Success is the result of hard work and learning from failure.

Kettil was dragging buckets of water back and forth from the farm towards the horse pasture. There were tasks that were more fun, but he knew that this was part of his job as well, so he didn’t complained. Actually he wasn’t a complainer at all. Or at least not about his job. With Gerolf on the other hand.. A sigh left his mouth as he straightened his legs and pulled up another pair of buckets. His muscles were on fire, and the back of his neck was dark red from the wooden plank that he used to carry the buckets. He had just started to walk when he heard someone scraping his throat. Her throat. It was the redhead. ”Uhm.. There was supposed to be a horse in that box.” She said, pointing towards one of the many stables in the farmhouse. ”Where is it.” Kettil had seen her before at the stables, but never spoken a word with her. He knew she stood higher in rank than he did, so he wouldn’t quickly start a conversation on his own. But now, when she asked him a question, he couldn’t ignore her. So he bowed through his knees again and placed the buckets on the floor. ”Well, she, is grazing in the pasture.” He said with a polite nod. ”Correct me if I am wrong, but I assume you are here for training?” He inhaled and looked at the other horses in the stable. ”Because if so, feel free to pick any horse you like. They all could use some exercise.” He pointed at the other horses in the stable. Of course she knew she couldn’t pick from all of them horses. Everybody knew that the horses from the earl were off-limits. But she would understand what he meant. Or at least that was what he hoped. He waited for her answer, curious if she would be okay to pick another horse than she was used to. He smiled at her just the same as she was smiling at him.

The young frú just stood there, observing him silently as he spoke. Kettil couldn’t help himself from turning another, friendly smile on his face. He was charming, polite and a true gentlemen. But he also loved to play this little I am friendly, but also silently testing you-game. When he was among his horses he was able to be his true self, and a totally different man that he would be if his brother was also with them. But luckily that wasn’t the case. Kettil loves Gerolf, in a strange way, and almost as equal much as he hated him. He blinked with his dark brown eyes a few times, waiting for a respond from the girl.

But there came none, except from a slightly disappointed nod, hidden beneath a fake smile. Kettil was good at reading people, just as he was good at reading animals. It was some kind of privilege he had since the day he was born. That, and the power to calm down most of the people around them with that warm vibe of his. He heard her inhale deeply before she turned her body around and started to walk away. Kettil rolled his eyes in their sockets in a fun way and pushed his body forward. With a few jog-steps he had gained in on her. ”You want me to fetch your mare?” He asked and started to walk in front of her, backwards. His steps were firm and confident. This was his kingdom. ”The only thing you need to do is ask. Or command if that suits you better.” With a broad smile on his face he looked at her and came to a halt, almost forcing her to do the same because he stopped right in front of her. Kettil spreaded his arms and took a deep breath, the exact same as she had taken before. ”After all I am just the stable boy and you are the one wielding the weapon.” He started to laugh, softly. And then he became silent. It was so unfair, even though he loved his horses from the deepest of his heart.

This was his natural habitat. The place he felt really home. So it wasn’t strange, that he felt more confident than he’d feel in any other situation. He even dared to speak at her freely, offer him his help in the only thing he was good at. But when he suddenly stopped, he hadn’t expect her to bump into him. Only briefly, but he felt it. Even though Kettil could have expected it in advance, it felt kind of strange when it did happen. So when the girl took a step back and looked at him slightly irritated, he did not know how to respond. His confidence had disappeared like snow for the sun and the only thing he could do was stare at her. Staring with this slightly awkward feeling in the back of his head. This was not what he had meant, and when he felt the judgmental glance of the girl over his body, he became the one who felt intimidated by her. He saw her eyes glide all over his body, and he could see the shimmering in her eyes. If only he knew what she was thinking.

So while he stood there, thinking about what was going on in the girl’s head, he couldn’t help himself from frowning his forehead. But then the girl nodded at him, accepting his offer. ”Yes please, do so.” Kettil knew that he could not reject it anymore. So he turned away his eyes from her and took a deep breath trying to focus. ”Allright.” He said with a little nod as he looked back at her. On his lips he tried to conjure a smile, but it was very clearly that it wasn’t sincere. The only thing he could think about, was what the girl would be thinking of him. Her opinion -and the opinion of everyone- meant so much to him, that he even forgot that he was so much older than her, and that she should respect him just the same as he should respect her. Or that she at least had to be nice to him. The girl moved to the side, making space for him to pass by. As he did, he stared her straight into the eyes, only releasing them when the distance between the both of them became too wide.

