Palace grounds - Livestock paddocks

The ride from the province of Geole was a long one. It took most of two days for the governess to arrive at the eastern kingdom's summer palace, and only that because she had pushed herself and her men to ride through the night. Most of them had managed to catch a few hours of sleep in their saddles while others kept rein of their horses. Andy; however, had forced herself to stay awake for the duration of the trip. Needless to say; everyone was covered in grime and grumpy from lack of sleep. But here they finally were. They had just ridden up to the palace stables when King Connall reined his horse around towards what appeared to be a little girl mounted on a rather large draft horse. The entourage halted their mounts, and there was a chorus of "hail King Connall" that erupted from the men. Andy rolled her eyes at them. She hadn't wanted to bring them with her in the first place, but her brother and sister had demanded it of her. There had been promises of dragging her off her horse and tying her up if she didn't agree.

She hadn't believed them capable of it, but she had agreed to bring the men to stop the whining. Now she wished she hadn't. "Connall," she said in greeting to the man. As his vicereine, she was entitled to calling him by his first name. Not to mention the fact that he'd insisted on it. She then signaled for her men to dismount and did the same thing herself. "I hope you will forgive us not joining you in your ride, but we rode through the night," she said while some of her men and the stable boys saw to the horses. Normally she would have seen to her own mount, but her legs felt like rubber about then. And, besides, it wasn't like she couldn't trust her men to see that the mare was taken care of. Also, she desperately wanted a bath. "Alsandair; have my things brought to my usual guest chambers, please," she called to one of her men who swept her a bow. "It's good to see you again, Connall, but I'm going to go get cleaned up," she called to him before turning to head to the castle.

Walking after that long of a ride was not a fun thing to do. Until her muscles loosened up a bit she felt like she was going to fall over. She managed to make it to the palace; without falling over, and caught the attention of a servant. She told the woman to have a bath brought to her bedchambers. Her exhaustion seemed to set in then, and she found herself dragging her feet. Her shoulders slumped when she realized that she had to walk up stairs to get to her rooms. Ugh. Who had thought that stairs were a good idea? Whoever it was, she seriously wanted to punch that person right about now. Walking on one floor was bad enough with her exhaustion. Walking up stairs and on two separate floors? That was like torture. And speaking of torture. That's probably what stairs were invented for in the first place. Damn their clever disguises.

He'd seen her jump, but decided not to comment on it. Nor did he laugh. He figured the girl probably wasn't used to people being around her, given that it sounded like she'd been on the move for most of her life. Instead he'd flashed her a warm smile. Not like the charming smile he would flash most women. But like a smile that he would flash someone he thought of as a sister or some shit like that. "It's good to see you again, Ina. How are you fairing here at court," he'd ask with a tilt of his head. However, he didn't get the chance to hear her response when his ears were assaulted by the thunder of many hooves. He turned in his seat to spot Andraste and several men riding up towards the stables. He cringed inwardly at their chorus of hails, but lifted his chin a bit in acknowledgement.

When Andy called out to him he flashed the same smile that he'd flashed to Ina, except perhaps a bit wider. He liked Andy as a sister, but he also knew her a good deal better than he did Ina. "Andy," he called in return greeting to the woman. When she asked his forgiveness for them not riding with him he'd shake his head. "No worries," he said and chuckled when she ordered one of her men to see her things taken to her usual guest chambers. "It's good to see you again as well, Andy. I'll see you when you're ready for company," he joked as he watched her walk away. She raised a hand in acknowledgement before she disappeared and he could sympathize with the way the poor woman was walking. After a ride like that he'd probably be walking the same way. Perhaps a bit worse considering she lacked what he had. (LOL) He turned his attention back to Ina when she asked who Andy was. "Ah. That's Andraste Rowan. The Vicereine of the kingdom. She governs the province of Geole for me," he said with a shake of his head. "Actually her parents recently died, and she took over as her father's heir. She's their eldest daughter. They have a son, but the boy was born blind. I think Andy will do well as the governess, though. Her father sent her to an old friend of ours from the war to train as his squire before he died. She doesn't know it yet, but Aloysius set up a meeting with me to have her knighted sooner rather than later. He seems to think that she's ready," he said with a shrug.

