Storm Warning - Mercedes Lackey [92]
The stablemaster arrived while Karal was examining Trenor’s feet and hocks. He was clearly pleased by the way Karal carefully examined his gelding, rather than being offended at the implication that the stable staff had been neglecting the horse.
“You know horses,” the man said—a statement, rather than a question—as Karal finished his examination and stood up to be introduced. Karal nodded anyway, and the man turned and spoke to Talia in a dialect of some kind, too heavily accented and rapid for Karal to follow.
Then he turned away and went back to the work they’d taken him away from; shoeing a pretty little mare. It rather surprised Karal that the stablemaster himself would tend to a task like that, instead of assigning it to underlings. On the other hand—the mare had the delicate lines of a very highly-bred palfrey, and the nervous air of a horse that had been brought up to be high-strung. Better that the stablemaster handle a beast like that; that was what Karal’s father would have said.
“Tahk says that you obviously are a good horseman, and that he’ll arrange for Trenor to be readied for you for a daily ride if that’s what you want. He also offered another option; if you prefer, he’ll simply leave orders with the stableboys that when you show up, they’re to fetch your tack.” Talia scratched Trenor’s neck, just along the crest, and laughed when the gelding leaned into her scratching. “I told him I thought you’d probably prefer to make less fuss than the highborns, and would take care of your own saddling, and he simply repeated that you were a good horseman.”
“I would, and thank you,” Karal replied sincerely. “I’d rather not have Trenor saddled up at any specific time, since I don’t always know exactly when Ulrich will need me.”
“Thought so.” She moved her scratching to under Trenor’s halter, and the gelding sighed with bliss. “You know, you could combine your lessons with Alberich with a daily ride; he has to make sure his Companion gets some exercise, and neither of them are anything but stiff first thing in the morning, which is when they have been going out.” She tilted her head to one side, as if sensing his apprehension at trying to approach the formidable Alberich with any kind of a request. “Want me to suggest it? I can tell him it was my idea.”
“Oh, would you?” He was appallingly grateful. “By the Light, I seem to be getting deeper and deeper in debt to you.”
Once again she waved away any suggestion that he might “owe” her anything. “Don’t mention it. I really just want you to be happier than you are. That would make a big difference to me, and if you’re happier, your work will go smoother.”
“And if the work goes smoother, my master will be likelier to be in a good mood, and if he’s in a good mood, he’ll make concessions, hmm?” He chuckled, and she joined in. “That I can understand! Everyone here is a diplomat.”
Though why my being happier would make a big difference to her in particular I can’t fathom....
“We’d better be going,” he said, reluctant to leave Trenor, but feeling better than he had in days. “His blanket’s damp, so they’ve obviously had him out for a good workout today, and from tomorrow on I can take over his exercise.”
“I—I had one more thought,” Talia said, hesitantly. “You were saying that you wished you could make some friends here, right?”
He hadn’t said anything of the sort, but he’d certainly thought it, so he nodded.
She licked her lips. “There’s another person here I would really like you to meet. He’s in a similar position to yours, but without even the authority of being a secretary to an envoy. I know that he is very lonely, and even though you don’t have anything at all in common in the