Equine Esteem

Dalen Woodland, Morning of 2 DSTR –

Despite his desire for a pure black horse Lafayette stetted for the horse Kalena pointed out. It was black with charcoal splotches. He approved the horse patting it's head then he placed a hand on either side of its head. As if to gently hold the horses head. "Who are you?" he questioned it, as if expecting a resonance. After they had a short staring contest he pulled away. "I agree that is a good name." he said aloud "This one is Whinnyfred." he made it apparent it as a pun.

"Very witty, Lafayette, very droll," Kalena commented, shaking her head, amused despite herself and naturally endeared to people who fancied horses. The name Lafayette came up with was a play on words, but sounded somehow familiar. Not that she could recall having ever met a Winifred... The horse, she noted with a quick expert glance, was a quality gelding in good physical health and condition, and which would no doubt fetch an excellent price at market.

The four remaining horses Kalena spoke to in soothing tones as she hitched them together to more easily lead them down the trail and out of the forest. At her mention of her full-time personal cook, Lafayette said, "No, no what ever you chef prepares will be fine."

“He really is very talented you know, and uses the best ingredients he can lay his hands on,” she said to both men. “The last time he made potatoes for me he seasoned them with thyme and something else. They were mouth-wateringly delicious, if a bit greasy.”

"How far will the ride be to town?" Lafayette asked. "I had a map, though it didn't seem to be much help. I might have been using a older map nothing seemed to be where it said it was."

“I hope you didn't pay too much for it. We are actually less than a day's travel from Dalen's capital,” Kalena answered as she led the first of the horses up onto the road by its bridle. After the knock on the head that had rendered her with mild amnesia, she still did not know quite where they were exactly, but the fact she had not been equipped for lengthy travel had made her believe they were not far outside the capital, which is just what Kline had indicated to her. She would have a clearer grasp of their precise bearings when she saw a familiar landmark of some kind, at which point she could easily direct them to the Cartagan estate that lay somewhere along the way to the city in the surrounding countryside.

Kalena looked up and down the desolate road, not sure which way was the camp. She was about to look again to the crow for guidance, but then had an idea. She put her fingers to her lips and let out a piercing whistle. Somewhere down the road Enyo's ears perked up in recognition where the mare had been picketed near the Baron's camp. Biting through its tether with its teeth with the greatest of ease, the mighty war horse tore off down the road toward its mistress.

Kalena grinned as the steed suddenly galloped into sight around a bend. The beautifully-formed Achaean thoroughbred could easily have carried divine blood from the reaches of Mount Olympus. It was midnight black and magnificent, nearly seventeen hands high, powerfully-legged, with elegantly sloping shoulders and muscular quarters. Its neck was long and sleekly tapered, its eyes keen and intelligent, almost arrogant.

Kalena greeted the mare with no small amount of affection. “Hey girl,” she said, stroking its mane as she turned to Kline and Lafayette proudly. “This is Enyo. She's the finest horse I've ever rode, and not to brag too much, but the finest that I've ever seen in the Two Kingdoms. And I breed and train champion steeds, so I do know my horseflesh.”

Enyo seemed to hold its head higher at this, and the great black beast eyed the others steeds as though with a sense of superiority, even though Kline's chosen mount was noticeably taller.