The door opened on a tall man in his mid-20s, he was the typical Gallan, blonde, blue-eyed, but had a good tan showing how he spent a good amount of time outside, he was muscular, with light stubble. He opened the door quickly, looked down at Daine, and then cocked his head, a confused look on his face, "So you're the girl Sam told me about? I don't know what I expected but you're not exactly much. I'm Sir Gavin of Otlaiss, you can all come in, we'll have some tea and chat about what our plan for tomorrow is." He opened the door wider and walked into the room, when they didn't follow immediately he waved them in with an exasperated look on his face. When they all entered and closed the door he walked over to the fire and put a pot of water on for the tea. "So, Sam said that you'll be expected around midday when his father is home for a meal. We can leave right at the midday bell, we'll ride over, it's not too far but it is a bit of a hike uphill, and Sam said that they'd want to see how you are on and off a horse."

Daine nodded, "Okay thank you, I'll be ready and meet you by the stable at midday." Daine didn't want to let on how anxious she was, but also how excited about the chance of already finding a job this quick. "I should be goin ta bed then, see you tomorrow Sir Gavin." Daine got up and nodded to the knight and her two friends. Daine left leaving Gerald and Addy still talking to Sir Gavin, they had begun talking about magic as Daine closed the door behind her, she definitely was glad she left when she did.

xxx

As Daine settled down in her bed, she couldn't get comfortable, shifted back and forth, the room was too hot, too stuffy, she felt like she was suffocating, she couldn't sleep inside, no matter how uncomfortable or awkward sleeping in the stable would be. Daine got out of bed and threw on her leggings under her knee-length nightshirt, she grabbed her bow and arrows, her blanket and pillow, and her bag. She headed out down the hall and stairs trying to make as little noise as possible and remain unseen. She managed to make it to the stable until she saw anyone, a stable boy who wasn't much younger than Daine herself was standing in front of Cloud's stall, petting her nose and whispering to her. Daine stopped in her tracks, the boy had dark features, unlike most Gallans, like Daine, he didn't notice Daine had walked up but when he did he jumped back away from Cloud, making the grey pony shake her head. You scared the poor foul, he was telling me all about the other horses here, I like him he is like you, two-legger but also people, but more horse than any other people. Cloud talking to Daine made her snap out of her frozen state.

"Who are you?"

The boy looked around like he was trying to find an escape route, but Cloud blew air at him and tried to nip at his shirt which made him smile, "Percy, Percival Stoddard, I work in the stables here under my father, Wally, he's the head ostler. Is she yours?"

"Yeh, this is Cloud. She likes you." Daine walked over and pat Clouds neck, the boy seemed to be slowly relaxing the more Daine did. "I couldn't sleep inside, too stuffy, so I came outside to sleep in here." Daine nodded towards Clouds stall.

Percy nodded "Yeh I cant sleep inside like that either, but sleeping in the same stall as this girl, she'll crush you won't she?" Cloud didn't seem to appreciate the questing and blew a good amount of snot onto Percy, "I'll take that as a no she won't." He smiled and wiped the mess off with his sleeve.

"She's used to me crawling next to her especially during the winter, she's yet to squash me yet after all these years." Daine shrugged and threw her things into the stall, Cloud back up to give Daine room, then lay down, "I'll be heading to sleep now, it was nice to meet you." The two parted ways off to their individual sleeping areas. Daine laid down with her back against Cloud, drew the blanket up, and fell asleep.

xxx

Daine woke up at sunrise to the sounds of the stable and of birds that were roosting there. There was a cat in the stall next to Daine who had begun giving birth during the night, Daine reached down to pet the mama cat. "Hello there, you have some beautiful babies here, thank you for allowing me to see them come into the world." The cat looked up at Daine and mewed, beginning to push another kitten out to join the other 3 siblings.

I thought you would be the best two-legger to go to, in case something happens, I know you will help and won't throw anything at me the mama cat was a fluffy calico with a bent tail, likely from a poorly healed break, and the three kittens nursing were a mix of grey and white, one having black paws. Daine pet the mother cat as she pushed out 2 more kittens, but then there was a break, she stopped pushing, Somethings wrong, I can feel another, but I can't feel it moving, somethings wrong, what do I do? The cat kept talking, repeating this over and over, and then Daine fainted.

