Border wars book nine of.., p.19
Border Wars: Book Nine of Crystals of Memory, page 19
At the back of that, as promised, were six stalls with equine faces barely able to look over the locked doors, glancing and neighing at Morg, then seeming a little baffled at Anders before all of them saw Juniper. Then they went silent.
Speaking to her, with their minds. Anders listened at first, picking up the conversation, which held no real words, simply ideas. Juniper being warm and welcoming. Telling the ponies there that they had a chance at freedom, and a new herd, if they wanted to join them. That her two-leg friend, Straw Head, would heal and protect them. That there were small human people, ones who could speak properly even, who could use their aid, if they wished to change their lot in life.
It started a conversation that lasted for some minutes. In the main, the new ponies were a bit untrusting, but were swayed by Juniper, since she wasn’t lying to them at all. Finally, one of them, at the far end, sighed.
Anders nodded.
“They agree to join us. Very well. What price are you asking for them, Tier Sona?”
The man winced, thinking that Prince Andros might be touched in the head and of weak mind. Still, he wasn’t going to not ask for coin, even if he’d honestly told the man that he literally couldn’t give them away.
Anders waved his hand then.
“Sorry, I know you aren’t selling them. You said that. Still, we can allow them to join us to good end. They seem to have been well fed and not beaten, which is better than many would have managed. I can offer a gold coin for their care, for each of them?” If worse came to it, he could find gold in the ground and mine it, inside an hour, even making his own coins. He had twenty, but that would take six of them, off the top, if the other animals were too expensive.
The man shook his head.
“That’s too much. Three gold, for all of them? At that... I’m robbing you. I don’t want word to get around that I fleeced Prince Andros. That would make me too unpopular and no one would trust me again. Two gold and I’ll tell father that you insisted on that?” The man actually swallowed, as if that was still too much to ask.
Then, the man was selling troubled horses, not slaves who had simply resisted their captivity.
The man rubbed his dark face, which was a bit long at the chin, and closed his eyes.
“I don’t know how we deliver them to you...”
Anders nearly shrugged, then tilted his head.
“Oh... Simply open the stall doors. We need to find some other horses, to pull wagons and a single carriage. Also we’ll need saddles and riding horses for larger people. You can help choose those for us?”
He meant the new ponies for that task, but Morg nodded.
“Of course. I do have an eye for that sort of matter. Simply opening the doors. Won’t they run off?”
Anders tilted his head.
“No? If they wish to do that, they’ll wait until we move closer to the plains, I imagine. We’re, the people with me, are headed that way. The Natech have been a bit of a problem out that way. We’re traveling to see if we can repair that, before it turns into a war. Here, I can aid on the stall doors. Come along, everyone! We have to find some other new friends. Oh, saddles as well, and tack.”
That or some leather. He could make the rest, if he had that.
After a moment, the first two of their new friends moving out of the stalls, simply standing there, nuzzling both Anders and Juniper politely, to say hello, Morg simply open the other doors, seeming ready to jump away from any attack or even run, if he had to.
He didn’t, of course.
Chapter thirteen
The trip back to the palace of Lord Haist was lighter for Anders, of course. In the end he’d spent nearly everything he had on the new horses. The beasts were trailing behind Juniper, on a long lead rope. Some of them were vast creatures, larger than any horse he’d ever seen in fact. They were that however and were all just simple animals, but giants, meant to pull heavy wagons, instead of being ridden. They were all saddled however and knew how to hold a rider. That person would need to be a larger fellow however, to control those new members of their herd.
They had four of the very large ones. All of them were dark brown, though identifiable by the fluffy hair by their hooves. The rest of the new horses, six in all, trailed behind the bigger ones. Only, these were the size of war horses, in the main. On the outside, un-tethered and not being led at all were their new friends. The Natech war ponies. They were, for the most part, lighter in color, tending toward tan and even a dusty sand color. They were tiny seeming but had taken the task of making certain the new horses understood who the bosses were, almost instantly.
Anders wasn’t certain, but the way they nipped, pressed and controlled the larger beasts he might not have even needed to tie any of them to move them in the right direction. Each of them, all sixteen of them, had saddles, packs, their own combs and brushes as well. Anders would need to provide food and water buckets for each of them, but he could do that. Truly, he could have made the brushes as well.
No one came to meet them at the front gate, which had been left open for the whole world, when they returned to the walled keep. Interestingly, he did find Roald, Niven, Salina and Sabine inside of that, with a few men and women he didn’t know watching them. Which made sense, given they were all flying around, putting on a rather nice show.
Still, so as to not spook the horses, which were all watching them with some alarm, Princess Salina landed instantly, with Niven waving for the others to do the same. Then, slowly, on foot, the small Master Mage walked over toward Anders and Juniper. With the others gathering behind him but staying well back.
Salina, after a moment, bowed. Toward the new ponies.
None of them did it back, working as they were at the moment, but several of them nodded, sending thoughts toward her.
Niven did the same then, with the younger two children bowing, but not sending thoughts toward anyone in particular. The youngest mage smiled as he stood up.
