The Stables

[King Thedriol]

A short way from the Castle is an outcrop of small stone buildings: The Castle Stables. This is the place to leave your horse, all be it whether you are a permanent resident of the city, or if you are only staying for a quick visit before travelling on to one of the other kingdoms. Although the stables are quite cold, the feel of the place is warm, and the horses seem perfectly content. Whether your horse is a top racing thoroughbred or an old lame pony, all of the horses are of equal ranking in the Stable Master’s eyes. Each of them gets exactly the same amount of attention, and even the Cavalry Commander’s horse has been known to share a stable with the odd donkey before...

The Castle's Stable Master is: None/Position Available

[Rose]

"Hello?" Rose's voice echoed down the rows of stables. She looked in on all the horses as she walked past each stable. Some contained fine thorough breeds with glossy coats, whilst one contained a slightly moth eaten mule with protruding yellow teeth. One thing that all the horses had in common in here, was that they were all content and happy.
"Can I help you, miss?" asked the stable master as he appeared from one of the stables, which from the smell, Rose could tell he had been mucking out.

"I wondered if you have a spare stable for my horse?" she asked politely, trying hard not to stare at the flecks of manure the stable master had all splattered up his face. She appreciated how hard he must work to care for so many horses.
"There's a free stable in the next row, third t'the right" he said, pointing with his broom, "It hasn't got any hay, but I'll do that when I'm finished in here..."
"Don't worry" said Rose "I'll do that, I can see that your very busy."
"Oh," said the stable master, slightly taken aback "Well, the hay's at the end of the row, and the food's hanging in sacks near the door. Before you leave you'll need to write your details in that there stable plan." he touched his cap, smiled toothily and went back to work in the stable.

Rose followed his directions to stable number 29. It was an average size and nice and clean. She dragged a bale of hay over with and awful lot of puffing and panting as she wasn't particularly strong [the hay was too heavy to lift by thought magic alone]. She suddenly remembered her friends that were still waiting at the pub and hurriedly spread the hay unevenly about the floor.

She watched Whisper munching happily on some oats and stroked his velvety nose, before bolting the stable securely and hurrying back to the door, where she quickly scribbled in the stable plan:

Rose under the owner section of the plan and Whisper, male under the horse section. She hurried away from the stables, picking strands of hay from her hair and throwing them over her shoulder, as she walked back into town toward the Golden Gorse.

[Kuna]

Kuna walked through the door quietly. The stable looked empty enough. She walked over to where her house Moonsilver had been tethered up. Moonsilver was a wonderful plae white horse, her only marking was a black line just abover her hoof, she had a wonderful temperament. As Kuna started leading Moonsilver out she saw a girl walking out she called out after her
"Hello do you like the stables?" Kuna blushed slightly. What a stupid thing to say. But none the less what was said had been said so there was no turning back now.

[Rose]

"Oh!" replied Rose, realising how rude she had been just walking past the girl who had spoken.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!" she paused and lent back on the door frame.
"The stables are lovely, all the horses are happy there and..." she stopped, noticing Kuna's horse, it was almost a reflex to ask it for its name.
"Moonsilver really is beautiful!" she exclaimed, then realised Kuna was probably wondering how she knew her horses name.
"Sorry, its thought-magic but...it's just...oh, it's a long story" she finished lamely.
"I'm sorry to appear so rude, but I really need to get back to the city, i don't suppose you could point me in the direction of the Golden Gorse, I've completely forgotten which way I came!"

[Kuna]

"Oh once you get out the stables go past the front gate of the castle and then go pretty much straight down, you should come to it after about five minutes. By the way your horse is also very beautiful, its'coast is in excellent condition. Just so you know, there's no need to worry about thought magic I can do it to" She smiled at the girl, whether or not the girl decided to stay or leave it was nice to be able to talk to someone, who could roam freely and see so many different things.

[Rose]

Rose thanked Kuna for the directions, knowing that she'd still probably manage to get lost.

