“No! Head, between ears. Best place!” argued Pip with Lightfeather as the little squirrel tried to teach me how to ride a horse.

“Seriously. How many times do I have to tell you that humans can’t sit on a horse’s head?! We’re too damn big for that.”

“Get smaller.”

The caretaker snorted. “Sure, like that would be easy.” Then understanding flashed in her eyes, and she gave the little squirrel an amused look. “You’d love it if I were your size, wouldn’t you, Pip? You’d crack me up, show me who’s boss, huh?”

“N-no?” squeaked the squirrel, faltering.

“Oh, come on! You’ve told me several times.”

As funny as I found their bickering, my focus was on my posture and the mare I was sitting on. Shortly after we left the barracks gates, Deckard showed up, apologizing for not making it sooner. A little late, but he took it upon himself to teach me the basics of riding a horse.

With my reins in his hands while my mare followed his horse, I did my best to take it all in. Deckard didn’t instruct me for long, though.

Well, longer than I thought he was. A solid hour into the trip, when I checked the time, which seemed to fly by quickly while looking down on the world from horseback. However, an hour was enough for me to tell him that his guidance was no longer necessary.

No, I wasn’t a born horse rider. It was the mare.

According to the cranky stableman who gave her to me in spite of his irritation, the calmest of all the horses under his care. I would also add the smartest and most caring. The mare, Jewel, carried herself with genuine care while she tried to guide me. Despite the absence of any intelligible words in her neighing, her intentions helped me learn how to sit properly in the saddle and carry myself to the rhythm of her gait. Jewel taught me how to let her know if I wanted to change direction, speed up, slow down, or stop altogether.

Then there was Pipsqueak, the little squirrel, trying to show me her riding skills and impart knowledge. It was fun and made my day. However, I learned more from the mare herself than from this chatty rascal.

Yet despite all that, riding the horse was somewhat nerve-wracking for me. At first, I couldn’t put my finger on it. After all, I had no issue driving a car in the morning rush hour traffic of a busy city. Then, as we neared the fork in the road to Granhill lying beyond Esulmor, it slowly clicked in.

Holding the reins was different from holding the wheel and pressing the pedals. If I had to put it into words, one of the things that kept me in suspense was the lack of control while riding the horse.

That went hand in hand with the feeling that I was imposing my control over another living being, which made me sick. If it weren’t for the mare assuring me it was okay, I would have felt like a slaver and probably given up on riding as such.

Her talking to me was where I found another difference from driving a car. When you talk to it, and I have talked to my father’s car quite often, it never answers back. I’m sure if I called Jewel a piece of junk, she wouldn’t take it lying down and might even throw me off.

But my ride was kind. And since I was being nice too, despite how I felt, she taught me with the patience of a mother how to ride in the saddle. What kind of car would do that?

“I can’t understand why all the animals are so sweet to you,” Lightfeather remarked when she had stopped arguing with Pipsqueak sitting on Jewel’s head. Basically, ever since Deckard handed me the reins, this beast talker and her little friend have been riding alongside me. In fact, chatting with her about animal communication made the journey I first took in the cage under the tarp and back sleeping pass pleasantly by.

At her question, I could do nothing but shrug. “Beats me.” The way the animals treated me was a mystery to me, too. If only because it wasn’t a case for beasts. So far, none of them have shown me any respect.

“There must be something in yours...bloodlines,” she pondered.

“Probably.” I mean, what else, right?

“Pip, why are you being so nice to her?”

The squirrel cocked her head. “She, lady.”

“Highborn? Is that what I sense in her words when she speaks of you, Grey?”

Nodding, I was wondering the same thing. “Don’t ask me why. Jewel, though not as explicitly, talks to me the same way. And did I mention the dog?”

“No. He called you a lady, too?”

“Um-hmm.”

“Shit!”

Little squirrel squeaked in, puzzled. “Wren, need to go?”

“No, Pip!” Lightfeather said briskly, letting out a weary sigh when I chuckled. “It’s just an expression, a slur.”

“Fur? Mine, beautiful, shiny. Yours, lady?”

“Eh, soft,” I said after a moment’s hesitation.