When Daine woke up, about a half bell had passed, and the mama cat was busily cleaning 6 healthy kittens, ranging in color from all grey to a mix of grey, white, black, and one even had some orange. Daine looked around confused, "What happened? Your kittens look healthy." Daine pet the calico, feeling her stomach for any more kittens, "You seem to be done, you must be relieved." The cat licked Daine's hand, you fell asleep, and then I gave a big push and the little one finally came out, she's the very small black and white one, I think I will call her Runt, the others will get names later when they're bigger, but she is so little, I have to be careful with her… The cat kept rattling on and on talking about each kitten and the order they came into the world, she was very enthusiastic. Daine tried hard to follow what the cat was saying but was having difficulty because her mind kept drifting to the fact that the littlest kitten was dead, she should have been stillborn, but here she was, fine and alive.

Daine shifted, Cloud helped Daine to stand up, she wabbled a bit, feeling tired and drained, she needed to get dressed and get some food in her, she didn't know why after a pretty good sleep she was so worn out, but here she was trying to stay on her feet. She shook her head and started getting dressed for the day, as she pulled on her skirts she shook her head, they were looking a little worse for wear, she needed to get some new clothes before she actually started working somewhere. "Keep an eye on my things will ya?" Daine asked and smiled at Cloud as she closed the gate to the stall behind her. Walking towards the inn, Daine waved at Percy when she saw him brushing down one of the big warhorses, he waved back shooting a smile at her and then going back to what he was doing.

Daine walked into the dining area and saw Gerald talking animatedly with Sir Gavin while Addy sat staring into her porridge looking half asleep. Daine walked over to join them, when she sat down Addy glanced at her, mumbled a good morning, and looked back into her breakfast, beginning to spoon it into her mouth.

"Good morning horse girl, we woke up this morning and you weren't there you gave us quite a fright, but the stable boy told us you were sleeping in with your pony so we figured you were perfectly safe." Gerald smiled at her, then returned to his conversation with the knight, they seemed to have bonded or something after she had left because they were talking like old friends. When the waitress came over, Daine got some porridge with honey that she immediately devoured, she used some warm bread to clean the bowl, happy to be eating something warm and filling, she began to regain some of her energy thankfully, she would need it today. When she leaned back in her seat the men looked at her, "So how was your night sleeping in the stables?" Gerald asked.

"Well, I woke up to a cat giving birth next to me so that was fun." Daine smiled, "Sir Gavin, is there any change in our plans for today?" Sir Gavin shook his head, "Alright, well I'm going to take a look around the market, you two seem friendly so mind if I take Addy with me?" Addy looked up at Daine a look of gratitude in her eyes.

"Yeh, of course, you girls be careful and make sure your back before midday," Gerald called after the girls as they scurried away leaving the noise of the inn and entering the noise of the streets. The girls took in the colors surrounding them, there was primarily the pale features of Gallans, but there were some darker tones, fashions from surrounding countries, the girls looked wide-eyed as people hurried along their days, nobles chatting headed to the palace or doing some shopping, commoners gossiping and doing chores, merchants yelling, haggling, everyone coexisting. The girls looked around, using the money that they found in the thieves bags, Daine bought some new skirts, leggings, tunics, shirts, and upon Addys insisting, pants, which Daine thought very improper and would most likely only wear in her room or sleeping. Addy decided to resupply her medkit, getting some clean strips of cloth for bandages, and some herbs. The girls walked around admiring the sights, Daine stopping to look at some recurved bows, Addy admiring some beautiful throwing knives from the Yamani Islands.

