It was early afternoon when the cowgirl got the message from the Circle D. She was surprised to see it was from her Foreman, Elijah Thorpe. The man was completely reliable and rock steady when it came to running the ranch for her and Des knew hiring him was one of the best decisions she had ever made.
Guilt flashed through her for not having spent more time at the ranch herself lately with everything that she had going on in town. She had left the running of things squarely on Elijah?s capable shoulders. She really needed to give him a raise she thought to herself and made a quick note to do that very thing, that nasty treasurer be damned. She was certain Gav would agree with her on this.
Quickly she ran down the list of their social engagements for that evening just the Overlord Challenge and then drinks at the Inn where hopefully they would run into a few friends as usual. She had seen this Von Locke there before testing out weapons in a booth one night she remembered and wasn?t really sure if she wanted to sell any of her ?babies? to him or not.
For babies where exactly what her prized horses were to her. The cowgirl was extremely careful who she sold to and luckily finances allowed her to pick and choose where her horses went and did not go.
One of her greatest joys was when she had time for training them herself. She had a breeding program in place that yielded beauty, grace, and stamina, all blended into noble lines that were hard to resist for most buyers regardless of the high price that they came by.
She decided that she would introduce her beloved to the man and get a second opinion on his character before making a final decision on whether or not to sell to him. So the Inn was definitely on their social agenda for tonight. Setting the letter on the desk she went to shower and get ready for the Overlord Challenge knowing that very soon now Gav would return from his council sessions and they would need to be leaving for the Arena.
They were late arriving at the challenge as she wasn?t finished in the shower when her love returned home and sometimes other things just must take priority to social engagements!
But they did make it by the middle of the first duel in the best out of three and found a table, got themselves drinks and nachos and settled in to watch the sword play. The challenge didn?t last long as Damien held his title again the challenger E(silent) in two consecutive matches rather handily.
The Annex was crowded with spectators, most cheering for the Baron it seemed or maybe they were just cheering the loudest or the most. Des found it very interesting as she couldn?t remember the last time she had seen the Overlord duel. He had a unique style or maybe it was just the way he was dueling this particular night, she wasn?t really sure.
They left the Annex after the challenge and went to a small caf? for a late dinner and drinks where they lingered talking over the match they had just watched as well as few of the more colorful spectators.
Amidst good natured laughter they paid their bill and hand in hand walked over to the Inn and went inside to see if perhaps this person wishing to buy one of the Circle D?s horses was there and if any of their friends had also decided to stop by for a late night drink before retiring to their beds.
For once the common room was very quiet, only a four or five patrons where there, so the couple made their way to the bar and found a bottle of wine for that night cap they had come for and didn?t interrupt any of the ongoing conversations. Their preference was instead to continue just spending their time to themselves for the moment.
That was until the cowgirl heard the gentleman speaking with Icer introduce himself on his way out the door then she was all ears, pointed his retreating back out to Gav, and began questioning the Ice Dragon about her impression of him because this was the man that wanted to buy one of her babies.
They had missed him as before she could call out to him to wait darkness had enfolded him in her embrace and he was gone for the night. Instead she left him a note, letting him know that she was willing to meet with him regarding his desire to buy one of the Circle D?s horses, at the bar for him to pick up when next he checked for messages.
After spending a while longer in the common room, and a dance that would always remain in her heart as a memory to be cherished for the rest of her life, the two of them took the remainder of the bottle of wine and raced each other back home through the cobblestone streets.
