CHAPTER THREE

That night there was a banquet in the castle to honour the guests,Prince Richard and Princess Lily.King Jonathan,Lily’s and Abidin’s father,was seated at the head of the table.Left of him was his wife,Queen Lilandra.On their sides were their son and daughter.Lily’s consort was seated next to her while Sir Scott was at her opposite,next to Abidin.Sean had occupied a seat next to Jason,Abidin saw to his satisfaction.Roderick,right to Richard,was talking to him about the defence of a city.The Sharians were very good archers and horsemen while the Chrohnachian warriors liked man-to-man swordfights better,and they were gently discussing the differences. Abidin noticed his siter was sharing glares with her Sir Scott and he frowned.Suddenly he heard his name.
“Abidin.”Richard said to him over the table.”I am sorry if I insulted you in any way this afternoon,but I was just curious.Now,maybe you want to give your opinion what’s better;horses or just men?”
Abidin drank some more of his wine before saying”Well,it of course depends.You Sharians are very good with horses,and they’re very tough as well on the battlefield.Ours might be beautiful,but aren’t as tough.”
Richard smiled and nodded in agreement.
“But”the Chrohnachian Prince added”Of course we have a more brave reputation,fighting man-to-man instead of shotting arrows from the safe walls of your Sharian castle.”
Richard wrinkled his nose in disapproval but then smiled”It depends.”

Two days later,when everybody had recovered from their hang-overs,Sean’s first practice was there.He tried very for Jason,who had been nice to him since the beginning.Never in his whole life somebody had been friendly to him,accept for Prince Abidin.But he had always been doing the dishes,cleaning and stuff like that in the kitchen,and spears were very heavy!So when he lifted a spear he almost fell back because of the weight.The other warriors laughed at him,but Sean gritted his teeth and pulled through.Somehow he managed to throw the spear away.It didn’t come very,though.
Next thing on the list was horseback riding.Sean turned out to be very good with horses,treating the animals with care like he had always done with the sheep and pigs as well.At least they wouldn’t scold at him.Jason began to like to boy and he noticed his love for horses right away,which made him very satisfied.
“He could be a promise.”Jason told Roderick after the exercise.Roderick looked with a disdainful twinkle in his eyes at the knight and said in a scornful tone”Horses aren’t worth anything!Just as much as your arse!”

© FirE Girls 2000