The girls started back towards the inn grabbing a couple pieces of fruit each as they walked. By the time they got there, it was about half a bell from midday, Addy bid Daine good luck and walked into the inn as Daine head to the stable. Sir Gavin was saddling his long-legged mare, used for riding, not the kind he would ride into battle, he nodded at her as she jogged over to Cloud, giving her an apple and loading her tack. Daine strapped her bow onto the back of Cloud and put her quiver over her back the strap running diagonally across from shoulder to hip, grabbing Clouds reigns and leading her over to where Sir Gavin was waiting.

"So this little one is your's little one? Seems fitting, you two look like a match pair." Sir Gavin said nodding at Cloud, the grey mountain pony tossed her head and stomped, I do not appreciate the flowery man saying I am anything like you, Daine giggled and patted Cloud's neck.

"Cloud doesn't appreciate being compared to me apparently us two-leggers are much below her highness." Sir Gavin looked slightly confused but accepted this, shaking his head, "And I could say the same thing about you are your girl here." Daine smiled at his affronted face, the mare butted her head into Daine's chest, my two-legger is very nice, always has treats and snacks, the mare pranced around he lets me run fast too, I like running fast, Daine gave the young mare a smile and patted her neck, "she really loves you too, and running." Daine smiled up at the tall man beside her.

"You keep getting more and more confusing little one." Sir Gavin shook his head, and climbed up on his tall mare, "This is Skydancer by the way." Daine smiled at him and mounted Cloud, the pair rode out into the street and headed up the hill leading to the palace. They rode weaving through the crowds for the next 10 or so minutes until Sir Gavin fell back to ride next to Daine. "The house is just up here on the right, we're a little early but I'm sure Sam is already waiting anxiously for us." He smiled, Daine was beginning to like him more and more, even if she wasn't going to admit it, he was a nice guy, for a noble. She nodded keeping pace, turning into the entry of a huge house, the gate was open and they were only given a nod from the guard as they entered. Sir Gavin led the way behind the house, to a beautiful stable, and just as the man had said, Sam was standing by the stable trying to stand still, he looked at the two coming towards him with a huge smile on his face, he ran up to Daine and Sir Gavin, bowing slightly to him before finishing his jog over to them.

Sam looked up at Daine with a smile on his face and a look of someone trying not to break into a happy dance, Daine couldn't help but laugh and smile at his excitement, no matter how nervous she was about meeting his family and trying for this job, Sam was just radiating good feelings, you couldn't help join him. "I'm so glad you decided to come, my sister should be coming out soon, she wants to meet you. You won't be meeting my brother, he's a page, but I'm sure the next time I see him he'll be excited about you too." As Sam was speaking a young girl had left the house and was trying to walk but was actively fighting herself to not run towards the group, Daine smiled at the young girl who was about Addy's age. Daine got off of Cloud, as Sir Gavin did, and flipped the reigns so that she could comfortably hold them, not that she really needed to, but it was a comfort to know Cloud was by her side as well as it looked more normal of Daine to need to hold them. "Speaking of my unruly sister, this is Sarra, she's 9," Sam laughed as Sarra rushed a curtsey before speed walking over to them, "as you can see, she's heard a lot about you." Daine flinched at the young girl's shared name with her mother but tried to keep a happy face. "Our father should be here soon, he comes home every day at midday, I told him about you last night so he is expecting you." Sam smiled as Daine nodded, "here, I'll show you to the stables, I hope you will like them." He motioned her towards the stable.

"Hi there, I'm Sarra, but Sam already said that, I am so excited for another girl to be here, it's usually just the servants, and then the boys and father, very boring, and you don't seem like the boring girls from the convent, I'll be going there in two years, but I don't want to, did you know there's a female knight in Tortall, maybe I'll run away and go do that, that would be fun…" Sarra kept talking she hopped around and seemed to have endless energy, but she was right, at least she wasn't boring like the convent nobles.

The stables that Daine was led into was full of beautiful horses, she stood mouth agape, as the animals walked to the front of their stalls to see the two-legger who is People, they were amazing creatures. Daine couldn't believe how so many magnificent horses could exist in one place, she was met with a chorus of greetings from all of the horses. "I can't believe all of these are yours, they're beautiful, you said your family breeds them?" Instead of Sam or Sarra answering her, she was answered by a voice coming from the entrance of the stable.

