ET SIC INCIPIT
A soft breeze of wind blew, sending the musky scent of the cozy, wooden stables drifting out into the air as the man and his younger sister led their horses back to their stalls for the night. Rays from the sun shone down β through the gaps in the handcrafted planks that made up the horses' source of shelter, landing on the floors of dirt and hay that covered the area within the stable walls.
The large animals of varying shades and colors stood lined up in their stalls, only the four nearest the stables large doors lacked horses. Most of them slept the day away while those missing, stayed out and about, assisting their owners with travel and heavy loads.
"Can you get some brushes please?" the young man asked, his voice soft. "I'll get Lady and Blue inside." His sister nodded, handing Blue's lead line over to him and wandering off to the opposite end of the stables.
"Which brushes, Michael?" She popped out from behind the wooden wall that hid her away and stared at older brother as he tried to get both of their horses to cooperate with him.
Michael shrugged and waved off his light brown mare into her stall. She tracked into the smaller area and stood there, waiting for Michael to come pet and coo at her but he didn't. Instead, he stepped into Blue's stall and attempted to lead him further in.
"Come on, Blue," he pleaded with the jet black horse that stood before him, "I'll give you a carrot."
Blue brayed and knelt onto the ground outside of the stall's large door. Michael huffed out a breath, placing his hand onto his biceps and rubbing his sleeve up and down his arm. The horse in front of him eyed an empty bucket in the corner of the room.
"An apple?" Michael asked and Blue turned his head back to him, scrambling up onto his hooves. "You'll get them in the morning if you come in here."
The horse trotted into his stall, staring at Michael as the man smiled to himself and slipped past him. He petted Blue's side a couple of times while Janet joined them both, brushes in hand. She reached one to Michael and stepped into the stall with Blue, letting Michael head off to tend to Lady in the next stall over. The duo began brushing and grooming their horses as rain softly pattered onto the roof and exterior walls of the stables, the wind blowing a bit stronger than before.
"We're gonna have to go back inside soon, Dunk." Michael told Janet.
He walked over to the stall wall and stepped up on a hay bale beside it, grabbing the top of the half-wall and peeking over it. Janet stopped brushing Blue and she met with her brother's wide eyes staring her down from over the wall.
"I like it out here though," she said, "nobody can yell at me for getting my stupid dress dirty out here." She yanked the bottom hem of her dirt-covered dress out from beneath the broad, black boots on her feet.
Michael tilted his head to the side with the slight shrug of his shoulder. "It doesn't get rid of it," he reminded her, "just delays it because LaToya and Rebbie won't come out here."
"Yeah," Janet said, returning to brushing Blue's mane, "if Toya came out here, she'd want to make a wig out of Blue's hair."
Michael let go of the top of the stall's wall and slapped his hand over his mouth. Only a few moments later did his voluminous laughter erupt into the air. He hopped down from the hay bale and dropped to his knees on the bare ground, his entire body jolting amid his cackling.
Janet rolled her eyes, stepping out of Blue's stall and shutting the door behind her. "You ruined it, Loud Mouth." She walked over to the front doors of the stables. "Now come on or you'll have to sleep with the horses!"
"No!" Michael shouted, rushing out of Lady's stall and toward the double doors. "Don't close it!"
A smirk graced Janet's face as she shut the doors. She stood still, her back against them. The doors bumped forward with the threat of swinging open; once, twice, and even a third time.
"Dunk, I can't believe you!" Michael pushed and kicked at the large, wooden doors. "Let me out!"
"Whatever you say!"
Janet let up on the doors and ran off into the middle of the grassy field that surrounded the stables. The doors flew open and Michael tumbled out from behind the doors, onto the ground. Laughter echoed from Janet into the open air while her brother scrambled to his feet.
As soon as the two made eye contact with one another, Janet turned in the direction of the pristine, white palace that they called him. She took off and Michael sprinted after her.
"I'm gonna get you for this!" Michael shouted at her.
Janet shook her head and picked up her pace, the mud grass squishing under her boots with every step she took. "Catch me first!" She rushed left and the sound of gravel crunching as she stepped overtook the soft sound of dirt and grass.
Two women led by an older, dark-skinned man climbed down out of a horse-drawn carriage and onto the pathway and Janet slowed her sprint to a halt with Michael skidding himself to a stop beside her. The older man stepped up to the side entrance of the palace, pulling the door open and holding it but Michael, Janet, and the two women stayed put.
"Um, Lady LaToya? Lady Maureen?" The man at the door uttered, shutting the door back and rejoining the group. "Your mother said to be in before sunset and the sun looks like it's setting--"
The younger, scantily clad of the two women nodded her head and turned to the man. "Come on, Derrick," she said, her voice high-pitched and punchy, "I want to be on time."
The man nodded and led her back to the door, pulling it open. She disappeared into the palace, leaving the man to hold the door open.
"Lady Maureen?" he called, receiving a wave of the hand from the remaining woman.
"I want to speak with Michael and Janet for a moment." she said. "You can go tend to LaToya for now." She fixed her overcoat and clasped her hand in front of her.
Derrick nodded. "Alright." He stepped into the palace and shut the door behind himself, leaving the three standing house.
"Look at this mess!" Maureen snapped, moving closer to Janet and grasping the dirty skirt of her dress. "All this dirt and it's everywhere!"
Michael shoved his hands into his pants pockets and tapped his foot while Janet groaned. "I don't care about this dress, Rebbie!" she argued with her eldest sister. "I told you I didn't wanna wear it to begin with!"
Maureen held her hand up in front of Janet's face and turned to their brother. "Michael, what did I tell you about bringing her out here?"
