The elf nodded to the other man, bade his farewell, and hurried the others out the door. It was the front door this time, and he walked hastily through the streets, looking back only now and then to ensure that the others were following him. Near one of the city walls– Cerys presumed that it was the northern wall– Nashtra showed them through a fence into what appeared to be a stable. Hearing their footsteps, a stable boy ran up to them from around the corner. When he saw the elf, he nodded, and them promptly left.

Yest again people seem to know him– and trust him, Cerys thought to herself.

There was a large stall at the end of one of the rows of the stable. Five horses stood inside, seeming both content to be together and patient enough to wait. If ever there were horses to be called magical, these ones were. Most of them were a soft, pale shade of grey, but there was enough of a blue hue them that it was clear that they were a different breed. One of them turned its head, and Cerys noticed the way its eyes shone in the day light, a sort of pearlescent silver. The fifth one was somewhat bluer than the others.

Their spots looked only somewhat like the dappled horses that she had seen back on Earth. They were slightly different from the typical shapes, though. Some longer, others more cloud-like in shape, and mostly outlined in a different shades of grey. The fifth horse’s spots had a more obvious hint of blue, but also a glint of silver. It reminded her of the electric blue colored pencil that she had bought at the arts and crafts store a few weeks ago; she had used it so much since then that it was already a stub. She stared at the horses, too awed by their colors to say anything.

Nashtra opened the bag of grains that he had gotten at the general goods store and fed some of it to the horses as he spoke to them. After they had eaten, he spoke softly and rubbed their heads one by one, trying to keep them calm and reassure them before he entered the stall to pick up the saddles that laid beside one of the walls. With his gentle ways, they soon accepted the saddles. Except for the one with the brighter shades of blue than the others; that one did not receive a saddle.

“They aren’t used to saddles, are they?” Himeko asked asked as she watched him.

“You are right,” Nashtra replied. “Still, they will not harm you. They are not so resistant that they would try to get the saddles– or you– off their backs. They trust me, and if I am with you, they shall trust you as well. At the same time, I trust you to be kind to the horses.”

“Of course we will,” Himeko told him.