pasture.”
“Feiny’s here.”
“He’s the king’s gift!”
“He’s mine, and you can borrow him. Now, now listen. There’ll only be the one boy in the stables until after breakfast. You dress in your livery, so’s you look important. I’ll ride down to the gate, you walk with me, and then we go out the gate and get your Tammis out of pasture, and there you’ll be, on the road…”
“… lookin’ rich as a lord and ripe for robbers. And where’s a bridle nor even a halter for me horse?”
“Well, but you can wear your plain cloak, then, after you’re away, and change later. And I’ll get a bridle for Tammis when I get Feiny.
You can take Feiny’s saddle for Tammis, and there you are!”
“Feiny’s bigger n’ Tammis. And look at it comin’ down, out there, even yet! Ye’re apt to fall off wi’ no saddle, ye’ll come back half-froze, if ye don’t get lost out there, and wouldn’t your father hear about that?”
“Well, well, then take Feiny once we reach the gate.”
“Oh, now I’m ridin’ ’Is Majesty’s own gift.”
“He’s mine to lend.”
“Oh, aye… an’ how am I to feed that tall great horse once I get home wi’ ’im, for that matter? We never did know that bit, when your father give us them horses—wherever’s food for them? Gran don’t have it.”
“Well.” It was a question worth thinking about. “You’ll just have to go to the duke and ask.”
“Just go to ’Is Lordship an’ bid ’im feed my horse, please.”
“Exactly that.”
“Oh, gods.”
“Lord Crissand will understand. He knows you come from me. He knows I went to the king.”
“If the king ain’t sent to ’im by then, askin’ a horse thief be hanged on sight!”
“Lord Crissand won’t be angry. Neither will the king. I swear he won’t. Don’t hesitate to go to the duke. Ask him what you have to ask for, for you and Gran, and say I told you to do it. I’ll tell my father what I’ve done long before any message can get there.”
“And if somehow you need a horse to get away?”
“Tammis is a perfectly fine horse for me, and he’s still in pasture, isn’t he?”
“ ’E’s a piebald, and lords don’t ride piebalds.”
“Well, I’m not really a lord, then, am I? And if you’re not back, and Aewyn and I go hunting after Festival, I can perfectly well go down to the pasture and get him, and bring him up to stable for the trip, and feed him apples the while so he’ll be fat as a pig.”
“Oh, aye, them damn apples!”
“We can’t get them. That plan is done, Paisi. You just have to go.”
“Well, I thought of something to think on. Your horse is a stable horse, and he don’t have his winter coat. He ain’t fit for the cold.”
“He has the barding, doesn’t he? I’ll have it on him. Just keep the blanket on him most times at Gran’s, and at night while you’re on the road.”
Paisi looked at him long and hard. “I don’t like it, m’lord. I don’t like it. I swear the king is going to be huntin’ a stolen horse, an’ me on ’im.”
“Well, they aren’t even going to feed him up here on the holy day, with all their fine care, are they? With you he’ll have something to eat on Fast Day, and we’ll take care of Gran, which is what we have to do, no matter what. You do it, Paisi, you do it for me. Let me deal with matters here.”
“All the same—”
“Do you trust me?”
“Aye, aye, I trust ye. I trust ’Is Majesty, and probably I trust Lord Crissand.”
“You know how to do these things.”
“Steal, d’ ye mean, little Otter? Aye, I can do that. An’ me sense is tellin’ me go plain and go quiet, an’ not wi’ any lord’s horse, if I had a choice.”
“But he’s the only sure horse we can get to in this weather.”
“Aye,” Paisi said reluctantly and with a deep heave of his shoulders. “Aye, that’s so.”
v
OTTER REACHED THE STABLES AND SLIPPED IN BY THE
LITTLE SIDE DOOR. Inside, there was only the one boy, dozing
“Feiny’s here.”
“He’s the king’s gift!”
“He’s mine, and you can borrow him. Now, now listen. There’ll only be the one boy in the stables until after breakfast. You dress in your livery, so’s you look important. I’ll ride down to the gate, you walk with me, and then we go out the gate and get your Tammis out of pasture, and there you’ll be, on the road…”
“… lookin’ rich as a lord and ripe for robbers. And where’s a bridle nor even a halter for me horse?”
“Well, but you can wear your plain cloak, then, after you’re away, and change later. And I’ll get a bridle for Tammis when I get Feiny.
You can take Feiny’s saddle for Tammis, and there you are!”
“Feiny’s bigger n’ Tammis. And look at it comin’ down, out there, even yet! Ye’re apt to fall off wi’ no saddle, ye’ll come back half-froze, if ye don’t get lost out there, and wouldn’t your father hear about that?”
“Well, well, then take Feiny once we reach the gate.”
“Oh, now I’m ridin’ ’Is Majesty’s own gift.”
“He’s mine to lend.”
“Oh, aye… an’ how am I to feed that tall great horse once I get home wi’ ’im, for that matter? We never did know that bit, when your father give us them horses—wherever’s food for them? Gran don’t have it.”
“Well.” It was a question worth thinking about. “You’ll just have to go to the duke and ask.”
“Just go to ’Is Lordship an’ bid ’im feed my horse, please.”
“Exactly that.”
“Oh, gods.”
“Lord Crissand will understand. He knows you come from me. He knows I went to the king.”
“If the king ain’t sent to ’im by then, askin’ a horse thief be hanged on sight!”
“Lord Crissand won’t be angry. Neither will the king. I swear he won’t. Don’t hesitate to go to the duke. Ask him what you have to ask for, for you and Gran, and say I told you to do it. I’ll tell my father what I’ve done long before any message can get there.”
“And if somehow you need a horse to get away?”
“Tammis is a perfectly fine horse for me, and he’s still in pasture, isn’t he?”
“ ’E’s a piebald, and lords don’t ride piebalds.”
“Well, I’m not really a lord, then, am I? And if you’re not back, and Aewyn and I go hunting after Festival, I can perfectly well go down to the pasture and get him, and bring him up to stable for the trip, and feed him apples the while so he’ll be fat as a pig.”
“Oh, aye, them damn apples!”
“We can’t get them. That plan is done, Paisi. You just have to go.”
“Well, I thought of something to think on. Your horse is a stable horse, and he don’t have his winter coat. He ain’t fit for the cold.”
“He has the barding, doesn’t he? I’ll have it on him. Just keep the blanket on him most times at Gran’s, and at night while you’re on the road.”
Paisi looked at him long and hard. “I don’t like it, m’lord. I don’t like it. I swear the king is going to be huntin’ a stolen horse, an’ me on ’im.”
“Well, they aren’t even going to feed him up here on the holy day, with all their fine care, are they? With you he’ll have something to eat on Fast Day, and we’ll take care of Gran, which is what we have to do, no matter what. You do it, Paisi, you do it for me. Let me deal with matters here.”
“All the same—”
“Do you trust me?”
“Aye, aye, I trust ye. I trust ’Is Majesty, and probably I trust Lord Crissand.”
“You know how to do these things.”
“Steal, d’ ye mean, little Otter? Aye, I can do that. An’ me sense is tellin’ me go plain and go quiet, an’ not wi’ any lord’s horse, if I had a choice.”
“But he’s the only sure horse we can get to in this weather.”
“Aye,” Paisi said reluctantly and with a deep heave of his shoulders. “Aye, that’s so.”
v
OTTER REACHED THE STABLES AND SLIPPED IN BY THE
LITTLE SIDE DOOR. Inside, there was only the one boy, dozing
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