"So you can do thought magic too!" exclaimed Rose, excited to meet someone with the same magic as her. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear,
"Wow, I don't think I've ever met anyone with thought magic, can you read people's minds? I can only read animals..." Rose was speaking so fast, it was a wonder Kuna could understand her. She always spoke at twice the normal speed when she was nervous or excited.
"Ooh, could you tell me waht I'm thinking of?" she asked Kuna playfully, concentrating on the image of a large turnip.

[Kuna]

"Err are you thinking of a turnip? Or some sort of vegetable. I'm sorry my powers aren't that great and I never dreamed of being able to use them to talk animals. I'd love to be able to move things but I use them mostly for my own purposes.....sometimes I play mind games with people..." She realised how she might have come over a bit to strong with her last few words "Though I only do it if I think they're going to be any threat to me," which was true "So whats it like being able to understand animals? It must be so interesting!" She couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to someone she had only just met, it came to her at that point that she didn't even know the girls name. she concentrated and started to get a name appearing. Roselia, Rosanna, Rosie? No it was none of those. Then out of the blue it came to her. "By the way is your name Rose?"

[Rose]

"Yes, it is, well my real name is Fiorella but Rose is my middle name and the name that I use. My parents seem to be fond of calling thier daughters ridiculously long names; my sisters are called Delphina and Amaryllis!" Rose watched Moonsilver for a few seconds,

"I sometimes wish I could read humans thoughts, Although it's quite interesting to read animals. I suppose most thought mages could do it though, I just come from a non-magical family and so I've always found animals easier to talk to!" Rose laughed and then it struck her that she didn't know the girl's name she was talking to. She was very well dressed with a friendly open face and it suddenly occured to the Rose that she was probably nobiltiy,
"I'm sorry, I haven't asked for your name! I was wondering...if you don't mind me asking, are you nobility? It's just, I wouldn't want to offend you by not using your correct title or anything..."
Rose reached over to stroke Moonsilvers mane. She really was a magnificent horse.
"Perhaps you would like to come riding with me tomorrow?" Rose asked hopefully "You seem to know Calamere much better than I do!"

[Rose]

* * *

It was early morning and the sky had only just lightened to a pale yellow, with a few whisps of clouds. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. Rose was an early riser and was up and about at the same time as the traders. She had already passed through the market this morning and watched with great amazement as the stalls were erected so quickly. Within quarter of an hour from the traders arriving in the morning, they were open for business.

Rose pushed open the stable door, wondering if she was the first person to visit today. She wasn't. Various other owners were already grooming and saddling their horses. Rose walked down to her row, the stable master was mucking out the stable beside Whispers.
"Morning!" she called, peering her head around the door.
"You're up early..." he replied, leaning on his broom handle to turn round to talk to her. Rose had become quite good friends with the stable master over the past few days; the horses seemed to almost reflect his mood, if he was happy- so were they.
Rose grinned, "I know, I've got quite a bit to do today, I need to ride home and pack the rest of my things...so I thought I'd better start early."

Whisper whinied and kicked the stable door. He was feeling left out.
"Yer better see to 'im" the stable master said and Rose turned to unbolt the door. Whisper was almost as pleased to see her as she was to see him.
"We're going home today for a bit" she said, pushing images of the red-wood stables into his mind and the smell of home. He nickered impatiently.
"Hang on, hang on" said Rose, finding it hard to saddle him when he woundn't stand still for more than two seconds.

A few minutes later they were ready to go. Rose took the reins and lead him out of the stable.
"See you later!" she called to the stable master, who was spreading hay on the stable floor with an old rake. He leant out of the stable and called over to her,
"Say 'lo to my Tim for me won't you?" Rose promised she would.
She had known the stable masters son since she was a little girl, as they had both grown up in Elidwen together. Once out of the stables, she mounted Whisper and rode off, the opposite direction to which she had come, towards the city gates.