Reversed

Having walked through acres of trees with little rest, Abel was beginning to look for a safe place to bed down for the evening. The sun had long since gone beneath the horizon, leaving him with the stars as his only source of light, because the moon was just a narrow slit for the night. He continued walking for several more minutes before coming to an opening in the forest that lead to a large vineyard. The dwindling light above shone off of several bushels of grapes, making Abel's stomach grumble hungrily.


"It looks as if you have found supper," Abel told the horse as it trotted out of the forest and began nibbling at a cluster of grapes. He gave a light chuckle at the animal's excitement over the simple fruit as he stepped closer and took the bushel it was nibbling at off of the vine.


"We have to ask before we take something."


The horse snorted and swung its head, seemingly frustrated that Abel had taken her dinner away so quickly. "Come on, girl. Here," he said as he pulled a grape off of the bunch in his left hand and offered it to the animal. It stepped forward, taking the fruit and then following Abel in the hopes of getting more to eat.


Good thing she is so focused on what I have and not the large amount of grapes around her.


Grinning, Abel continued to lead the animal forward until they were standing by a barn. It wasn't nearly as large as Kirin's, but it did have two stalls, both with a horse already inside.


"Excuse me, sir? Is the baroness expecting you?"


Starting from the sudden voice, Abel turned to his right and felt his body relax slightly when he saw that it was just a young stable boy. He looked to be around twelve or thirteen, with messy blond hair and cautious brown eyes.


"I do not believe so," Abel replied as he dropped the empty vine, having given the horse the last morsel. "Um, does your baroness happen to know Sir Squire?"


The boy's eyes lit up and he nodded, a smile crossing his tired face. "Yes, sir! He often brings my lady beef for the winter months, and in return, she offers him several bottles of wine. Her vineyard is the most favored in the land, so when the grapes are harvested and the first batch of wine is being bottled, he also shows up in order to exchange some of his prized apples for a few extra bottles."


Abel nodded, returning the boy's smile with one of his own.


"Very good. Well, I had need to borrow one of his horses and I am afraid that I cannot bring her back to him very soon. Would it be too much trouble to ask that you house her until he stops by? I have a feeling he will likely be through very soon, but I have business elsewhere and cannot wait."


The boy pursed his lips in thought, then stepped into the barn and grabbed a rope. After he secured it around the horse's neck and tied it to one of the stall door's steel bars, he motioned for Abel to follow him up toward the house he'd noticed about an acre away. He had not planned to speak with anyone, let alone the stable boy, but to go to his master's home? Abel followed, even though his instincts told him to run. The vineyard was only a short way from the lawman's land on horseback. He could have already been there and reported him a runaway.


The thought didn't help settle his hungry stomach, but he pushed any worry to the back of his mind as the boy led him up onto a sturdy porch and opened the door. "Madam? We have a traveler I thought you would like to speak to."


Abel stayed on the doorstep, hesitant to come inside. The boy disappeared around a corner, and after Abel heard the sound of a plate being set down, along with what appeared to be silverware, a little old lady hobbled around the corner. A cane was gripped solidly in her left hand, thumping against the worn wooden floor as she followed her stable boy.


"Oh, what have we here? Come in, lad. No need to stand out there," the woman said.


Glancing over his shoulder, Abel noticed nothing amiss in the vineyard or surrounding area. When he looked back at the woman, he hesitantly took a step inside. The woman smiled and nodded, wrinkles crinkling her forehead, making her appear older.


"Go on, Jameson, I saw this lad through the window bringing in a horse. Go be sure it is tended and fed."


Her stable boy nodded quickly and excused himself, shutting the door behind him as he left.


"Well, do not just stand there staring, lad, come," the woman said, gesturing with her free hand as she hobbled back around the corner. Not knowing what else to do, Abel followed, finding himself standing in the woman's kitchen. He watched her bustle about, only realizing that she was making him a plate of the meal she had cooked when she shakily nudged the plate of food against his chest. Not wanting her to drop it, he quickly reached up and took the plate, then hurried to the table he had noticed in the corner of the kitchen and set it down before returning to help her with another plate she was struggling with.


"Thank you, young man."