“Well met! We should move the new animals to the stable? Would it be possible for our new friends here to have a separate area, if that’s what is wished for, I mean? Lady Juniper, what say you on that topic?”
Anders, still on her back, picked up the basic thought from her rather easily.
“She seems to think that would be fine? Not too far from the new animals, but these smaller people here won’t need to be locked in or anything like that. The big ones... Well, they’re just horses.” He waved to show which ones he meant.
Josa Eta moved from out of the crowd, along with the older man with the long braid of gray hair from the day before, both smiling.
“That should work with no issue, Benton, can you see to that for us?” Josa turned to the servant, who nodded, with a strained smile on his face.
Probably wondering how he was supposed to do that work himself. Instead of forcing him to do that at all, Anders nodded, and dismounted, leaving the string of horses tied to Juniper’s saddle on a sturdy ring.
“We should follow this man here, then. Use the same formation we did on the road, if possible?” He sent that to the ponies, who started to move almost as one. The bigger animals were slower about it but walked when pushed to it a bit. No one tried to fight or rear, which was his big worry. If they panicked, Anders would have only a few seconds to cut the line attached to Juniper. She didn’t seem concerned, for her part.
In fact, she seemed rather pleased, with the new state of things. Walking with her head held high. Proudly. Putting the horses away was made far easier when Roald ran to get everyone else, to see the new animals, meaning that they all fell in, instantly, to work with them, removing saddles, seeing to some sweet grain and brushing them all, to sooth them in the strange new location.
Interestingly, the small newcomers each moved to one of the people there, first thing. Picking them as their new human friend, it seemed. Prince Roald and Princess Sabine were the first two selected out, since they were small and easily carried. Then Niven and Lissa were picked, with Walden and Salina being nuzzled into action by the last two.
Gull, seeing that, laughed.
“So, you’re all that clever? Choosing the small and slight people first thing like that. Wise of you all! This gives us twenty-one horses, which is more than we need for the current amount of people...”
Anders had noticed that but shrugged.
“Not truly. I’m going to make a new wagon, if I can manage it. Also, I want everyone to be in the saddle at least part of each travel day. We need to tighten up our combat ability on the road, as well. That will be up to some of you others to teach us, of course.” He nodded to Depak, then Gull.
Salina simply nodded.
“I need to go over that. I’ve had a small bit of training for that kind of fighting, but not much.”
They all more or less agreed, chatering a bit as they worked in the large stable, taking saddles off the backs of their new friends, and feeding them some apples that Collin made out of grain for them. That, it seemed was largely appreciated. One of the ponies requested a type of large berry that Anders had to copy from the younger mare’s mind, but it came out well enough and she nudged his arm, when he passed a few of them, again made from sweet grain, over to her.
Then, seeing a favored treat was possible, several of the others came to him, waiting for their own to be made.
Laughing, Anders did that, fairly rapidly.
Niven, having helped with the bigger animals, being bruised a bit while doing the work, walked over and snagged one of the large black berries. They were smooth and about the size of a plum, but they had small seeds on the outside, which were easily eaten.
Taking a bite, Niven stood there, with his eyes closed. Learning the new food for their friends. That got Collin to roll his eyes, and do the same, even if they were eating modified horse grain. After that, Walden and Lissa did the same, with Salina sighing, and shaking her head.
“That’s a good idea. We should all do that?”
It took a bit longer that way, since they had horses to secure still, but the smaller horse people simply stood there, watching them work. Then seeming pleased, when first Niven, then Salina, started to make more of the special treat.
Not everyone did, since they had more of the nameless berries than were needed inside a few moments.
Anders planned to go and start work on the wagon, instantly after the animals and their new friends were settled, but when he finally got to leave the stable, about an hour later, he was stopped almost instantly. By Josa.
“Prince Anders! Prince Naveed has asked for another meeting, if you have time to attend such with us? Kindra is still seeking information on possible husbands and has asked for your aid, by name. Also that of Prince Naveed and Princess Lissa. I invited Princess Salina, as well, if that serves?”
He nodded, not wishing to be rude. He’d repaired wagons before, but it could take a while for him to make one from raw trees. First he needed to find some of those he was allowed to use. He’d planned to simply walk to the nearest wild jungle, which was several miles down the road they’d come in on, but that could, he supposed, wait until the next day. Not that they didn’t need to be back on the road soon. He’d wanted to leave in the morning, if everything were settled well enough, having uncovered the clever plotting of Kindra as they’d done already. Apparently that wasn’t over as of yet. Not that he could truly understand why he was being brought into the matter. Then, Naveed and the others weren’t truly needed at all, most likely.
Farad chuckled.
Then took over their mouth, his voice deeper and a bit more relaxed than Anders normally used.
“Of course we can do that! Oh, is there some old wood or a collection of unneeded trees I can use to make a wagon nearby, do you think, Lord Haist? I’ve never made one before, but I should have the needed magic to do it. We probably need to leave in the morning, tomorrow, if possible, now that we have mounts.” He didn’t explain the situation any more than that.
