ok, this is gonna be confusing. it goes somewhere in the middle, just after Renault gets captured...i changed it up and added in alexa...if you need explanation, lemme know!
The horses reared and pawed in their stalls. They knew something was wrong. The man in the stable looked familiar, but they could sense a difference. No, it was not Renault. I snuck in just behind the stranger, ducking behind a wall with saddles on it. I continued to watch the horses’ reactions to this man. One horse in particular, Sinbad, acted as though he were wild. Fire kindled in his ebony eyes, and his jet-black coat shone with sweat. If the man entered Sinbad’s stall, the man would die a very painful death. And yet that was just the horse the man was instructed to take out of the stable. The stranger did have some sense, however, and did not enter the stall. Instead, he took in his surroundings and exited the stable. He planned on walking around the back of the castle to find its weaknesses.
Kate, the stable girl, was awakened from her uneasy sleep in the loft overlooking the stable. By the time she had thrown on black pants and a black shirt and descended her ladder, most of the horses had quieted down. Sinbad, though, was still in an uproar. Kate quickly entered his stall without fear; Renault had taught Sinbad that it was alright for Kate to be near him. Kate calmed the enormous black stallion with her voice first, then with her hand gently stroking his nose, just as Renault had shown her many times. Kate was unaware of what had upset the horses, but she knew it must have been very strange. Sinbad would not have reacted like that if it was someone he knew. Yes, he would have been nervous and acted defensively if anyone but Renault or herself had approached his stall, but nothing like this.
I witnessed all of this from behind a pile of straw. As the stable girl turned around to go back up to her loft, I stepped out and introduced myself.
“Hello, my name is Alexa Martin. I am a prophetess from another universe. I’m not quite sure how I arrived here, but I do know that your scout friend is in trouble and I’d like to help.”
“Uh, my name is Kate. Why should I believe you?”
“Because I saw some men hit the scout on the head and carry him away, just before a man in black clothing and heavy boots came in here. I followed him in, and watched as he looked over all of the horses. He was looking for one in particular; that big black one, I think.”
“That’s Sinbad, Renault’s horse.”
“Well, what’s your plan? Obviously, there’s someone in this castle that shouldn’t be, and someone else is missing.”
“Come on.” Kate led me up into her loft, where she gave me an apple for breakfast. As we sat there eating, she told me about Renault and how they had met and become engaged to be married. It was a beautiful story. In that same story, though, Kate told me of a horrible man named Pierre. She grew silent when she heard footsteps from the stairs to the rest of the castle.
“Well, speak of the devil,” Kate whispered, pulling me to the floor.