Abel nodded and pulled the woman's chair out so that she could sit, then helped scoot it in before taking the seat across from her.


After a brief moment staring down at the delicious smelling plate of peas, grapes, and biscuits, Abel glanced back up at the woman across from him. "Ma'am? Is this food not for your stable boy? I do not want to take his meal from him."


The woman chuckled quietly and shook her head, pointing her silver fork at him. "He eats before he goes to work or before bed. Do not worry, there is plenty remaining if he returns from his tasks hungry. You, however, have a surprisingly loud stomach attached to that thin body of yours."


Abel blushed, having not realized that his stomach was growling since he had stepped inside the home. "Oh. Ma'am, I apologize, but I took a cluster of grapes from your vineyard in order to get the horse to follow me to your barn. I am willing to work in order to pay their expense."


He didn't want to stay so close to the lawman's property, but stealing was something he couldn't condone. Even if it was just to feed a horse.


"Do not bother with that, young man. Am I to assume that the horse you have brought belongs to Sir Squire? She looks fairly similar to Asira, his favorite mare."


Abel felt his gut clench. The woman had very good eyesight for her age, especially with only the stars and narrow moon for light. "Yes, Ma'am."


"How did you come to be here, lad? I have never seen Sir Squire let anyone ride his favored horse, let alone without proper bridle and saddle."


Abel hunched, suddenly not sure if his stomach would handle the food set before him, no matter how hungry he was. He thought about lying, of course, but he also knew that he would not do so. Especially not to such a nice old lady.


"I took his horse to get away from him," he mumbled quietly.


Abel expected the woman to panic right then, knowing that he was likely a fleeing criminal, but when she just nodded in understanding and took another bite of the biscuit she had been working on, Abel stared at her, confused. He waited silently as she finished the bread, then sat back in her seat to eye him.


"What would be your name, young man?"


Swallowing nervously, Abel straightened in his chair and licked his lips. "Abel, Ma'am."


"Abel. That is a very nice name," she said as she slipped a grape into her mouth.


"Thank you, Ma'am. Sir Squire gave it to me."


The woman's eyes widened and she hastily chewed her grape, then swallowed. "Did he now? Did you not have a name beforehand, Abel?"


Considering that she did not have a gun pointed at him yet, even though she had to have known that he was a criminal to some degree, Abel felt awkwardly at ease with her. So much so, that he found himself saying things he had fought so hard to keep to himself around Kirin.


"He did, and I do not believe the name I had before was truly mine, Ma'am."


The woman nudged her mostly full plate aside and leaned forward, elbows on the tables, fingers steeped as she rested her chin atop them. Curiosity shone in her aged eyes, making Abel squirm slightly.


"Do tell me, Abel. I do love a good story. Especially one that is true."


Abel remained silent for a long moment before letting out a stressed sigh and doing as she asked. He had already told the lawman the truth, so what harm could befall him for telling an old woman who tended a vineyard? He spoke for at least an hour, going into details about his childhood and how his father had trained him to be a female and at the same time, kept the fact that he was a male, hidden. The woman seemed completely engrossed by his words, both of their plates of food forgotten as he continued his story. It felt incredibly good to get everything out to another person, even if they might not believe him in the end. He was just moving into the part where he had to take the lawman's horse when a loud, firm knock sounded at her door.


The woman's previous smile immediately jerked down into a frown as she got up and hastily shooed Abel out of his seat and toward an old staircase leading up to a second floor. "Go, quickly now!" she said in a hushed whisper. Abel couldn't shake the feeling that he knew who was at the door, and it wasn't the baroness's stable boy. He stumbled up the stairs as the woman turned toward the door, another firm knock sounding against the wood.


"I am coming, ya buzzard!"


Unable to stop himself, Abel snickered at her name for Kirin. Once upstairs, he darted into the first open room that he saw and knew he needed to find somewhere to hide. Unfortunately, there was nowhere. The entire room was completely spotless, the bed made and clothing hung in the closet immaculately.


No!


He could hear Kirin's voice coming from downstairs as Abel dug through the closet for some sort of disguise and listened intently.


