Ethan groomed the king's large white stallion, Thunder, carefully with a brush he had been given. With every stroke, he swept the brush across the stallion with a gentleness rarely found in anyone. He loved his job, and never complained it, even though he had to clean up after the horses. He finished with a last sweeping stroke on the horse's flank and petted his neck softly. Thunder nuzzled Ethan's hand, and he fed him an apple he had snuck from the kitchen. Thunder chewed it, turning his head away from Ethan. Ethan shrugged and left Thunder's stall, moving on to the next horse.
        "Hey."
         Ethan looked away from the Palomino he was grooming and saw a girl watching him. She looked about his age, with long dark chocolate hair, and bright green eyes. She wore a blue dress that went down to her ankles. Ethan smiled at her and said, "Yes?"
The girl walked over to the stall and stroked the Palomino's neck. "The Emperor sent me to choose a horse so I can travel with him to the Diamond Province. We're leaving in two days."
Ethan looked at her, with a strange look on his face, whispered, "Are you sure he wants you to come with him? I mean, you are his only Al-"
"He DOES!" The girl yelled furiously, stamping her foot. "He wouldn't have asked me if he didn't want me to go. Now-" she regained her composure and said, without looking at Ethan, "I need a horse."
"We have plenty of those." Ethan said coming out of the stall. "Choose any one you like Serena." Everyone knew the Emperor's Alpulari's name.
Serena strode passed what seemed like every stall before stopping again, facing the Palomino. "I'd like is one," she said, after looking over the horse. "What's his name?
"Her name," Ethan said, entering the stall of an imported Arabian, "Is Victory."
"Victory," Serena mumbled as she passed a hand over the horses' snout. "She's perfect."
"Good," Ethan put down the brush and went to saddle Victory, "Now you can try her out and leave me be."
Serena smirked. She led Victory outside by the reigns, and disappeared from view. Ethan watched her retreating back, waiting for her to disappear. As soon as Victory's swishing tail disappeared, he hurried towards a pile of hay. Pulling out a scroll of parchment, an inkwell, and a quill, he hurriedly ran to a small table with horseshoes stacked on it. He brushed a couple aside and began to write.

Reginald,
The Alpulari is coming to the Diamond Province in two days.
Be ready.

Yours,
Ethan

          Ethan rolled up the parchment and hid the inkwell and quill. He ran outside and hurried through the he palace courtyard. He ran through the large stone archway in the wall surrounding the castle grounds, and into the running passed houses and houses, he came to a large tavern, The Huntsman's Inn, and went inside.
Drunk men chugged gallons of beer, laughed raucously, and pestered the pretty barmaids. Ethan pushed his way through the the crowd and towards a booth in the corner, where a man was sitting alone. He puffed on a pipe and watched through a curtain of shadows as Ethan sat down. Ethan handed the man the scroll, who looked at it curiously.
"What's this?" He muttered, looking the scroll up and down.
"A message," Ethan replied. "I need you to take it to Reginald right away."
"And why would I do that?" The man looked at Ethan curiously, casually pulling out a dagger at the same time.
       "Because," Ethan said, looking the man straight in the eye, "Kidnapping Power is not easy."
       The man's face paled as the code words hit his ears. He nodded slightly and tucked the scroll in his pocket. "I'd better get going. Don't want Reg to miss out on an opportunity of a lifetime." He stood up and disappeared into the crowd.
       Ethan stood up and followed him. He'd better get back to the stabled before anyone noticed he was gone. He strode out of the tavern, knowing things were about to change.