Uncommon Attraction

Disclaimer: This story is a collaboration between Lotti's Lot and Ally-Marty, writing as Dawn of the Sky. Tamora Pierce owns all of PotS and everything else in Tortall. We just like to play around in her world. Everything you recognize is hers and everything you do not recognize is ours.

A/N: Thanks again for the nice reviews! We know that in the original books, Lalasa and Tian were a couple, but here in our story, we decided to change a lot of things around (obviously), and so we are writing in a little side romance between Stefan Groomsman and Lalasa. We hope you'll continue to read and enjoy - and review - our story as we spin it along. ~~ Ally-Marty :D

"Tian and I were thinking about closing soon; would you like to go and visit Stefan with me?" Stefan was a groomsman up at the palace, to which Lalasa had taken a fancy. Oddly enough, he returned her affection. In the beginning Kel had been a skeptic, due to their age difference of more than a decade. Her views since then had changed dramatically.

It took some time for the shop to empty, but finally the only people left were Keladry, Lalasa, and Tian. The former two set off for the palace, softly conversing. Before long, they had entered into the stables which, naturally, reeked of horses and hay.

Chapter 4: A Lovely Horse

Stefan Groomsman loved horses. He understood horses and they understood him. Stefan,who was known as 'horse-hearted', possessed the ability to connect with those of the equine race. Fortunately for him, the King of the Thieves of Corus, recognized Stefan's wild magic with horses and helped the orphaned lad find respectable work as a palace stable hand when he was old enough to begin an apprenticeship. Through the years, the stocky blond man with gentle eyes, had progressed upward and now held the position of Chief Hostler of the royal stables.

A simple man with simple tastes, Stefan knew that the only thing lacking in his life was a good wife. He'd seen other hostlers marry and start families of their own and he always thought that would be nice for him to do someday. He had no trouble at all communicating with the horses and he could speak with people about horses all day long. Unfortunately, Stefan became rather shy and tongue-tied around the palace maids and laundresses, as well as most other two-legged females. That is, until he met Lalasa Isran.

One winter afternoon, Stefan had discovered the terrified palace maid, hiding in a pile of loose straw. He'd have poked her with his pitchfork, if he hadn't noticed the material of her torn skirt sticking out of the haystack. It took the hostler quite a bit of coaxing to get Lalasa to come out of her hiding place, but he handed her a blanket and she emerged wrapped up tighter than a moth in its cocoon. Later, he discovered that one of the palace squires had assaulted the poorlass. Eventually, she left palace service to become a seamstress in town.

The more Stefan thought about Lalasa's doe-brown eyes and her shiny black hair, the more he liked her. Before she'd left palace service altogether, she would come by the stables and offer treats of apples or carrots to the spare horses under Stefan's care. She said she felt sorry that they didn't have proper riders assigned to them and so they missed out on such goodies. Lalasa was a gentle person and she possessed the kind of voice that was soothing to horses, too.

Soon, the former maid noticed rips and tears in the hostler's clothing and she offered to fix them for him in exchange for letting her come out and sit up in one of the hay lofts, away from other people. By then, Stefan had figured out that Lalasa was man-shy, but that suited him fine, because he knew his own shyness would cause him to proceed cautiously when it came to winning the young woman's heart. When she finally hired on to work at a dress shop in town, Stefan discovered that he missed Lalasa's visits to the stables and he sent word to her that she'd always be welcomed back if she ever wanted to say hello to her favorite horses.

Nowadays, Lalasa would come up to the palace stables from time to time, usually in the late afternoons when her work was done for the day. She always came in the company of one of her female friends, usually a former ladies' maid named Tianine Plowman, but sometimes one of the guards from the Goddess' temple, Keladry Mindelan, would come along instead. Today was one such day. Stefan knew that Kel, as the tall lass insisted he call her, liked horses too. She'd always come prepared with an entire basket of treats for their four-legged friends.

"Oh, Mistress Keladry, don't go too close t' tha' fella," Stefan warned as she held out an apple to an unfamiliar horse who already was reaching over the rope in front of his stall. "He's likely to nip yer hand along with whate'er ye're offerin' 'im."

Kel deftly repositioned the apple in her hand so that the small destrier's teeth couldn't touch her skin. Then she examined the horse more carefully. He was a strawberry roan gelding with a reddish hide, flecked with white, and red-brown stockings, face, mane, and tail. She hadn't seen him before in this part of the stable.

"What's his name?" Kel asked without taking her eyes off of the animal, who seemingly knew she had more fruit.

"Peachblossom," Stefan answered. "But I didn't name him. He hasn't been over here too long. In fact, I've got t' find 'im a new home soon. He was assigned t' one o' th' pages who, ah, didn't stay. 'Tis a shame, too, but can't be helped - this ol' warhorse won't let any of th' other pages near 'im - he bites ye if he don't like ye and he don't like any of 'em."