“Can try?” Her voice and intentions oozed delight, and so it broke my heart to disappoint her.

“Sorry, Pipsqueak, my tail is full of poison,” I said, doing my best to make my words carry the right meaning. “You can try my hair if you like, but I’m afraid it’s not as soft.”

The squirrel squealed with delight nevertheless and scrambled over the mare’s neck, back, and saddle in a flash. Before I knew it, she was climbing up my shirt and into my hair.

“Be careful of the moss up there,” I warned her, not intending to lose Esu’s gift for the joy of a small rodent when I managed to keep it alive for so long. And certainly not now that we were so close to Esulmor Woods.

“Pip, careful,” squeaked the squirrel to reassure me, already on top of my head.

“I’m sorry about her, Grey,” Lightfeather said, eyeing the little rodent playing with my hair. “Say the word, and I’ll rid you of her.”

“It’s all right. Is she always like this?”

“You mean crafty? Yeah, she pretty much always gets her way. If I had to guess, she’s had her eyes on your fur ever since we met.”

“So she understands you without the intent behind your words?”

Lightfeather laughed. “Too well. Sometimes I forget how well. And she’s using it to her benefit.”

She then explained how she works with animals and beasts every day and is used to explaining everything to them over and over again to teach them what her words mean. It was interesting to listen, to learn that there were strong people here other than those interested in fighting.

“What are your thoughts on the Lord of the Woods?” she asked me when I mentioned that he also understood me without meaning behind my words.

“Powerful beyond my understanding.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I thought I was ready when I first went in but nearly crapped my pants when he showed up.”

“He destroyed mine,” I said with a chuckle, adding an explanation of how he had freed me from the shackles and magical bonds placed upon me by the Labyrinth Square.

“Any insight you can give me?” Lightfeather asked as the talk veered towards Esu. “Look, I’ve learned that it’s not a good habit to overlook the perspectives of others. People can be biased, focused on one thing, while another may be nosy in something else. I am no exception, Grey. So I appreciate anything you can give me. Even little things you consider unimportant can help me in my work and keep me alive longer.”

“Huge, powerful, wise,” remarked the little squirrel playing with my hair.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Shush, Pip. I didn’t ask you.”

“But she’s right,” I said, seeing Lightfeather’s take on things perfectly understandable, and in fact, there was no need to think too much about her question. One thing in particular made my ears twitch every time she talked about Esu. “I’ve already told Lord Wigram, but you should consider stop calling Esu Lord of the Woods. Esu is Esu.”

“You serious?”

“Absolutely,” I assured her and gave her the same explanation I gave to the Imperial Chief Healer. That it wasn’t Esu himself who brought it to my attention, but one of the mossbear mothers.

“That son of a bitch!” Lightfeather cursed, throwing an angry glance at the carriage ahead.

“Pup, who?” butted in Pipsqueak, amused. The little rascal has created a sort of nest in my hair.

However, knowing what she was getting at, I decided to humor her.

“Did you know, Pipsqueak, that Esu called me his pup?”

The squirrel paused for a second, pondering. “That makes sense.”

It did? The little squirrel surprised me again.

“Did you expect her to say you were the daughter of a bitch?” Lightfeather asked with a smirk. “She’s too smart for that. Besides, she’s met ‘Esu’ before. She wouldn’t dare.”

“On the other hand, I don’t get how the Imperial Chief Healer could have kept something like that from me! Seriously! I mean, most of the talks are with Esu, and I didn’t see a hint of irritation in him at being called King of the Woods, but...”

She seemed really pissed off that Lord Wigram didn’t tell her. Speaking of the devil, one of the mounted soldiers escorting the carriage slowed, waiting for us to reach him. “Ma’am, Grey, the Imperial Chief Healer wants to talk to you.”

“Are we stopping?” A perfectly normal question given that we have reached the crossroads. The road straight ahead went through Esulmor, the one to the right, then around it to Granhill. The soldier saw it differently, though. To him, my question was stupid enough to make him raise an eyebrow. “First time?”

“First time, what? Riding? Yes.”

