In the end, Eu finally made a sincere apology to Grit and to Progress. Of course, her motivation seemed to be pity more than anything else. “I’m sorry for your wife.”

“Wait! Are you sorry for me, or for the woman who I will marry?” Grit needed clarification.

“I am SO, SO sorry!” She actually had tears in her eyes.

“Father, what does she mean?”

“Just take it how you want. She’ll do her best in the future. Right, Eu?”

“Poor, poor Grit!”

“Father?” he pleaded.

“So now that THAT’s settled…” I tried my best to change the subject. “Let’s show the girls our new horses and then get some work done before dinner.”

Swift leapt up from her seat on the bed. Since all three children had been waiting in Progress’s room, there was hardly any room left to stand. Regardless, Swift had a typical child’s love of all things equine and she’d already heard that we’d acquired two new ponies - her favorite example of such affection.

Grit was still pondering the prior conversation, but he made an attempt to dampen Swift's expectations. “Don't get too excited. The second pony is really ugly.”

“How can you say that about a pony? It’s not his fault he’s ugly!”

“No, I’m pretty sure, in this case, it's totally his fault.” He folded his arms and nodded to himself to emphasize his point.

For her part, Progress seemed uninterested, but she followed along behind us. Constance waved us all along, then split off toward the kitchens. She was likely checking on how dinner was coming along. It was already late afternoon, and cooking can take hours. Since she was still riding herd on Eu, she grabbed onto her hand to lead her to the kitchens instead of going with us to the stables. For the rest of our children, that would probably be considered a punishment. On the other hand, Eu seemed all too pleased to go anywhere that had the smell of cooking food.

Once we were outside in the paddock, the two mules walked over in our direction. Seeing my daughters, they probably thought it was time for some riding practice. If so, that meant treats, so they were eager to determine our intentions.

“You're selling both mules?” Progress asked.

“Already sold. I had to. But, now, you can practice riding on Honey. I’m giving her to Grit.”

Since Honey was no longer designated as a squire's warhorse, that meant others could ride her without the action being interpreted as an insult to our family. Of course, once Grit officially became a squire, that loophole would close. I’d need to figure out something else in the future.

Maybe NeedMoreCandy could serve as a training horse? She was small, and seemed calm enough. However, she was still very young and fidgety. I’d be worried about her lack of experience if she was carrying my daughters. In any case, that was a problem for tomorrow. We already had enough problems for today.

Swift was still concerned about the exchange of animals, so she had her own questions. “Father, it’s not fair to the mules. Will they be happy where they are going?”

I gave her a smile. “They’ll have a lot more friends at the merchant’s paddocks. Also, considering the market right now, they’re likely to be purchased by a rich noble. You shouldn’t worry. They’re valuable. They’ll be treated well.”

“I'm sad. I’ll miss them!”

“Yes, dear. But, now we have ponies instead. Ponies are better.”

That seemed to resolve her complaints, though her lip was still quivering.

When we reached the stables, we found that the three horses were awake and active. Honey’s stall was in the middle, serving as a mediator between the other two. However, the stalls weren't that far apart, so all three could all see each other and communicate. At the moment, they were still wary of one another - especially the two ponies.

“Oh! She’s so cute!” Like a moth to the flame, Swift went skipping towards HandEater’s stall. Luckily, Grit was there to grab her arm and pull her away. For his part, HandEater only huffed at her.

“Be careful! That’s Father’s horse. He’s a stallion and he’s vicious.”

“What’s his name?”

“HandEater.”

“Why?”

“Because he eats children.”

I laughed aloud when Progress took a step back. “Grit is exaggerating.”

“No, I’m actually not. Not at all.”

“Not even a little bit?”

Grit stayed silent since he didn’t want to contradict me directly.

“In any case, Grit is right. You girls stay away from my horse. After all, he’s a squire’s noble steed.” After giving it a second thought, I amended my statement. “Well… we’ll see about that last part. Anyway, as my horse, he can’t be used for riding lessons, so you three have no business with him.”

“But, he’s so cute!” Swift insisted. “Look at his sweet face!”

I coughed. Grit rolled his eyes. Progress backed further out of the stables.

“Don’t you think he’s cute, Father?”

HandEater huffed again. Apparently, he was getting angry at her supposed insults to his rude, rough, and rugged personality.

“Swift. He’s a bad horse. A very BAD horse. Never forget that.”

In response, HandEater lifted his head up and neighed proudly. Now that I knew how to compliment him, I got the feeling that we’d be good friends.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Grit broke into the conversation. “Father, how about I let the horses out? It’s too dark in here and Swift probably can’t see the other pony very well. Besides, I bet they’d like to run around before night falls.”

“Good idea. Swift, take a good look at our other pony. That will be Eu’s horse. Her name is NeedMoreCandy.”

“That’s a funny name!”

“Yes, it is. Blame your sister.”

I helped Grit by directing the girls to a safe spot before we opened the stalls and let the horses loose into the paddock.

Honey marched out with a stately step, leading the other two behind her. However, once they were all outside, NeedMoreCandy shot off to explore her new bounds. In contrast, HandEater stayed close to Honey, stepping along beside her.

“The little pony is fast! Can I ride her?” Swift wiggled from head to toe in her excitement.

“Honey is bigger and safer,” suggested Progress.

“Right. That’s my thinking as well.” A strange thing to say about a warhorse, but I looked to Grit, who gave me a nod in return. He agreed with my assessment, and was silently offering to help teach his sisters.

The two mules shied away from the new ponies. These newcomers were strangers, so they didn’t want anything to do with them. In the meantime, NeedMoreCandy raced around the edge of our fences, testing out the full extent of her new territory.