"Our family has been renowned for breeding the best mounts for centuries." The man who responded was leading a completely black, long-lined, stallion, who looked like he had a love of life. The man himself was in his 40s, had the pale hair and eyes of a typical Gallan, with stern features, and short-cropped hair. His clothing was neat and clean, and obviously very expensive. "And you must be Daine, my son had much to tell about you, though I'm not sure how much of which was true." He looked smug, and very much the opposite of his easy-going, happy-natured children.

Sam straightened his tunic and walked over to his father, bowing to his father, deeper than Daine thought normal, she followed Sam over to the man, attempting a wobbly curtsey that the man seemed to look even further down his nose at than seemed possible. "Hello sir, I'm Veralidaine Sarrasri," his face grimaced at her last name which marked her as a bastard child.

When Sam's father made no effort to introduce himself Sam awkwardly coughed then said "Daine, this is Lord Thomas of Beneklan, Father, this is Daine." Lord Thomas nodded in acknowledgment but didn't say anything, Sam continued "Daine is the girl I met yesterday in the stables where Gav is staying, she really impressed me with her skills and I thought she'd be perfect for work in our stables."

"Thank you milord for the opportunity, I just moved here and this is exactly the type of job I was hoping to find." Daine gave a wobbly curtsey again gripping Clouds reigns with white-knuckled fists while trying to keep her breathing even and calm.

"I suppose we should see what you can do, take care of my and Sir Gavins horses, we'll see how you do grooming them, from there we can figure out if we want to continue seeing your so called skills. You can put them in stalls down there, and you can tie your… pony to the wall over there." Lord Thomas thrust the reigns of his horse into Daines hands and left her standing there.

"I know he's a lot, but he isn't all bad, he just wants to see if you actually care about horses as much as he does." Sam gave Daine a sympathetic look and led Daine over to his knight master who was waiting outside the stable talking to a slightly more mellow-looking Sarra who smiled at Daine but didn't say anything to her. Daine tied Cloud to a post outside the stable and gave her a sympathetic look.

Daine retrieved Skydancers reigns from Sir Gavin giving him a slight smile and a nod, before leading the two long-legged horses into the stable. She was more led by the large black stallion than her leading him as he headed to must be his stall which had a plaque that read Nightrider, and then steering Skydancer into the vacant, unmarked one a few stalls down. Daine quickly entered the mares stall, taking off her tack and setting it on the saddle rack outside the stall, taking all the other tack off and setting it on hooks, Daine began grooming Skydancers, a quick brush, combing, and hoof cleaning was easy due to the streets of Cria being pretty clean, and years of practice made the movements second nature. The mare was well taken care of to begin with and giving her a quick cleaning was simple work. Daine gave Skydancer an apple and close the gate to her stall behind her, moving over to Nightrider's stall, she repeated the process to the stallion, the lord's horse was amazing, in beautiful condition, and grooming her took even less work than it did on Skydancer. Daine listened to the stallions praise of his two-legger, he was much more calm than the mare but had just as many good things to say. She smiled at Nightrider, gave him an apple, and close the gate behind her. When she exited the stall Lord Thomas and Sam were waiting for her, Sam with a small smile and Lord Thomas with his typical grimace of distaste.

"Alright so you can groom a horse, that's not much of a surprise. I can see how you ride later, but first I want to see how you are with one of our more… spirited horses." Lord Thomas smiled in a way that only made Daine more nervous, especially when she saw that Sam looked at his father with a look of shock, fear, and then slowly into sad reservation as if he knew there was no way Daine would pass this test. "He's down at the end, he's my herd master, and he needs a good grooming." He nodded to the last stall at the far side of the stable, Daine nodded and headed there, taking a deep breath before walking towards the gate.