He shook his head and clenched his fists as he walked to the pasture. How was a little girl like her able to mess with his head so much? Without even saying a decent sentence? With more force than needed he pressed open the fence, making it cracking in its hinges. ”Inkeri.” He shouted, and he saw the horses on the other side of the field raising their heads. Kettil brought two fingers to his mouth and whistled, a high, sharp tone that would make dogs cry out loud. Within the minute the horses in the pasture came storming towards him, bucking and bolting as they did so. With a soft whoa he calmed them down, gently petting the ones that came to say ‘hello’. ”Here girl.” He whispered, and grabbed the seal brown mare by the manes. Willingly she stepped aside him as he left the pasture, leaving the other horses behind. Kettil grabbed a rope that hung over the pasture fence and knotted a halter from it which he shoved around Inkeri’s head. ”Anything else?” He asked with a lowered voice when he eventually handed over the mare to the redhead.

Kettil watched her body language closely as he handed over Inkeri to the girl. He thought he could see her hand shaking as she took over the rope, but who was he to judge? He had been uncomfortable around horses too.. had he? He started to doubt it, and tried to think about his first memories he had with horses. He remembered sneaking of into the stables, climbing the wooden pillars and getting on the back of one of the draft horses. Gentle beasts, they were, but were able to crunch him without them even knowing. He’d spent there hours, just laying on the back of the gentle giants, practicing the knots his father had learnt him. Just until his mother came in, a face full of panic because she couldn’t find him for hours. He remembered her forbidding him to do things like that again. Just as he remembered himself disobeying her, and doing it all the same over again. Just until she gave up and allowed him to hand with the horses. There was nobody in the world who was able to separate him from his animals. Not even Gerolf.

Kettil thought it polite to ask her if she needed something else. But the undertone in his voice gave away that it was just to nag her a bit. And it seemed to work. ”N-no!” Kettil pressed his lips onto eachother, trying to hide a smile that tried to come through. ”No.” she said again, this time more certain of herself. Or at least she tried to be. Again Kettil nodded and crossed his arms before his chest. ”That’s all. Thank you.” The girl started to move, trying to get the mare to follow her. ”Anytime.” Kettil said enthusiast and looked at the mare skittish following Gyda. ”But please do not try to get yourself hurt.” Kettil shouted softly. ”Or the horse..” And then he just couldn’t hold back the laughter that had been hiding in his throat all that time.

Kettil observed her as she tried to walk away from him, with the horse on the other end of the rope she was holding. Inkeri was a gentle and patient mare, but incredible sensitive. If you wanted her to be calm around you, you had to be calm yourself. And that was not exactly what was happening. The mare started to toddle, and Kettil could clearly hear her snorting from where he was standing. And thet was the exact same moment he stopped smiling. Over time he had learnt when a situation was turning into something potential dangerous. The last thing he wanted was for her to really get hurt. It had only been a joke, to get back at her haughty behavior from before. So at the same time the girl turned around, he had also started walking towards her. ”Can you please teach me?” She asked him. Kettil almost felt sorry for her, as he saw her hands shaking and heard her voice on the point of breaking. ”Ofcourse.” He said with a gentle, sincere smile and a soft undertone in his voice.

He had reached the both of them, and immediately took over the rope from the girl. ”Try to get calm first.” He said softly towards Gyda, and let his hand glide over the neck of Inkeri. ”Just walk upon the fence, take a deep breath and when you are ready, you return to me. Okay?” Kettil watched the redhead as she did so, and at the same time felt the mare loosen up again next to him. When Gyda returned, he nodded in approval. ”Let’s take a fresh start. But before we can do so, you need to get that mask of your face.” He raised the corner of his mouth and tilted his head a little. ”This is Inkeri, one of our eldest mares. She has seen many battles, carried men on her back that are now long lost and forgotten.” His hand went over her nose, and the mare took a step forward towards him. ”One of the most honest horses I have ever worked with. She has been through so much, but has always stayed true to herself and her rider.” Kettil gestured that Gyda had to take a step closer. ”So you have to be honest to her too, you understand? Do not try to be someone you are not, or she will not be able to rely on you when the time is right.” He inhaled deeply and pulled the rope gently in Gyda’s direction, so the mare turned around a little bit. Her head was facing towards Gyda, but it was visible that she was cautious. ”Go ahead. Get to know her.”