"Oh," Kel sighed. She had offered the gelding another apple and he let her stroke his shiny mane. "I think he likes me well enough - or maybe it's just the apples he likes."

Someday, Kel hoped to have a horse of her own - her family had a small stable of horses and she had learned to ride at an early age. There were several horses at the temple - priestesses and guards were allowed to keep their mounts at the temple stables as long as they could pay for their upkeep, so most of the horses belonged to the women who had come from noble families. Lissie owned a gentle old mare named Matilda and she let Kel ride her around the stable yard whenever time presented itself.

Stefan watched the temple guard feed and pet Peachblossom with a mixture of curiosity and hope. Very few people could get so close to the ornery horse without getting bitten, but here was this total stranger, actually stroking his nose and patting his neck as though they belonged together. An idea began to form in the experienced hostler's mind.

"Mistress Kel, would ye like fer me t' saddle 'im up?" Stefan asked, "Ye could ride 'im 'round the yard a time or two. Won't take me but a minute t' get 'im ready fer ye."

Kel glanced at Lalasa, who only shrugged. The plump seamstress could tell that Stefan was up to something, but she didn't know what it could be. She trusted him; so she gave Kel a nod and the guard quickly indicated her eager consent. Stefan got to work and within a short amount of time, Kel had hitched up her skirts, mounted Peachblossom and was riding him around a small fenced-in yard.

"Yer friend rides Peachblossom like they's made fer each other," Stefan told Lalasa as they watched from the other side of the fence. "D' ye think she'd be willin' t' take 'im off my hands? He's already told me tha' he likes the tall lass better'n any lad who's ever rode 'im."

Lalasa thought for a moment before she answered. Whenever Tian had accompanied her to the stables, they'd always followed Stefan's advice to stay away from the mean gelding. But watching Kel trot around the yard on the horse's strong back made her wonder if this was the same animal that snapped and bit everyone who came too close to him. The seamstress didn't know a lot about horses, but even she could tell that Kel and Peachblossom should be together.

"I know that the temple guards are allowed to have their own mounts, but that costs money," she said slowly, thinking aloud. "Kel's family has money - though I doubt she'd ask for any of it. She's a proud one, and with good reason; she's such a fine temple guard and you won't find a nicer person than she is, even if she can fight better than most men. One of her brothers is with the Queen's Riders, so maybe he could convince her to give poor Peachblossom a home. That might be worth a try."

"The Riders? Really?" Stefan raised his eyebrows and then he remembered where he'd heard Kel's surname before. "Her brother's not Conal Mindelan, is he?"

Lalasa nodded, "Yes, that's his name. Kel says he's quite a prankster within the Riders. Though, she doesn't know how he gets away with half of the things he's described to her in his letters. She always shares them with me because they're so entertaining." She chuckled at the thought.

"Yes, Rider Conal is quite good at pullin' a good prank," affirmed Stefan, "That he is indeed. An' it just so happens he owes me a favor or two fer sommat." Then he smiled widely because now he knew that he'd found Peachblossom a new owner and he knew how to help him get there.

While Kel was having fun with Peachblossom, one of the palace knights walked up behind Stefan and Lalasa, unnoticed. His sky-blue eyes bulged under his very fair eyebrows as he recognized the notoriously ill-mannered gelding trotting along as though he always was this well-behaved. The blond knight was shocked upon recognizing the rider - tall in the saddle and obviously enjoying herself with her pretty legs indecently exposed. It was that awful temple guard, Keladry Mindelan - the one who'd so callously attacked him and prevented him from saying farewell to Caelyn and Jori.

"Since when do you allow such riff-raff to ride the palace mounts?" Joren coldly asked Stefan.

Both Stefan and Lalasa jumped with surprise. Then they turned and bowed and curtseyed to the knight, before Stefan answered curtly, "Beggin' yer pardon, Sir Joren, but tha' horse is no longer fit for palace trainin'. He's ready t' go t' a home outside th' palace walls an' I'm fairly sure tha' I just found 'im a new owner."

"Humph! It figures that a nasty guard would be well-suited for that nasty beast," Joren scoffed. "Well, Stefan, when you get a chance, I'd like for you to take a look at my horse's left front hoof - she seems to be favoring it lately and we'll have to ride north by the end of the month. I'm sure it will be a pleasant change for you to handle a lovely horse like my Ladybelle." Then he turned and walked briskly toward the stable where various knights kept their mounts.