The older fellow nodded, seeming to think that sounded about correct, from the expression on his face.
“You know, we have some logs that were brought in just sitting in a pile that might work for that? Behind the woodworking shop, that way. I’ll send a man to take you over to that... Can you attend the meeting? I don’t know how long it will take to make a magical wagon like that.”
Anders didn’t either, so smiled, hugely.
“I should attend the meeting, I think. Truly, we don’t have to have a new wagon as of yet. We simply had animals to pull it, so my mind filled that in, first thing. We only have the same amount of people and goods to carry that we came with, after all.”
The man, the Lord of the region, smiled then.
“Ah, good! Do you need more goods? Food and such? We can provide that for you, without it being an issue, I’m certain.”
Anders shook his head, the other man tensing suddenly. A matter that had happened several times so far, when being turned down for various gifts. As if it were going to be an insult.
“You know, not truly. I plan to set Prince Roald and Princess Sabine to collecting that for us, as we move each day. We need to plan what to do with them, as well. The truth is that we don’t seem to be moving toward the intense war that was first thought to be here. The Natech have pulled away from the border already, as far as I can tell. That doesn’t mean no more attacks might come, but... I don’t want the new students to lose their progress.”
Haist waved for Anders to follow him, pulling at his loose jacket, smoothing wrinkles out of the trousers as they moved. The cloth was dark in color, being mainly purple, but a very rich version of that hue.
Anders simply muttered to himself, pointing to the side, a cloud of dust and grime moving away from him. Then he altered the blue and green robes he had on, into metallic silver cloth with a fine pattern of dragons seeming to be hand stitched in light tan thread into it. Then he used more magic to straighten his hair and clean his teeth and mouth again.
Josa jumped when he turned to look at him, after another half minute of walking.
“Oh, my! That’s a sudden alteration! I didn’t know that work could be done so quickly using magic, to be honest. Then, I was watching children flying in my courtyard not two hours ago! This is a most amazing time to be living in, it seems.”
They traveled to the meeting space, already having several people inside of it, eating some small bits of food, sitting at low tables, even if it was well after the time for the mid-meal and not yet time for the last of the day. There were three tables in the space, with one at the back of the room, clearly meant to have the important people at it. Depak and Naveed were both seated there, with a space in the middle for Josa. On the far side of Depak Sona sat a nicely dressed and rather pleased seeming Kindra. Her face well decorated with interesting designs in blue and gold that day.
The pattern on the work was delicate, crossing her tan forehead and running down her cheeks on either side.
Anders had never seen the like of it before, so had to make himself not stare, trying to work out what it meant. It was, he assumed, some kind of courting decoration. Possibly not, so he wasn’t planning to mention it, not wanting to seem foolish and uneducated. Even if, on this topic, he clearly was at least one of those two things.
Josa moved to sit in the main seat, leaving Anders to find his own place in the room. There was space, at the table to the left, which had four pillows and only three individuals sitting there. Those being Princess Lissa, Prince Roald and Princess Sabine. Two names that he hadn’t heard of as being invited to the meeting.
Lissa grinned and patted Roald on the back.
“Would you move down one space, so I can sit next to Anders?”
The boy, instead of demanding his rightful place, commanded by the simple act of being there first, in a timely fashion, Roald simply slid down, grinning as he did so.
“Prince Andros! What plans do we have for later? Are we on guard duty again?” The small boy said the words as if it only made sense for him to be a watcher like that there.
Which it did. To Anders at least.
“Tomorrow, early, for that. The last watch. The first and last watches are the good ones for that. The hard ones are the middle two. You have to sleep, or try to, knowing that you have to wake up and then get back to sleep in time to rest before morning. We might be leaving tomorrow, if Depak Sona orders such. If not, then you and I will be working on some things, in preparation for that. You as well, if you will, Princess Sabine? I was just talking to Lord Haist about how the plan is for you two to collect everything we need as we travel, as far as food and raw materials needed, for the rest of the journey. When you aren’t on watch duty, that is.”
He was, a bit, teasing, of course. Only it didn’t show on his face, which meant that there were several different reactions from the people in the room with them. Kindra looked at the small children and seemed concerned for their health and wellbeing. At least Anders read her thoughts that way. It seemed genuine, which was kind of her.
Salina and both of Josa’s wives sat with bemused expressions on their faces, Salina at least understanding that Anders likely meant to have the little ones actually doing the work. The others didn’t understand that as well.
Both Naveed and Depak seemed pleased with the idea, with the older mage getting ready to seem pleased, so that the small children would take on the task, not reject it as being too hard for them. Only Roald smiled, and sat up, looking at Sabine, instantly.
“We can do that! We might need to learn more about what to summon and go over how to do that well enough, but we’ve done seeds and even fruit and greens before. This will take more, but not that much at any one time.”
Princess Sabine lit up at the words.
“That should be well enough for us to do. I was afraid that there wouldn’t be enough for us to do now, since we have three new people who can do that sort of thing for us. We’re doing the roads, part of the time, as well?” She looked down at Anders, as if he were in charge of her.