Lightfeather cracked up laughing, quickly gesturing apologies to the man. “Sorry, we’ll be right there.” Then she turned to me. “We’ll ride alongside the carriage. Time to show what Pip taught you, Grey.”

Well, I’ve certainly come a long way when it comes to horseback riding. After all, until the start of this journey, all I knew was which way to sit in the saddle. Now I could somehow navigate the mare to the Imperial Chief Healer’s carriage. But I was under no illusions that I was far from being a horsemaster.

“Pip, taught well,” the squirrel chirped from the top of my head as I managed to match the speed of the carriage. Whether this was to her credit was questionable, though. The lion’s share of my horsemanship lay with the mare herself.

“Miss Grey, Major Lightfeather,” the Imperial Chief Healer peeked out of the carriage and greeted us as soon as one of the soldiers made him aware of our presence. “I see you’ve already gotten to know each other. Excellent. That’ll make it easier.”

“”My lord."" I spoke at one with the woman riding closer to the carriage, but unlike her, I had no idea how to do the proper bow in the saddle. Worse, I was shocked to find out she was a major. My mistake, though. I should have learned what those pins and stuff on the stripes of army uniforms and those of city guards meant.

“You seem uneasy, Miss Grey.”

No shit! The woman I’d been talking to almost like a friend for the last few hours had a higher rank in the military than Rayden, if I wasn’t mistaken.

“You have no reason to be anxious, unlike me.”

Huh? “What do you mean, my lord?”

“That you have been to Esulmor before. You have met Esu. I haven’t. All my knowledge of this forest and its denizens comes from books and reports.”

“Speaking of reports,” butted in Major, her upset toned down. “You’re likely used to just reading them, but you could have informed me of the detail that it would be better not to call Esu Lord of the Woods.”

“Ah, that. Would you believe I forgot?”

He tried to blame his terrible memory on me once before.

Even Lightfeather was not fooled and gritted her teeth. “Look. I need to be in the loop. A small mistake, something that doesn’t match in our speech, a hint of falsehood in our body language, and we are all done! My lord.”

He gave her the most sincere look. “You made sure I knew, Major. And I assure you, I’ve been completely open with you. The fact that Miss Grey came up with truly slipped my mind during our morning meeting, but I don’t think it would be such a disaster nevertheless. Sahal has gone hundreds of years without that knowledge. As I understand it, the most important thing is the respect behind the words.”

I had to agree with him on that, and even Lightfeather found his answer satisfactory. To the point where she turned her gaze on me. The playfulness in her eyes I knew was gone, replaced by gravity. “That goes for you too, Grey. If you have anything to say or disagree with, say it now. I don’t want to end up like the last guy.”

Gulping, I hesitated to ask. “Did Esu...? You know...”

“Yeah, all that was left of him was a pile of moss.”

“Fuck!” The memory of the gruesome deaths of the two Shadowbrekers was still vivid in my mind. Not something I wanted to see a second time.

“Come on, Major. That was seven years ago. You weren’t even there.”

“Forgive me, but neither were you! In my experience, nobles are full of shit, my lord.”

The soldiers around the carriage moved, drawing their swords. “You dare to speak like that to the Imperial Chief Healer.”

She didn’t budge a step, holding their gaze. “Yeah, I do. And even you boys and girls should be sure that we all are on the same page. Otherwise, you will face beasts you do not wish.”

“It’s all right,” said Lord Wigram, calling off the soldiers. “As I said, I’ve been completely honest with you, Major.”

Not right away, but she gave him a polite nod. “I sincerely hope so.”

“So, what about you, Grey? Anything on your mind?” she asked me again.

“Wren, serious. Serious when scared,” the little squirrel squeaked. But I could see that myself, so I let the remark that there was probably nothing but a squirrel on top of my mind/head go.

“Actually, I don’t know what’s expected of me?” I said bluntly, which I thought the woman would appreciate the most. “You want me to talk to Esu? I honestly don’t know if he’ll even show up. It could just be one of the mothers overseeing my training.”

“So that part wasn’t some bullshit?” Lightfeather asked, not averse to using harsher words in the presence of Lord Wigram. “You’re really going to train with the beasts?”

“Yeah, I sort of already did.”

