A stable boy was sleeping in the corner of the barn, and so the girl took a moment to examine the facilities, the faelan following at her heels like an obedient puppy. The long rows of stalls were small, but they seemed to be clean, and there was just enough space for the faelan to stretch her wings and pace back and forth. She examined a couple of the other animals stabled there. A bay mare whickered softly as the girl approached her stall and nuzzled her ear. The girl appraised her carefully. She did not look diseased. In fact, she was well groomed and there was food in her trough.
The girl turned to the faelan, "Come with me, girl." The faelan was a relatively intellegant beast and she obeyed readily enough.
The stable boy woke with a start as the faelan's silver hooves stopped about an inch away from his ankle. He lifted his eyes to the girl in her travelling cloak. "Sorry miss," he murmured, climbing to his feet with a uncertain glance at the faelan. "Do you want to stable here for the night?"
She nodded. He held his hands out for the faelan's reins, only to look confused when he noticed there weren't any. "She obeys only me," the girl told him bluntly. "Don't touch her yet or she may bite your hand off."
The boy jerked his arm back. The girl turned to the beast and murmured something in a fluid language. The faelan visibly relaxed. "Now, will you show us to a stall?"
The boy nodded, then said, "I can take the... horse for you."
She shook her head, "Faelan. And no, she probably won't follow you. I always see to her myself anyway."
The boy shrugged and led them to an empty stall.
The girl opened the door and stood back as the faelan passed through. She kicked some of the wood clippings at her master, who giggled.
"Do you have a curry comb?"
The boy nodded,and handed her one from a shelf on the wall. Then he left while she desaddled the faelan and brushed her out.
He returned a few minutes later with a pile of alfelfa, which he put into the trough. The faelan looked from the food to the girl in distate.
"She's a carnivore..." the girl explained.
His eyes widened, "We don't have any meat, miss. We have never had any... any..."
"Faelans?" the girl supplied.
"Yes, we've never had any here before."
She sighed, then looked at the beast with a grin. "Then I suppose she'll just have to have you for supper."
The faelan pulled her lips back to give the boy the horse equivalent of a pointy toothed grin. His eyes bulged and he backed up.
"Just kidding!" she said, giggling at the look on his face, "She'll just have to eat the hay today."
The faelan looked at her with an expression of pure equine entreaty, then stalked over to to trough and begun to eat. It had been a long, exhausting journey, and they were both famished. She wanted to go find an inn and sleep, but she also had people she needed to see and really should go to a tavern for a bite to eat.
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