"Ambria, Your Majesty. You might have seen her before, she won the Grand Prix two years ago." he answered rising to his full height again, his posture and bearing perfect from the years of practice and military discipline helped only a little by his 'good breeding'. It really was no wonder he felt so sympathetic to his horses, there were occasions where his life seemed frighteningly similar to theirs. And something told him trying to maintain a decent reputation at court was going to be as as difficult as Ambria's show jumping, it looked easy for her but he was going to need that treat and rub-down at the end of the day if he was going to keep it up.
The Trakehner beside him flicked her ears in his direction, knowing she was being spoken of, and after a few more laps of water she picked her head up and turned it towards him. He smiled at the horse, running a gloved hand over her forehead, "Good girl. She is usually quite spirited, requires a good run to calm her, but I believe she is on her best behavior today."
He had remained silent until spoken to and now that he had been allowed to speak he kept the focus on the horse, it gave him the opportunity to observe the Queen up close. He knew plenty about her, there had always been a Viorel presence at court even if it was not him, but all of that information was second hand. He believed in doing reconnaissance himself when he could and he was quite happy to gather information on her in person. He certainly wouldn't complain about looking at her, she was beautiful and had a regal bearing in this more casual moment that so many of the nobility worked hard to emulate and often failed to do so. He wondered for a moment if that was in-born or if she too had been hounded and tormented into the perfect form as he had been as a child.