his station would suggest; it would be easy to mistake him just for a stable hand who still wore a military-style wool coat to keep out the biting cold of the French winter. He had his horse out in the main area and was brushing the beast down as it munched on fresh hay after returning from a long ride. It gave a swosh of its tail, happy and content as it crunched and got some much-appreciated attention.

The sound of the approach of another caught his attention, he paused his brush strokes over the horse’s fur and looked up from what he was doing to see who had come. “If you need any help with any of the horses let me know,” he offered, since the stablehand had taken a couple of horses out to be exercised. His reply was not met by the person but a disgruntled neigh from the horse, as if to say ‘get back to work and brush me’. “Sorry,” He said with a good-hearted chuckle to the horse and started brushing it again. 

magdalena had never learned how to ride horses, her mother or father never having seen it as a useful skill for their daughter to have, and, having rather made her do more “useful things”, like knowing how to cross stitch, crochet or knit.. but that didn’t stop her from enjoying to be around horses and other animals when no one was around to tell her not to.. quietly the lady picked up the bottom of her dress while making her way to the stables, thinking she was all alone she found herself jumping a little in her own skin as she heard a male’s voice speak up followed by the loud sound of a horse.. 

the girl swallowed hard, before taking a deep breath. eyes searching for the source of the voice, surprised to see the prince stand there, brushing a horse by himself.. “Oh no-- i just.. Came to look..”