Stefan shook his head and apologized to Lalasa, but she wouldn't hear of it. She remembered Sir Joren from when she worked as a maid in the squires' wing of the palace. He was somewhat arrogant and aloof, but he was nicer than many of the boys. Unfortunately, he'd also been a friend of the former squire who had traumatized Lalasa a few years ago when she'd first met Stefan after running away from her attacker. She shuddered at the thought of that terrible time. Stefan instinctively reached out to grasp her hand reassuringly. It wasn't the first time he'd done such a thing, and she smiled gratefully up at him for his comforting warmth.

"Master Stefan!" Kel called out from across the yard, causing the couple to let go of each other's hands quickly, "Is there time for me to take Peachblossom around one more time?"

"Uh ... yes," he replied, shaking his head as though coming out of a daze, "But only once. Some of us palace folk still have work t' do fer a while yet," he called back, smiling. "I've got t' see to a sore hoof real quick like. Think ye can stable Peachblossom yerself?"

Kel hesitated, but said she'd do her best. Stefan told Lalasa that he'd return soon and then he walked off to find Sir Joren and Ladybelle. A few other people who were passing by the stable yard also wondered about the tall city girl who was riding one of the stable's meanest horses. They'd never seen that particular beast behaving so nicely.

Two of those passersby were cousins. Dark-haired, sapphire-eyed Domitan of Masbolle was a sergeant in the King's Own. His cousin, the brown-haired and emerald-eyed Nealan of Queenscove, was squire to the realm's only living lady knight, Sir Alanna of Olau and Pirates' Swoop. Both men were quite impressed with the young woman's ability to handle such a disagreeable horse and made a bet with each other that the horse would dump his rider as soon as she tried to dismount him. A few minutes later, as Kel smoothly dismounted and led a seemingly calm Peachblossom back to his stall, Neal dropped a silver coin into Dom's outstretched hand and they continued on their way.

Kel was in the middle of grooming Peachblossom when Stefan returned to that stable. He watched her working on the horse's hindquarters for a few moments, while silently communicating with him. The gelding conferred to Stefan of his great like for this new two-legged female. He wouldn't mind her, as a rider - or at least not nearly as much as others. The hostler assured his four-legged friend that he had a plan to get them together. When Peachblossom suggested that Stefan mount up and bite the neck of the black-maned, two-legged female standing behind him, the man with the suddenly red face silently told the gelding to mind his own business.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Four days later, Kel was beyond flustered when her Rider brother arrived at the servants' entrance to the temple with the strawberry roan gelding in tow. At first, she thought it was a mean-spirited practical joke when Conal Mindelan presented her with official-looking documents proclaiming her ownership of the horse, Peachblossom. Stefan had called in a few of Conal's outstanding debts to him for various supplies and alibis over the years. It didn't take very long for the Chief Hostler to convince the Rider to purchase the ornery horse for his sister, but it took the prankster quite a while to convince his skeptical sister that everything was real and that their parents had agreed to pay for all of Peachblossom's fees at the temple stables.

Kel tearfully accepted her gift-horse and hugged Conal tightly. He was not allowed to enter the temple grounds, not even to help Kel take Peachblossom to the stables, so the siblings said their farewells at the back gate and went their separate ways. Kel was so excited that she ran all the way up to the infirmary to tell Lissie her good news as soon as she settled everything with the temple's chief hostler.

"You have a horse now, too? Just like Mistress Lissie?" asked Jori, whom Lissie was examining when Kel burst in. "Can I see it?"

"May I see it," chuckled Caelyn who sat nearby, which elicited a slight scowl from the little girl.

Kel grinned at the exchange between mother and daughter - her noble-born mother often corrected her in the same manner. Lissie finally agreed that a little walk in the fresh air and a brief visit to the stable would be good for both Jori and Caelyn. When they reached the stall where Peachblossom was now happily munching on some hay, Jori gasped at the size of him.

"He's as big as Papa's horse!" the little girl exclaimed. "What's his name?"

"His name is Peachblossom," Kel said and smiled at Jori, "But I didn't name him." She figured that she'd be explaining that name quite a bit.

"I think it suits him just fine," said Jori, "Don't you think so, Mama? Isn't he just the loveliest boy-horse you've ever seen?"

Caelyn nodded and wrapped her arms around her smiling daughter. It was so good to see Jori smiling again. Their smiles had been few and far between since they'd begun this journey and she was grateful to the healer and the guard who lavished her daughter - and her, too - with such tender and thoughtful care.

"Yes," Caelyn agreed, "He is a lovely horse, indeed."

A/N: Okay, that was mostly character and plot development, but we really wanted to bring Kel and Peachblossom together in this story. We also wanted to introduce some other familiar faces as soon as possible. ;D Please send us a review and let us know what you think. Thanks! ~~ Dawn of the Sky