By the time they made it back to the stables, both Will and lady piggy were soaking wet. The rain had carried an unexpected chill with it that made Will feel cold all the way to his bones.

It looked like piggy fared no better, he could see her teeth chattering as she held the wet cloak tightly around her. Will saw that master Rowan and piggy’s cronies were waiting for them as they trudged up to the entrance of the table. Rowan rushed forward to meet them, he helped messenia out of the horse and threw Will a coarse blanket that was dry and warm.

Attention was lavished on Messenia by her maids Agnes and Alice.

“Are you alright my lady?” Agnes asked in a concerned voice. That was a stupid question in Will’s opinion as anyone could see piggy was a long way from being alright. He’d always assumed that the thick layer of blubber on her would keep her relatively warm. However,this didn’t seem to be the case as piggy seemed worse off than he was. Her teeth was chattering so loudly that she couldn’t even answer Agnes’ stupid question about her well being.

“We’ll take you back to the manor now my lady, I’ll have a hot bath prepared soon” Alice said as she lead piggy out of the stable. It looked like piggy wanted to say something nasty to Will, but her current predicament rendered her speech incoherent as only mumbling sounds came out of her mouth. Instead Messenia settled for shooting a filthy look at Will before heading back to the manor with her Maids.

As soon as they left, Rowan put his hands on Will’s shoulders and turned him to face him. Rowan had a look of concern on his face and Will suddenly realized that he was shivering from the cold. Rowan stood a few inches taller than Will. He had sandy hair and was lean and muscular. Will never had a father, but this man was the closest that he had to one.

“Come on Will, let’s get you warmed up” Rowan led Will to a fire that was burning under a large basin in the corner of the stable. Rowan knew that horses would need warm water in this weather and had already started heating it.

Will hated the fact that Rowan had to do that work all by himself. Will should’ve been here to help.

“I’m sorry Rowan” he mumbled as he sat down close to the fire.

Rowan raised his eyebrows at his apology and asked “And why exactly are you sorry Will? Last I checked, getting wet was not a crime”.

“No, I shouldn’t have left the stable with no one else here. I should’ve been here to help you with the work”.

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“Ah.. that’s what’s eating you. Don’t worry Will, as you can plainly see, Lord Damien and the rest of the hunting party are not here yet. So, no harm done. Besides, I didn’t think for a moment you would leave the stable unattended if it was up to you. I had a good idea of what happened as soon as I saw Dumb and Dumber perched on the haystack as I walked in here.” Rowan said with a smile.

Dumb and Dumber was the nickname they’d given to Alice and Agnes. Although the issue of who was dumber was still a matter of hot debate. Will had always maintained that Agnes was the dumber one while Rowan swore that Alice was the dumbest girl that was ever born in Lamia.

“If anyone is to blame, it’s me Will. I should’ve guessed Messenia might try something like this. I shouldn’t have left you alone” Rowan let out a sigh.

“If it’s not my fault, it’s definitely not yours Rowan. Just another one of lady piggy’s bright ideas” added Will, brightening up a little.

“You shouldn’t go around calling Messenia that name Will. One of these days it might slip out and if the wrong person hears it you could be in big trouble”. Rowan looked worried.

“Come on, What are they going to do? Cripple me?” Will asked gesturing towards his left leg with a mischievous grin. Rowan, however, didn’t look very amused with his comment.

“There are a lot worse things they could do to you Will. You have to be careful. Mary’s always worried about you getting into trouble. You know Lady Mildred’s looking for any excuse she can find.”

Will knew Rowan was right. As bad as lady piggy was, her mother was even worse. She was the one who made his mother Anya marry Walter and snuffed out happiness from their lives. Mildred was also the force behind piggy, egging her on to torment him every single day.

“How is Mary?” Will asked.

“She’s feeling a lot better today. She can move around the house without much trouble now” said Rowan with a smile. Mary had twisted her ankle a few days back and she couldn’t move around as much as she wanted. And boy, did Mary move around. She was always in a flurry of activity ever since Will was old enough to remember her. He and Rowan both agreed that the twisted ankle was a blessing in disguise as this finally made Mary pause and take a breath. Of course, neither of them were actually stuoid enough to say it to Mary’s face. Mary was the one who wouldn’t just let Will sit around and brood when his mother passed away. She was the one who pulled him back from the abyss and brought him back to life.

Will took off the blanket and his shirt and kept it close to the fire so that it could dry. He scooted a little closer to the fire, rubbing his hands together for warmth. Rowan asked him about his stroll with lady piggy and the next few minutes were spent as Will recounted the events of the day.

As he finished, Rowan said with a smile “At least this time, you weren’t the only one who walked away hurt. It’s time that Messenia learned that thoughtless actions have consequences”.

“ I wouldn’t hold out too much hope for piggy’s learning abilities. But watching her having to choke down her insults because her teeth wouldn’t stop chattering will always remain as one of my fondest memories” Will said, followed by an impression of Messenia trying to speak over her chattering teeth and quivering lips. They both laughed at the memory. Will could feel the happy feeling he had in the morning as he lay in the haystack come back to him. Rowan and Mary were the only people in the village who could always be counted on to pull him out no matter how deep he fell. Rowan was right, life could be a lot worse than having to put up with a lame feet and an annoying lordling.