You are not my two-legger, I do not allow just any two-legger in my home. But you are not a normal two-legger are you? No, you smell and look like one, but you are People on the inside… Daine went to the gate and slowly opened it, moving slowly so she didn't get bit or kicked, the stallion bared his teeth and blew hot air from his nose, backing up he began to rear up to kick Daine with his front hooves, she grabbed his head, pulled him down and blew into his nostrils, "You are not my herd master mister, I am in charge here." Daine used a stern voice and although she heard gasps behind her she stayed where she was, holding his head down blowing into his nose, teaching him her scent. Finally, he lowered his head and backed away from her, huffing but ultimately ignoring her. Fine, but I won't agree to like you, she sigh and patted his side. Daine turned to pick up the brush, trying to ignore the small crowd that had gathered outside the stall, she got to work, cleaning his coat, combing his mane and tail then braiding them, and finally using a pick to clean his hooves, he didn't fight her but was not exactly jumping to follow her requests. When Daine was finally done she took a deep breath and turned around, the crowd was silent, Sam and Sarra with a smile on their faces, Sir Gavin looking at her with a look of astonishment, and then there was Lord Thomas, his face uncomfortably blank, but his eyes, they held a million questions.

"So you can hold your own, now show me you can ride on that little pony of yours." Lord Thomas walked away out of the stable. "And that bow had you even use it, its half your size?" Daine had to speed walk to keep up with the long-legged noble, untying Cloud when she got there and stood calmly next to her grey mountain pony. Lord Thomas grunted and stared at Daine, she took that as her cue to mount up, settling easily in the saddle. "Alright, ride around a bit I wanna see if you're any good, get her to do something so I can see you in action."

Daine had Cloud walk, trot, then jog around the courtyard, Daine pulled Cloud to stop in front of Lord Thomas, then pulled the reigns to get Cloud to back up. Daine whispered to Cloud to rear up and then to kick her back legs out, Cloud started bucking around in a controlled form that showed how Cloud may act in a fight, quickly turning around, with a quick word, Cloud stopped planting all four hooves on the ground and calmly walking to stop about 4 feet in front of Lord Thomas. He looked down his nose then grunted. Daine dismounted easily, then thought she might as well answer his second question about her skill with the bow. Daine unstrapped the unstrung bow, taking a fresh bowstring, bracing the bow against her foot, quickly stringing the bow, and drawing it up, pulling the string smoothly to her jaw aiming at the stable door, no arrow knocked but making sure that there was no risk anyway. She settled the string back into place, and then looked at Lord Thomas, keeping her arms at her sides.

"So you aren't completely useless, I suppose we can see how you are, on a trial basis, don't get comfortable I could decide to be rid of you, but you can bring your things over tomorrow, I'll have the head ostler, Alfred, come meet you to show you around then, we can discuss pay and rules now if you wish." Lord Thomas kept looking down his nose at Daine, she was trying to keep her face impassive and emotionless while she was jumping with joy in her head, he wasn't really asking more just telling her what was next, "so it'll be 5 coppers a week, you work every day unless Alfred says so, you get paid on Fridays, I don't want drugs or crime in my house, and if you're going to drink do it on your off times, I won't have a drunk working for me, and if you're going to have lovers, I don't want to know." Somehow he looked even more stern, Daine simply nodded.

"Thank you very much, sir, I hope I will not disappoint." Daine gave as low a curtsey as she dared, Lord Thomas nodded in acknowledgment then turned to his children.

"I'll be spending the next hour or so here in a meeting with Sir Gavin, Sam will you show Daine out." He phrased it like a question, but his tone showed it was an order. Sam bowed to his father and Sir Gavin, Daine unstrung her bow and strapped it to Cloud, then the two humans and Cloud went towards the gate.

Sam was working hard to hide his excitement, he wasn't doing too well, but he obviously didn't want his father to see his enthusiasm at Daines's new position. "Daine this is great! I'm so happy, this is amazing, can you see how this will be, you working here, you can help Sarra stay sane and when I'm in town you'll get to see my amazing self, and my brother will be ecstatic to meet you. Try not to think about father, he's a bit biased about commoners, even those that are as impressive as you. I should be heading back, my father would be angry if I wasn't a perfect squire to Gavin." He rolled his eyes and ran back into the courtyard behind the house. Daine mounted Cloud with a lot on her mind.