"Madam Lelynn, your stable boy has already informed me that my stolen horse is here, yet you plan to tell me that no one of concern is present on your property? It is hard to believe that Asira just wandered so far away on her own, especially when I watched my prisoner steal her from right under my nose."


A quiet laugh sounded from below as Abel found something he could use in the closet. It was the last thing he wanted to don, but it was the only thing that fit him, along with the other items that matched it in the closet that had obviously belonged to a young female at one point. Grudgingly, he tugged on the beautiful light green dress and then added the blond wig he found on the nightstand just outside of the closet. Checking the drawers, he found a small pair of gloves and slipped them on, then went to the vanity. The wig was surprisingly well cared for and didn't require much attention to primp into place, luckily. He was just lowering his hands from doing just that when he heard a quiet gasp at the doorway.


Do not panic. Deep breaths. Keep your voice dainty, eyes down, and shoulders back.


Abel kept screaming at himself in his mind as he slowly turned, finding Kirin's worn boots with his gaze and locking onto them as he gave a small bow with his head. "Good evening, sir," he said in a quiet, delicate voice. He expected to hear some type of reply from Kirin, but when the man just remained motionless in the door, Abel fidgeted.


"I told you to wait for me, lawman. You know I dislike you stomping around my home looking for your miscreants," Madam Lelynn said with a huff before coming to a stop in the doorway next to Kirin.


"Ah, dear. I was unaware that you were up. Sir Squire, I would like you to meet my granddaughter, Anastasia."


There was a long moment of silence before Kirin replied, his voice sounding oddly breathless. "I did not know you had a granddaughter, Madam Lelynn."


The old woman laughed off his comment and jabbed him in the side with one bony elbow. "Of course not, ya buzzard. I would not tell you and risk ya tryin' to court her before her coming-out event."


Kirin's boots moved on the floor, lifting and dropping as if he were uneasy and shifting his weight from foot to foot. "I-I would do no such thing, Madam."


Another quiet chuckle sounded from Madam Lelynn as she smacked a hand against Kirin's back, then gave him a light shove forward. "Oh go introduce yourself, you bird. You are blushing like a wee lad seeing his first true lady at a ball."


The slight shove had sent him a step into the room, and with the crazy woman at his back, Kirin seemed to decide that an introduction was safer than getting jabbed at again.


After taking a few quiet breaths in and out, he stepped closer, stopping right in front of Abel with one hand extended on a slight bow. "I apologize for suddenly appearing at your bedroom door, Ma'am. My name is Lawman Kirin Squire and I-I am pleased to make your acquaintance."


Abel couldn't help but smile as he lifted one gloved hand and set it in Kirin's larger one. "It is nice to meet you, Sir Squire."


He expected that to be all and Kirin would hopefully leave. Unfortunately, the lawman leaned down and brought Abel's hand up slightly, allowing him to press his lips to the back of his gloved hand, inciting a quiet gasp from Abel's lips. The sound seemed to catch Kirin's attention because the man's head snapped up, his eyes nearly catching Abel's before he could tuck his chin against his chest.


"I see that smile," Kirin whispered, obviously trying to keep his words from being heard by Abel's so-called grandmother.


Abel thought Madam Lelynn would chastise Kirin for the comment, but when she remained silent, he found himself speaking instead. "I cannot seem to keep it at bay, sir."


It was true. Somehow, seeing Kirin so gentle and kind once more made Abel struggle to control his smile.


"Please forgive me for this, though I know your grandmother will not."


Abel looked up slightly, confused about the man's words until he felt his lips pressing fleetingly against his own. He realized almost immediately that it was not Kirin who ended the kiss, but Madam Lelynn as she latched onto the man's ear with her fingers and pulled him out of the room, then toward the stairs.


"Of all the... I cannot believe you, you dimwitted bird. To steal a peck from my granddaughter right before my eyes?"


Kirin stumbled both in his stride and also with his words as he tried to sputter out excuses that Madam Lelynn would have none of. She gave him a stern talking to on the way down the stairs about treating young ladies with respect and that he would search her home no more that night. Hearing that she was kicking him out for the evening was a relief, but for some reason, Abel couldn't get his heart to calm down and stop pounding against his ribs.

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