“Is something wrong with HandEater?” Progress asked, so I looked back toward the other two horses. Honey had stopped to nibble on some grass, but HandEater just stood beside her, looking this way and that with his one remaining eye. He didn’t have a muzzle anymore, so I was mystified by his behavior.

Was he ill? I would have expected him to try out our grass. Maybe he was nervous since he’d never left home before? I didn’t know what to say yet, so I said nothing. Besides, there were other concerns that drew away my attention.

“Father, one of our serfs is walking this way.” Grit pointed back toward the house where the headman was approaching with his son, his apprentice, behind him.

“I’ll go see what he wants.” It was really my privilege to stand and wait for him to come to me, but I didn’t stand on status when it didn’t matter. Since my girls were outside the paddock fences and Grit was with them, I wasn’t too worried about leaving them alone for the moment.

The headman was about the same age as me. His father had served my father, so we went pretty far back. In fact, I could remember seeing him from afar when we were both children. Not that we could have ever been friends. Our status was too far apart. But, his family and mine were tied together. If our strategy with Eu bore fruit, and my own rank increased, perhaps I could do something nice for him?

When he reached speaking distance, he knelt down on one knee and lowered his head. His son did the same behind him, although he went even further and knelt on both knees. Regardless, his father did the speaking. “Squire Deft, I have something to report.”

“Go ahead. You know I don’t care about ceremonies when it’s just us.”

His son remained kneeling. However, the headman stood back up, though he kept his head low. “Some of your subjects out near the road say there were some men asking questions.”

I felt my eyebrows rising. “Men? What sort of questions?”

“Nothing unusual. They asked whose land this was, then they talked about the weather and the coming harvest season. It wouldn’t be worth reporting, except they seemed suspicious.”

“Suspicious? What do you mean?”

He rubbed at his scalp. “I’m not sure exactly. Nor were those who saw them. All I could gather is that the men were dressed as serfs, but behaved like they were free.”

“I see.” It seemed too soon, but these must be the mercenaries that Master Wit had predicted. I’d been warned that Triumph, the Earl of Winnowheat, felt like I’d stolen Eu out from under him, and this was the result.

Normally, as a squire of the Duke, I’d be confident in my position and safety on my own lands, but the Duke was gone right now. In fact, the whole system was shaky with the Seneschal’s recent opposition to the free squires. Really, it all came back to the Duchess. I had to wonder if she was making deals behind the Duke’s back. After all, she held the purse strings while the Seneschal handled the taxes.

The headman watched my face as I considered my options. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could do. I could ask for help from my superiors, but the more they knew, the more likely they’d want Eu for themselves. Maybe Brawn and my fellow squires could help me? But they had their own concerns, and with new taxes bearing down, I couldn’t ask for help without compensation.

“Thank you for the news, headman. Please tell me if they come again. In fact, keep a close eye out. I’d like to double the watch on the stables tonight.”

I could see him wince, which would normally be withheld in front of his lord, but I didn’t blame him. It was a tough life as a serf, and all the men needed their rest - especially with the harvest right around the corner.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make it up to all of you. In fact, I promise a reward after this is all done.”

After that line, I found myself wincing too. That promise was not me at my best moment. I wasn’t sure what reward I had in mind, nor did I have ready resources for anything large. However, the headman bowed his head and then gave me a smile. “My thanks. I’ll make sure it is done. For now, though, you should look to your children.”

I wasn’t sure what he was referring to, so I spun around quickly and took off running. Nothing seemed to be amiss, though Grit was waving his arms and pointing toward me. Following his gestures, the girls had both turned to look in my direction.

“What’s wrong?” I yelled out as I approached.

Grit gave me a fake smile. “Nothing, Father, but it’s time for us to go back inside.”

That was odd. I looked around at the shadows behind the nearby trees. Had he seen someone? If so, we should round up and stable the horses. On the other hand, I didn’t want to tip off our enemies. It’d be better to get the girls safely inside first - and get my helmet and my spear.

Grit saw my distress as I scanned around. “Father, it’s nothing. Really. Nothing.”

However, I could hear the tremor in his voice. He was scared of something! When I got closer, I spoke more quietly. “What is it?”

He looked toward Progress and Swift. “You two go ahead. I need to talk to Father.”

Progress apparently sensed that there was some sort of trouble, but she kept a brave face. She looked toward Swift and then grinned at her. “I’ll race you there!”

“Sister, you’re too big and slow! You’ll never win!”

“Let’s see!” Progress took off without counting down first.

“Cheater!” Swift went flying after her, aptly proving the truth of her name.

Once they were out of earshot, I turned back to Grit. “Do I need my spear?”

“No, Father. It’s nothing like that, but look at the horses.”

At first, I didn’t see it, but then it was obvious. HandEater had his upper lip raised, showing off his gums. Besides just that, he was prancing around alongside Honey. I groaned in surprise. He was courting her? She was twice his size! “Huh? I thought he was having some … difficulty?”

“Apparently not.”

At this point, HandEater gave a loud neigh and took off, galloping around Honey in a large circle. Was he nuts? Just how BIG and BAD of a horse did he think he was?

“Did your sisters see?”

“Yes, but they didn’t know what was he was doing.”

I sighed. “Well… Honey doesn’t seem to be rejecting him yet, so I guess it can’t hurt. The horses can sort out that sort of business themselves.”

“What about my sisters?”

“Hmm… as long as we keep HandEater separated during riding lessons, it should be fine.”

“What about umm… Euphoria?”

I shrugged. “If she’s going to be a squire, she’ll need to learn about horses. Besides, horses are people. She'll understand.”

“Are you sure?”

"With that girl? Of course not."