The Cursed Prince

Chapter 859: Buying Horses

There were probably a lot more reasons on why Julian didn't readily leave Almere, and perhaps it came down to finances as well. The town of Almere was in no way rich or filled with a lot of noblemen and noblewomen that he could steal from.

"It's only during the festival where more people from neighboring cities and towns arrive," Julian explained as they stopped by the stable. He paused uncertainly and looked at Rowena with a raised brow. "What are we doing here?"

"We're going to buy horses," Rowena said.

"Huh, horses?" Julian blinked. "Why are we buying horses, they can get very expensive."

Rowena cleared her throat and threw her friend a look. "I know, but we don't have much time to spare and the less people we meet, the faster we can head to our destination."

Although it was less obvious if they traveled on foot or with other people, Rowena didn't trust that they'd have ample time and could take it easy. Since Julian said they were going to the sea, they needed to be there before knights were sent to find her.

"Alright, I understand that but…" Julian hesitated. "Are we going to purchase one horse? I don't have much on me and at best, we'll only be able to afford a slow one."

"You don't have to worry, I've got it covered." Rowena grinned. "I didn't just abruptly leave like you. So I had time to prepare."

Julian chuckled a little and rubbed his face. "Okay, good point, but I still feel a bit unused to you taking care of it."

"You're helping me out, so we're practically even." Rowena explained and approached the man in charge of the stables in Almere. "Hello there, we'd like two horses, please."

The young man that worked in the stables looked at the two young people with a frown. Both Rowena and Julian were modestly dressed, even more on the poorer side, so he was not expecting much.

"If you'd like to rent them—"

"Purchase them," Rowena corrected. "We wish to purchase them and not return them."

"What? A horse is expensive…oh." The young man's open hand was closed over by Rowena as she placed some coins. When he looked at his hands, his eyes widened at the fat gold coins now placed on them.

"This will account for any type of horse right?" she asked.

"You… you could even buy a war horse if we had them." the young man blurted out. "But I can include the saddle, horseshoes and even six month's worth of food for the horses, Madam. Depending on the type of horse, we can get you more than two."

"That would be well-appreciated. We just need two though, and the fastest ones." Rowena smiled

a little and walked inside of the stable with Julian right behind her. She turned to him and said, "Pick whatever horse you'd like, we'd be riding them for a couple of days, so we need to choose one we're comfortable with."

"Are you sure I can pick anything?" Julian glanced around a bit uncertainly.

"Mhmm." Rowena nodded.

The one in charge of the stable helped the two look around and find their suitable horse.

"An ordinary horse used as a beast of burden usually costs about fifteen days of normal labor," the young man explained and stopped in front of a couple horses. "If you want to carry a lot of heavy items, or have it pull a cart then these are the perfect horse."

Rowena looked quietly at the creatures. A part of her was a little saddened that they were trapped here… and she even saw that some of the horses had scars, looked a bit old or otherwise unhappy.

"These are often called pack horses or sumpters," Rowena softly said.

"Y-you are correct." The young man was surprised that a young woman, a lady, seemed more than familiar with how horses were identified. "These are the least expensive of horses and are certainly not the ones you'll receive, while the most expensive ones are war horses."

"Yes, I'm aware of that." Rowena remembered the ones that knights often rode. Beautiful stallions were expensive, but were unavailable in Almere. Even if there was one, they wouldn't even take it because it attracted too much attention. Rowena nodded. "They're expensive because they're well-trained."

"What type of horse are you looking for?"

"Riding horses or hunting ones, I suppose?" Rowena answered thoughtfully as her gaze swept across the stable. She smiled and approached a beautiful horse with chestnut color. "That's either hackney or rouncey horses."

The horse looked at Rowena curiously and when she lifted a hand, it neighed a little and rested its snout on her palm. The creature relaxed in her hand which left the man in charge surprised at how easily she tamed it.

"You're friendly, aren't you?" Rowena smiled then glanced over her shoulder. "Julian did you find—"

"Ack! This one is crazy!" Julian quickly stepped back and avoided the horse as it kicked its forelegs angrily and bared its teeth at him. "What did I even do to it?"

"Stay away from that one! That's not friendly!" the man in charge shook his head. "He was passed down to us in hopes of being sold, but he's too aggressive and doesn't let anyone touch it. Too bad, since it's one of our best, but my boss said it's getting too expensive to keep alive."

Rowena's eyes w

idened. "What? You're not going to… do anything to hurt it right?"

"It's hurt far more people than we've hurt it. Only the strongest of riders can try to ride it, but even then, it attempts to knock its rider out of its back," the young man explained. "Plus it's incredibly picky with food too and spits out low-quality oats. Sooner or later, we'd have to let it go."

"Geez, that's a rather picky one." Julian laughed and turned away. "Let's go find another one like yours, Rowena."

"No," she said.

"Huh?"

"We're taking this one," Rowena insisted as she met the dark horse's gaze. "It's a good one."

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