"Let's just go inside please?" Michael pleaded with her, "I've had a long day."
Maureen sighed. "We all have."
"Alright, so we'll talk about this in the morning." he said. "You two have dinner to go to and I have to find Bill, I haven't seen him all day."
The sound of clattering pots and pans echoed through the hollow hallways of the palace as did the sound of shoes clicking against the hard, cold stone flooring throughout the large building. The man of small build headed out of the golden and jewel-encrusted front doors of the palace, the chatter of people inside of his large home blowing past him like a spring breeze.
"Prince!" a woman called out from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder as the brown-skinned woman ran up to him. "You're going to see her?"
Prince nodded. "Yeah, Jill," he said, "but I'll be back by morning."
Jillian smiled and Prince walked out into the open air. She followed after Prince. He tied a small bag to his saddle and climbed up onto his steed.
"Have fun!" Jillian instructed, clasping her soft hands together in front of her.
Prince smirked. "Trust me," he said, "I'll have a ball."
Jillian shifted her weight onto her left leg and folded her arms over her chest. "And be safe."
"Oh, doll," he began, "you know that I live my life on the edge."
Jillian tapped her foot on the ground and narrowed her eyes at Prince. His impish expression faded and he formed his lips into a line.
"But I'll be careful today," he said, "just for you."
Jillian gave a slight nod. "Thank you."
Before she could even get the entire expression of gratitude out, Prince had left her behind and began making his way to his next destination.
Jillian lifted her skirt a few inches off of the ground and jogged out further into the pathway, placing one of her hands on either side of her mouth and shouting, "I'll be waiting on you in the morning!"
Prince threw his right hand up into the air as a signal of acknowledgment and continued to ride down the path. The horse trotted further away from the secluded area surrounding the gaudy palace and headed into the busy and cozy town that housed itself a few mere meters outside of the palace gates. The once vibrant, blue sky turned a murky gray, and drops of rain began falling.
Womenβ young and oldβ stepped out of their shelter from the earthly elements, cooing and whistling as Prince passed by them. His pupils shifted to his left and right, giving them all a smirk but nothing more.
His horse stepped out of the town square and into a small, dreary alleyway. A wooden sign, with "No horse allowed in the centre!" written across it in vermilion paint, disappeared into the distance as they went deeper into the back pathway.
The horse stopped a meter short of a quaint house with a wooden door and a short, spiny fence guarding it against the rest of the world. Prince climbed down from his horse's back, dropping to his feet. He shook his head full of curly hair back and forth like a wet dog, rubbing his face and sighing. He turned back to the mare, Empress, and untied the cloth bag from the left side of her saddle.
"I know you don't like it out here but I can't take you in with me." He stepped in front of her, taking the rope of her lead line and tying her up to a post. "I'll be back before you know it."
Empress craned her neck down and pushed her face into Prince's back, pushing his entire body closer to the door of the small home. Prince's eyes widened and his hand flew behind him to cover the small of his back.
"You can't be doing me like that, Miss. Thang," he said, "I'm tryna get you togeβ"
Empress nudged him in the back of the legs, again and again until he was standing in front of the door. She curled her knees underneath her body and settled down into her spot on the ground. Prince turned to face her, his gaze settling onto the large animal.
"You're gonna stay here, right?" Prince asked. The black mare nodded. "You won't run off?" Empress stared at him, blankly. "I just want to make sure that yβ"
The horse cut him off with a loud whinny, beginning to get up from her spot on the ground to move Prince into the shabby home by force. The small man lifted his hands in surrender, shaking his head. "No, no, I'll leave you alone. Just don't get up, okay?"
Empress nodded again, getting comfortable once more as Prince headed to the door. He glanced over at the mare until he was sure that she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door of the worn-down him.
The door creaked open and light spilled out into the dim alleyway, splashing Prince in color and warmth. His eyes crept upward from the gravel path beneath his feet, landing on the curly-haired damsel that stood before him on the opposite side of the door.
"Hello Denise." he greeted her, leaning against the door frame.
"Hello Prince," she said, stepping back and holding the door open for him, "come in."
Prince walked into the house. He stood in the center of the living area and took his jacket off. He shut his eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling it slowly. Some kind of liquid splashed onto the top of his head. His face scrunched up and his shoulders tensed.
The heels of his shoes clicked as he wandered backward, opening his eyes and tilting his head back. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of the splotch on the ceiling. A second drop fell from the ceiling, landing in his face. He shut his eyes and leaned his head into its natural forward position, wiping his face with his sleeve.
Denise joined Prince in the living area and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Oh yeah..." she began, "there's a leak in the ceiling."
"Yeah, I noticed." He moved his arm out of his face. "We gotta do something about that."
"Well, you know I can't do that," she said, "I can't afford to fix anything!"
Prince walked past Denise and sat down at the dining table with a grin on his face. "You ain't gotta worry about that no more."
"What are you talking about?"
He placed the bag that he had brought with him onto the table's surface. He opened up the bag and a large sum of money spilled out onto the table. Denise's eyes widened and she scrambled over to the table. She pulled out a chair and sat down at the table with Prince.
Golden coins lay scattered about the table and she picked through them. "Where'd you get all this?"
Prince laughed and picked up a coin, his reflection stared back at him in the currency's gilded surface. "I'm royalty, remember?" He flipped the coin and it flew back into the pile of money. "I can have what I want, when I want."
Denise shook her head, pushing the coins away from her side of the table. "I can't take thisβ"
"You have to," Prince cut her off, "I want you to."
Denise's eyes shifted to Prince's face and locked with his brown-hazel eyes as he stared her down. He placed his hand against the side of her face, leaning over the table. Their eyes shut and their lips meeting.
