Needless to say the Unicorn trounced Laylari soundly. She managed a few lucky hits but nothing stopped the fury of the Unicorn. As she nursed her numerous bruises and her hurt pride Laylari was consoled by the Wildcat and the Falcon.
"You did better than most, a lot of the training Shangs don't even get to spar the council members for fear they will be seriously injured," said the Wildcat soothingly.
"I know, I just feel like I'm so new and inexperienced," Laylari knew she was feeling sorry for herself and tried to perk up. "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to train more."
As Laylari still knew nothing of the palace the Wildcat and Joesh took her for a tour. Once again they passed Kel who gave them a small wave and went back to training. Laylari was overcome by the sheer size of everything; they passed by dining halls and the pages rooms until the two Shangs decided to stop by the stables.
"If you're going to be a Shang you are going to have to be able to ride a horse" the wildcat told Laylari.
Horses….This was not good. Laylari had not been on a horse for years. She was out of practice and a little frightened. Seeing the look on her face Joesh disappeared for a moment and came back with a young woman. She had smoky brown hair and very blue eyes.
"So this is my new student?" the woman asked. "Don't worry I won't kill you like these two have, I'm Daine."
"Laylari" said the girl shakily eying the rows of rather large horses before her.
"Alright Laylari lets see which horse will suit you best"
They walked down the line as Daine appraised the horses to herself, "Not Thunderstrike, he's far too large her feet won't even hit the stirrups….Thistleweed, hmm no too slow for battle…Aha! Sundancer swift and deadly, perfect. She led out a brown gelding with white flecks that looked as if it could outrun the wind. The horse and Laylari were led to a fenced paddock where Daine leaned on the rail and told the girl to mount up. Laylari looked at Sundancer's bare back and croaked, "Saddle?"
Daine shook her head and smiled, "You don't get a saddle until you have mastered bareback riding. Now up you go." She helped the girl onto the horse but once she was up there Laylari had no idea what to do. "Tap his sides gently" Daine instructed. With what she thought was a gentle tap Laylari did as she was told. The horse took off around the paddock at breakneck speed as Laylari clung for dear life onto his neck.
By the end of the lesson Laylari could get Sundancer to different speeds and didn't slide off of his back every 10 seconds. Daine told her she had made a vast improvement and within a couple of weeks she could train with a saddle. Feeling quite pleased with herself Laylari slid from Sundancers back and immediately sat in the dirt. Her legs were completely numb and twitching without her consent. Daine and the wildcat hauled her up laughing and dragged her to the women's baths for a nice long soak.