Kenton and Shelby passed through the doors, and continued their journey.

The next series of halls and rooms they traversed were strange. Instead of dark and dim and tight, the halls were well lit, entire ceilings glowing softly, and there was a dusty, forgotten grandeur across all the wide halls.

Of course, there were still odd junctions to cross, that had the more familiar creepy and dank feeling that Kenton was familiar with. He was deep inside the Stable now, but perhaps not in a place he had ever been to before. Kenton felt his adventurous spirit dwindle and the aching in his joints increase as they wandered forward. He knew how to handle the old, worn-down outer sections of the Stable, where most of the common creatures were kept. He also knew how to navigate the murky and dangerous sections of the deeper reaches of the Stable, the places only Mappers and very specialized grooms traveled.

But this? It was dusty and forgotten, but it felt neither mundane and boring as the outer section nor otherworldly and nerving-retching as the inner. Knowing what to expect had been key to his career as a mapper. And now he was moving forward without even bringing a map with him at all!

"So." Said the redhaired maid, as they moved past yet another empty, echoing room. "What is the Stable anyway?"

"It's where the beasts and creatures are housed by the Fae, of all levels." Kenton thought he recognized an entryway that normally led to a closet, expect now opened to a moonlit meadow outside. (Word of Mapper advice: Never leave the Stable except at the cleared and certified exits.)

"So... everyone parks their donkey here? Because there are a lot of people in the Citadel. Does everyone keep their animals here?"

That would be a mad house. "There are thousands of creatures kept here. Perhaps hundreds of thousands, I have no way of knowing. But even then, no. There is a price to keep a creature here, and sometimes you don't need your...donkey to benefit from staying here. Many Estates have their own arrangements for most of their creatures."

"Because that would be a traffic jam in the morning. Like..." here she put on a lilting drawl over her words, accent changing as she mimed someone else "You need to more your water elephant, so I can get my fire zebra out!"

It was clear she was making a joke.

But it was actually a very common conversation he had overheard during all his years working here. He debated corrected her assumption, but realized she didn't really care, so he let it go.

"So...not everyone keeps every animal here?"

"The logistics are already very complicated as they are. There are courts that have their own housing for their creatures. And in many cases, the creatures are prepared and brought out to their owners before they leave, limiting the amount of people who enter. For example, if a Court is going back to their territory, they would let the Stable know up to 2 weeks in advance, so the Stable can have all the animals ready to go Also, few are brave enough to enter here."

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"Why? This place is great! Love the free breakfast and the beds are very comfy. All in all, great accommodations." She smiled back at him, dimples appearing on her face.

Another joke. Kenton was about to say something, but decided it would be rude and changed it. They moved through a section of dark and scary tunnels, and Kenton had the feeling like...they were underwater somehow. The drips of water from all sides was a surreal experience. "The Stable is dangerous. The outer edges are safe enough, but the deeper inside, the more perilous the journey grows."

"Why does it grow more dangerous the further in one goes?" She asked ahead of him again. She had a habit of walking first through doorways.

"Because...there are more unsafe creatures inside." Old habit kept triggering, as he'd come across an intersection and he couldn't pull out a quill and parchment and trace his route down. But he had no map and no paper at all!

Shelby mulled for several seconds before she asked her next question. "Why keep unsafe creatures at all?"

"I don't know. Sometimes I think something is dangerous because it is misunderstood, or it is dangerous because it is understood exactly."

"So, and correct me if I'm wrong. Firstly, there is a magical stable, called The Great Stable, that has magical creatures inside, that aren't safe, and instead of...not keeping the dangerous creatures, they just vaguely warn you to 'stay away from the dangerous parts', while that is impossible because the halls actually move."

"Well...yes."

"Why bother with that at all!? If people even have their own kennels and stables anyway. Why go through the work at all? And all the danger?"

Kenton paused as he shuffled through a narrow archway he vaguely remembered. Few Fae ever asked questions. So afraid of accumulating debt, they remained in uneasy ignorance. He chose his next words carefully. "Because it's worth the danger."

"What?"

"There is a price to keep your creature here, and the fae are happy to pay it. It is worth it to even risk your life here working, in just 137 years I went from the lowest of the Lowlings, to nearly Middling. And, even when I hate it, I have to admit the truth, it is worth it. You know what griffins are?"

"I've seen them. They are really bad near the Patala falls." Shelby adjusted a curl to keep it from her face.

"Griffins in the wild are short-lived and stupid. Cunning, but no speech. No true reason. Just terrible instinct. But those that spend time here? They change. They are still griffins, but they become...more themselves."

"I beg your pardon? They talk?"

"Griffins reared here do. If they are here long enough...they become able to have full dialogue. They never cease being griffins. But they gain some...Spark. A light. And some seem to get it faster and earlier than others." His shoulder twinged with discomfort as he remembered Cinnamon Girl's unfriendly embrace. "Some can reason and plan very annoying distractions."

"Only griffins can talk?"

"Each creature has its own...limits. Griffins, even wild griffins, are very cunning, therefore an elevated griffin even more so. Because creatures who spend time here are changed. Perfected. Elevated. Made more like us. All creatures kept here change. Horses, owls, griffins, Jacko lanterns, jackalopes, basilisk, hippogriff, manticore. Even mice can change."