Hiland."
"Well, if I don't see you, have a safe trip, and may Feliogustus watch over you in your travels," he said blessing me.
"Um, you know he watches me all the time?"
Henry smiled, "See? My blessing worked!" He hurried off to his tent then, I guess to start putting his things together for the trip.
I shook my head and sighed with a grin as he ran off, "Fel, you have more characters in your clergy than a comic book."
# # # #
Three days later I gated into the main temple, with Tom following me on a lead. He gave a small woof of surprise, but the priests in the back altar room where we appeared were not very happy with a half ton of wolat suddenly appearing. When I noticed the foot prints Tom was leaving on the rug I shrugged and told them I was sorry and quickly led him outside. I probably should have used that cleaning cantrip on him before I gated in. Or at least tried to, I had no idea if I could, but as he was my mount, I suspected there must be something I could use for that purpose.
Once outside, I headed up to the castle and went in search of Rachel. When I finally found her, she was riding one of the female wolats, and doing rather well at it too. I was impressed; she obviously had been practicing at it for some time and was shooting a bow at a set of targets while riding around the practice ground, hitting all of them, most of them close to center.
"Hi, love," She said when she saw me and rode up next to me. Leaning over she kissed me while I sat on the back of my mount.
"I see you've become rather good at riding," I nodded to the targets, "and shooting."
"Well, I've always been good with a bow; I used to go hunting quite often before I became queen. I must admit that riding Jeri here lets me travel around the city and inspect the various public works I've got going on around here a lot quicker. I can get out to Diament's dam and back within a day and still deal with other tasks."
I looked at her a little concerned; the dam project was almost twenty miles outside of town. "You've been riding out to the dam?"
Rachel nodded, "Of course, I have to check up on these things myself occasionally. It's a crown project after all." She smiled at me sweetly and patted my wrist, "Don't worry, I do bring along a few guards when I go."
I tried not to growl, "And how many is 'a few'?"
Rachel laughed, "About two hundred, though last time General Holse sent all eight hundred cavalry with me. He thinks it's a good exercise for them, sudden unscheduled deployments he calls it."
I stopped any complaints, mollified. "We're up to eight hundred now?" I asked surprised.
Rachel nodded, "Last fall General Holse had asked the traders to bring as many as they could this year and offered to pay a premium if they did. So they showed up a few weeks ago with quite the herd, I think it was close to three hundred. From what I heard, the traders from the plainsmen spent the winter talking to all the tribes, and they put together a large group.
"They did warn him, however, that there would not be another delivery until next summer."
"So how many Wolats do we have now?"
"About nine hundred." Rachel said and started riding her mount back towards the stables at a slow walk; I had Tom walk next to them.
"That many?" I said surprised.
"Well, about a hundred of them are still too young to ride; the stable master has set up a breeding program with fifty of the females, and a number of the more promising males. According to the tribesmen you hired, it's best not to start riding them until their third year, though you can start training them in their second."
We rode into the stables, and a couple of grooms took the leads and led our mounts off to their stalls. I noticed when Tom tried to nip the one I'd handed the reins to, that he tapped him on the nose sharply and told him “No!” which brought Tom up short.
"Well, if I don't see you, have a safe trip, and may Feliogustus watch over you in your travels," he said blessing me.
"Um, you know he watches me all the time?"
Henry smiled, "See? My blessing worked!" He hurried off to his tent then, I guess to start putting his things together for the trip.
I shook my head and sighed with a grin as he ran off, "Fel, you have more characters in your clergy than a comic book."
# # # #
Three days later I gated into the main temple, with Tom following me on a lead. He gave a small woof of surprise, but the priests in the back altar room where we appeared were not very happy with a half ton of wolat suddenly appearing. When I noticed the foot prints Tom was leaving on the rug I shrugged and told them I was sorry and quickly led him outside. I probably should have used that cleaning cantrip on him before I gated in. Or at least tried to, I had no idea if I could, but as he was my mount, I suspected there must be something I could use for that purpose.
Once outside, I headed up to the castle and went in search of Rachel. When I finally found her, she was riding one of the female wolats, and doing rather well at it too. I was impressed; she obviously had been practicing at it for some time and was shooting a bow at a set of targets while riding around the practice ground, hitting all of them, most of them close to center.
"Hi, love," She said when she saw me and rode up next to me. Leaning over she kissed me while I sat on the back of my mount.
"I see you've become rather good at riding," I nodded to the targets, "and shooting."
"Well, I've always been good with a bow; I used to go hunting quite often before I became queen. I must admit that riding Jeri here lets me travel around the city and inspect the various public works I've got going on around here a lot quicker. I can get out to Diament's dam and back within a day and still deal with other tasks."
I looked at her a little concerned; the dam project was almost twenty miles outside of town. "You've been riding out to the dam?"
Rachel nodded, "Of course, I have to check up on these things myself occasionally. It's a crown project after all." She smiled at me sweetly and patted my wrist, "Don't worry, I do bring along a few guards when I go."
I tried not to growl, "And how many is 'a few'?"
Rachel laughed, "About two hundred, though last time General Holse sent all eight hundred cavalry with me. He thinks it's a good exercise for them, sudden unscheduled deployments he calls it."
I stopped any complaints, mollified. "We're up to eight hundred now?" I asked surprised.
Rachel nodded, "Last fall General Holse had asked the traders to bring as many as they could this year and offered to pay a premium if they did. So they showed up a few weeks ago with quite the herd, I think it was close to three hundred. From what I heard, the traders from the plainsmen spent the winter talking to all the tribes, and they put together a large group.
"They did warn him, however, that there would not be another delivery until next summer."
"So how many Wolats do we have now?"
"About nine hundred." Rachel said and started riding her mount back towards the stables at a slow walk; I had Tom walk next to them.
"That many?" I said surprised.
"Well, about a hundred of them are still too young to ride; the stable master has set up a breeding program with fifty of the females, and a number of the more promising males. According to the tribesmen you hired, it's best not to start riding them until their third year, though you can start training them in their second."
We rode into the stables, and a couple of grooms took the leads and led our mounts off to their stalls. I noticed when Tom tried to nip the one I'd handed the reins to, that he tapped him on the nose sharply and told him “No!” which brought Tom up short.
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