Arran didn't know what to feel about this strange encounter with Isan. She had left after wishing him. His mind didn't know what to make of it, but his heart was strangely elated. He knew, somehow, that it had been a nice turn of events. He looked at Equs, only to find the horse looking back at him. Arran smiled, from the bottom of his heart. It had been a long time since he had grinned like this, from ear to ear.

“You worked a miracle Equs, you wonderful beast” Arran exclaimed, alive and euphoric. He put an arm around Equs’s neck and leaned against him, looking up at the roof. He didn't feel like going back to his book, he knew he wouldn't be able to concentrate, not while his blood was boiling with so much excitement and anticipation.

“Let’s ride boy” he said, not knowing what else to do.

A few days passed. Arran’s initial euphoria had died down, a content and happy spring in his step replacing it. In retrospect, he did not even know why he had been so worked up. It was not like Isan confessed that she liked him. There was nothing to indicate anything at all. She had just asked his name. That was all.

Though that little tidbit didn't feel like it was a big deal, Arran knew that something changed. She had come to see Equs tens of times before that incident but she had never even cast a glance at Arran. What had caused her to suddenly enquire after his name?

It didn't matter wether or not it was a big deal. It didn't matter if it had a consequence or not. He was just content. The fact that she had spoken to him was enough to elate him.

Arran slunk back into his life; training, riding and reading; all the while hoping for another glance of Isan. The Egon household had hundreds of slaves, he was one amongst them. A special and valuable one no doubt, but still one of them. Who would put in the effort to remember his name? He seriously doubted that Isan would still remember his name. If he had a hundred sheep, he would not even try and name any of them. That was what the slaves were to the nobles, livestock.

He was sprawled in Equs’s stall as usual, leaning against the massive horse, a book perched in his lap. He had read it tens of times. He would have loved the chance to get his hands on new books but that was a distant dream. The few books he possessed had to be obtained painstakingly, they had to be bought and paid for with tooth and nail.

It was then that he heard someone entering the stall.

It was Isan and her escort. She dismissed the escort, waving at him to leave them.

“Hello Arran” she greeted him.

She remembered his name!

“I am honoured that you remember my name, my lady” Arran responded before getting up and bowing slightly.

“Why wouldn't I?” she asked, her question rhetorical; her expression, on the other hand, seemed curious.

What was he supposed to reply? That he hadn't expected a noble to remember a slave’s name? That he thought the nobles were arrogant pricks?

Seeing that she wouldn't be getting an answer from him, she let the matter drop and turned to Equs.

“How have you been?” she questioned.

Equs nuzzled her arm, as if asking her to pat it. Isan complied, smiling at how accustomed the horse had gotten to her presence.

“He is well, my lady” Arran said, after a while; if only to break the awkward silence hanging in the air as Isan continued patting and rubbing Equs’s neck.

“That was rhetorical, you know” she replied, an eyebrow raised in amusement. “Arran, the scholar…” she added mockingly.

He would have felt affronted if not for the faint smile playing on her lips. The tips of his ears turned red in embarrassment, as he hung his head, so that she could not see his reddening face.

“Do not be so embarrassed, the question was aimed at the both of you” she said softly, walking towards Equs’s left flank, so that he was between Arran and Isan.

“I have been well, my lady. A little bored is all.” Arran replied, hoping to salvage the situation, acting as if he hadn't been embarrassed just moments before.

Isan continued walking along Equs’s flank, her hands trailing his taut skin.

“How soon do you think will Equs let me ride him?” she asked nonchalantly,

rounding behind Equs to appear on his right side. Arran’s heart thumped. Although she was towards Equs’s rear, she was still walking towards Equs’s front, towards Arran.

She continued trailing her hands on Equs absentmindedly as she strode forward. “Well?” she prompted, seeing that Arran wasn't responding.

“I would suggest a few more weeks, my lady.” Arran was about to do something really foolish. They say love makes fools out of wise men and cowards out of courageous ones. Love is dangerous, specially to a slave. A slave needed to know his station; he needed to know his place. He knew he was making a mistake, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He just hoped that he wouldn't regret it later. He was not an outright fool though. He knew he should be subtle, so he went with something ambiguous, something that couldn't be inferred as an outright advance. “It would help a great deal if you visited him in the stall frequently” Arran added.

Isan stopped, staring at Arran. “Help whom, Arran, You or him?” she quirked an eyebrow, waiting to see how he would respond.

“Him of course, my lady, whatever do you mean by that?” Arran replied, in mock servility. “He would trust you more, my lady. It would ease his transition in to letting someone other than me riding him.” Arran added sheepishly.

She snorted at that, a mischievous smile tugging at the corners of her full lips. “Clever, aren't we?” she observed, moving back towards the stall’s entrance. “and courageous too,” she said, smiling back at him.

“I will see what I can do about your boredom” she added one final time before leaving the stall.

Arran was shaking now, adrenalin coursing thorough his veins. What the hell was he doing, flirting with a noble. What would have happened if she had been affronted?

He was ecstatic at how she had responded. She hadn't taken offence. She had responded with that mischievous smile of hers.

Isan left the stables feeling amused. Was Arran trying to flirt there? She had to give it to him though. He had not implicated himself, yet managed to convey his intention subtly. He was clever…Though she knew that this could go nowhere, she couldn't help but decide to go back there again. She liked the banter. She liked embarrassing him. She liked to see him struggle, not understanding how to respond.

The moment she had started seeing him as more than a slave, as a human, she felt a distinct change in the way she perceived him. She started treating him as a person, one whose company was quite pleasurable and amusing.

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