“You’re crazier than I thought,” she said and added some profanity, making the Imperial Chief Healer chuckle. “You must understand that Major Lightfeather has served as an interpreter between the Empire and Esu for the past few years. She knows very well of his might and the power of the other mossbears. On that note, that’s why I wanted to talk to you two and why Major is here. She’ll do the talking.”

“Yeah, I figured. So talking to Esu was always part of the plan?”

“Oh, not at all, Miss Grey. However, to put the need to talk to him entirely on your shoulders would be unfair. The Shadowbreaker company and their let’s say ‘employer’ played a big role in that. We just need to make sure everything is okay between Esulmor and the Sahal Empire.”

He then gestured to Lightfeather. “Major arrived last night from Granhill, where she is stationed, at my request.”

“O-okay, if she’s gonna be the one mediating the meeting, what am I supposed to do?”

“You’re going there to train, and I’d like to keep it that way.” Was it just my feeling, or was he warning me not to make trouble?

Lord Wigram chuckled again. “Miss Grey, I know your mentor very well. Ever since he was a little boy, I wasn’t an Imperial Chief Healer yet. Even then, he was a big troublemaker.”

“I’m not Deckard. I’m not looking for any trouble, trust me.”

“Oh, I believe you. However, the trouble seems to walk in your wake.”

True, but... “Hardly my fault!”

“I’m not faulting you for anything. I’m just trying to point out that you should avoid unnecessary actions that could cause issues. We need this meeting to go as smoothly as possible.”

“Then why are you coming with me? You could have gone yesterday or tomorrow. Heck, why not next week? Ah… you want to use me to get on the good side of Esu.” Could I blame them, though?

“That’s not what I was told,” Lightfeather argued, to my surprise.

“Nor is that the case, Major,” Lord Wigram assured her. “We don’t want to disturb the Lord of the Woods any more than necessary. As I understand, it always carries the risk of finding him in a bad mood. The fact that he’s expecting you reduces that risk. Our main concern is to make sure he has no intentions of attacking Sahal, but of course, we want to assure him we have no issues with him training you as well.” He paused, stopping Lightfeather. “And yes, Major. There is also concern about no adult mossbear leaving the woods this year. Something has changed, and so this visit is most timely.”

“Good, that matches,” the caretaker riding next to me said. “As I tell anyone who wants to talk to him, I need to be in the loop no matter what. And I don’t care if it’s just a lordling curious to see the legendary beast or the Emperor himself.”

“Well said, Major. I admire your attitude,” Lord Wigram said, praising her. However, there was a but in his words. “Nevertheless, if you ever have the honor of speaking with the Emperor, I would recommend a little more respect. He doesn’t come from humble origins, as you or I do. You wouldn’t find him as understanding and benevolent as I am.”

For the first time, Lightfeather’s eyes flashed with what seemed to be respect. Even she had to admit that to do so would indeed be pushing it too far. “I understand, my lord.”

Her demeanor made me wonder if Lightfeather had never met the Emperor. For if she hadn’t, it would mean that the man hadn’t dealt with Esu personally in at least the last seven years. Quite rude if you ask me.

On the other hand, when Janina talked about beast talkers, she mentioned more of them. The Emperor may well have had his own, or Lightfeather wasn’t the only one stationed in Granhill. Questions I was about to ask when a little squirrel, playing between my ears, froze, clutching my hair in her little paws so hard it hurt.

“Pipsqueak? What’s wrong...?” I froze as she did even before I could finish my question. The unfamiliar presence that hit me sent shivers down my spine and made me break out in a cold sweat.

“Grey? Pip?” Major asked, edge of wariness in her voice, as she caught sight of the two of us scared shitless. Little did she know that there was something terrifying closing in on us.

Alarm bells were going off in my mind. I had to warn them! I had to tell them we were in danger!

Only my urge to warn others was not met with a response from my throat. I failed to make a single sound. Distress gripped my heart for a second before I at once calmed my panicking mind with [Indomitable Will] and thought of the union ring.

“Deckard, something’s coming!” I shouted in my mind at him as loud as I could, hoping he was in range. But by then, the warning horns already sounded, alerting the entire column to approaching danger.