He laughed at her comment about an army of women. "Bah. If I've got an army of women we might be luckier than I thought," he said with a grin. He kicked Ahern up into a slow trot as he continued warming up his horse now that it seemed there might not be more distractions. "I'm well aware of how fierce women can be in battle," he said with a chuckle. "That is not an army that I would want to face," he said as he shook his head. "Besides; with the exception of a few, most men would balk at the idea of killing a woman. I might actually get to keep more soldiers that way," he admitted on another laugh. "Hmm. You've got a good point there. They did put me here themselves," he'd chuckle. He nodded in agreement to her comment about the women doing what they were for their brothers. He probably would have done the same thing if he'd been in either position. He might not have any siblings himself, but Lorcan was close enough to a brother. Or at least he had been at one point. Sometimes Conn felt like his old friend hated him for the position that he'd put Lorcan in. 

A sigh drifted from his lips, but he continued to work his horse, kicking Ahern up into a faster trot. When Ina commented about her archery skills he'd laugh. "Well, if you're as good as you say you are..Maybe you could teach the others a thing or two," he joked right back. "Ah. Yes. Court is boring, and for that I'm sorry," he said with a light laugh. "But there's really not much I can do about it. I've tried to spice things up around here. Unfortunately it seems people who are interested in my version of spicing things up are few and far between. But. I'm glad that you like Lady Ciar," he said with a smile.

He shook his head slightly at her comment about Moira. He didn't know what to think about the Lady Queen. She was a beautiful woman and definitely intriguing, but she was married and he knew he shouldn't even think about her. So rather than allowing himself to react to what Ina had said about the woman he lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "Moira is welcome to visit as she likes, especially considering that she found and returned you here," was about the only comment that he made on the matter. He would never turn her away, but he knew better than to even go there. What would be the sense? He shook his head, stopping those thoughts in their tracks. He wasn't even going to think about that. Instead he focused on Ahern and the way he could feel the impatience in his horse. Ahern wanted to run as bad as he did and his lips twitched in a smile at that. 

"Hmm. I might take you up on that at some point, but for right now I think Ahern would like more of his head," he said with a chuckle, though he made no move to give it to the horse. He was still warming up the horse's muscles. When she made the comment about him being shirtless he turned to stare at her without blinking for a moment or two. Then a deep roar of laughter broke the silence, and he realized it was coming from him. "You," he said, though he was still laughing and couldn't finish what he'd been about to say. After a moment or so he stopped laughing and just shook his head. "That. Is so not what I meant," he said as he shook his head again. 

He nodded to her correction. Honestly, he didn't remember anyone saying how Ina and Moira had met, but hey. "Well. Still," he said with a shrug and shake of his head. When she spoke again and then teased him he'd laugh. "I was talking of things like riding bulls, hosting more jousting tournaments, and just generally dangerous things," he said with another shake of his head. He felt Ahern pulling on the reins, literally trying to force Conn into giving him his head. He pulled back on the reins and the horse snorted, but released the pressure on his end. Conn did too. "Alright, Lady Ina. Let's see this big draft of yours move before Ahern tries to rip one of my shoulders out of socket," he said with a laugh as he spurred the big black horse into a lope. He took it at a steady pace for a moment or two to continue warming the horse up. However, when Ahern next asked for his head he loosened his grip on the reins and clucked to the stallion. That was all the encouragement the horse needed and Conn felt the momentary bunching of the horse's muscles before he sprang into action and thundered off.

Conn leaned forward in the saddle a bit, just shy of the two-point position that modern day jockies use. Ahern's hooves thundered against the ground as they galloped. He knew the horse had another gear, but it seemed that Ahern was more intent on distance than speed today. That made him chuckle. Mostly because Ahern typically was the type to just go all out, but then it had been a while since he'd actually let the poor horse run. When Ina and her horse slowed Ahern continued for quite some distance before he turned of his own accord and came thundering back towards the duo. Conn didn't even have to touch the reins this time as the horse slowed first to a lope, then to a trot, followed by a walk, and finally came to a stop beside Ina and her horse. Ahern gave a low nicker to the other horse, and if horses could smile, he probably would have had a grin on his muzzle. Conn reached down to pat the horse's neck affectionately and smiled at Ina. He'd noted a bit of the difference her hair being down had made, but it was more in the way of a brother realizing his little sister might not be so little anymore. "Sorry. I didn't mean to cut off the conversation, but Ahern tends to be a bit head strong when it comes to something that he wants to do," he said with a chuckle. Honestly; that was probably why he loved the horse so much. "Not to say that he doesn't listen well, but," he shrugged. "He's his own creature, and I let him have that much."