Little Buddah, I don't think you repeated anything. You made some similar observations, but you added your own insight. I loved your post.
I too got the "still waters" impression from this card. I seem to be looking at a different story than the general consensus, though.... let me explain what I see.
This prince is dissheveled. He and his horse look emotionally exhausted. He is pondering, like his little sister, but he seems more reverent and solemn where she is appreciative and taking everything in. I set them side by side and couldn't help noticing the similarity of the scenery. The tree, its position, its prominence in the card... but she seemed to be a part of it while he is just keeping company with it.
The sleeve of his right arm is torn. His left is pristine. I believe his left hand would be his shield hand, no? The cloak on his right side is also torn at the bottom edge. He is physically unharmed, but he looks like he has survived quite an ordeal to me. He holds his cup in the left hand... why? Is it because he is holding up an offering with his non-combat hand, or has he perhaps injured the other? Or, perhaps he is keeping his more adept hand to tend his horse's reins. (Maybe he's a lefty... I somehow doubt it, though.) It is earlier in the year than it was in his sister's card. You can only just see the leaves begin to turn amber at the edges. Summer is ending, but we haven't yet reached the mid-autumn. It feels like Lughnasadh. The sun is beginning to lose strength and the dark half of the year is upon us now.
Lughnasadh is a harvest festival, so it seems strange to see this young man off on his own, but grain and sustenance is not all we reap. I feel like this heartstrong young man has come from battle. He doesn't seem like the kind who much cared for war, him being (like the rest of his family) driven more by his gentle heart than his passion for renoun. He is come from the fray and must now reflect on what he has reaped. It is hard to make sense of war and death. Especially as one is leaving the impetuousness of youth behind in favor of adulthood and maturity. He needs some time alone, away from the festivities of the holiday, to reflect on his turmoil. As he is physically unscathed, perhaps he donned his battle clothes (excepting his shoes) in rememberance and to help him reflect. He faces into the wind, offering the cup to honor the light that is passing and nurture the hope of its return next season.
His horse has been through everything he has been through. A friend of mine who keeps horses once told me "the horse is like a people amplifier. Whatever its rider feels, it soaks in and magnifies. If you're insecure or frightened, the horse feels that and behaves accordingly." His horse experienced war. The last time he bore his rider in this way (in these clothes), it was an exhausting and turbulant ordeal. His master is solemn. It is beginning to get cold, and they are not prepared for another battle. The Prince's emotion about the day and the past has clouded his judgement, and he's dwelling on his sorrow. He tries to leave the war behind, but he cannot forget. The blood is washed away, but the pain is never forgotten. He must find a way to reconcile it, but he is so wrapped up in his emotions that he must muster his strength in order to move forward. He is focusing too narrowly on his current ordeal and does not see the bigger picture. The sun wanes, but it will wax once again.
Perhaps he should consult his sister and try to regain some of that old tranquility as he transforms into adulthood. He is the most stationary of our "moving" Princes, and that suggests to me that he is at risk for being too still, missing the forest for the trees.
Or maybe it's because I'm having a rough day that I see the turmoil in this card more clearly. I just get the sense that he has forgotten his hope as well as his steed.
--Laurelin
Edit: Okay, having regrouped and restarted my brain, I'm now seeing some different things in this card. Yes, yesterday was a bad day... I saw what I needed to see in the Prince. The message is the same only it's not so harsh today. He is deeply emotional. He keenly feels the hurt and turmoil of those around him. I still believe that it is Lughnasadh, and that he is making his own offering to the harvest. He has not yet turned inward to examine like his little sister, but he is feeling the approaching winter and extending hopes for the best. He is rather more dignified and stately than I first noticed, but his clothes are haphazard. He spends more time on the intent and emotional side of things than the practical.
He would prefer to rely on negotiations and communicative solutions than war. I now believe that his clothes might be torn through years of inattention. The garb of war isn't polished. He doesn't intend to make a statement of imposition and strength in battle. He is a hopeless romantic. He wears no shoes because he has no intention of dismounting his beloved horse to take part in hand to hand combat. "Things" are not important to this prince, people are. He's all heart. When people hurt, so does he. I see him also as someone succeptible to winter depression. His empathic nature means he'll soak up the emotions of anyone around who is struggling or uncomfortable. As winter is a trying time of bitter weather, it seems to me that he would be deeply affected by that. I see summer as his heyday, and in this card, summer is coming to a close. Perhaps that is why he's tired. He has spent a lot of energy enjoying the summer and accomplishing some of his favorite tasks, and now he has to prepare himself for the more indoor life of autumn and winter and hope that the harvest yielded enough to keep the people comfortable.
--Laurelin (Take Two)