“Goodbye, Tebaud,” Peter said, glaring up at the mage.

“Thank you for your generosity,” Yvette said quickly, ignoring his rudeness. Gervas gave the reins of her horse a little tug and together they began to trot away.

She’d have preferred to have left almost two weeks ago. Unfortunately, Gervas had refused her request, instead forcing her to practice with him. As much as she wanted to ignore him, after her earlier near death experience she had no choice but to acknowledge she did need to learn a bit more before she was out on her own in the wilderness.

It was fairly obvious that their ‘host’ would have taken no greater pleasure than launching her, bodily, out of the keep himself. However, he had instead opted to avoid her as often as possible, even leaving rooms the moment she entered. If it was fear of a curse from her, or angering his lord, she didn’t know.

Once they were off the road, however, she quickly found that Gervas was a taskmaster. Somehow there always seemed to be some work to do, either some chore that magic would be best at repairing, or more practice with her dagger. On top of that, he had begun to teach her a few other skills as well, including how to wield a spear and shoot a bow. He taught her one skill in particular that still made her feel nothing but shame that she hadn’t figured it out on her own.

How to setup her tent. Using his own dagger, he’d shown her how to cut longer sticks to use as supports when there wasn’t something to hang the cotton on itself.

He’d stopped talking down to her as well and, true to his word, had continued to call her Yvette and treat her as a woman. While it felt amazing to, finally, be treated properly and not have her request denied, it also made her heart ache.

Every night she would think back to the years she had spent under Master Betan’s tutelage. Performing any task set before her, struggling to master the foundation of what it was to be a mage. Yet despite all their years together, he’d never called her Yvette. He’d never been willing to accept who she was. He would tolerate it on many days, but he refused to accept who she was. Gervas could, so why couldn’t he?

“Yvette? Are you okay?” Gervas asked.

“Huh? Oh. Just thinking,” she said softly.

“You seem awfully deep in thought to be ‘just thinking’. What’s wrong?”

She gave a soft, gentle sigh. She didn’t want to have another talk about her master. Instead, she looked around for something else to discuss, before an idea popped into her head. “I think I forgot to ask you something.”

“Oh?” he asked.

“I never asked the name of my horse. Where’d you get her from?”

He snorted and shook his head. “No, you didn’t. Now, if you ask her original owner, her name was ‘Mule’.”

Yvette let out a startled shriek when the horse suddenly kicked out.

“She doesn’t like that, though. I’ve taken to calling her Chestnut.”

“As in the tree?”

“Yes. And this mare right here? Her name is Redwood.”

“You named your horses after a tree?” she asked, staring at him. “That’s rude.”

“It’s a tradition where I’m from. To name your mount after what you want them to emulate. I know plenty who have named their horses king or queen, after great rivers, even knew one who named their’s after birds.”

“So you chose trees?”

“I need a mount that will stand firm and refuse to buckle, no matter the danger that lies ahead. One that won’t break and flee at the first sign of danger.” He reached forward and lightly patted his horse’s neck. “Redwood has been with me a few years now. Chestnut is new, though.”

“She is? How’d you get her?”

“My last job. Escorting another mage like you. Now she was a nasty little thing. Remember when I mentioned one broke my arm with her golem? She preferred things that imitated life, rather than actually were alive. Chestnut was a mageborne horse, a horse altered by magic in their growth.”

“A familiar?” Yvette offered.

“I suppose that’s a good way to put it. Her master had bred the horse and shaped it as a gift for her. He was her uncle, wanted to give her something special. She never appreciated her, though. I tanned her hide more than once for it. By the end of the journey, I took the horse as payment after having a few words with her family.”

“What words?”

“They don’t bear repeating. Chestnut is a smart horse, though. Has served me well since I got her, follows instructions. If you take good care of her, she’ll take care of you.”

Yvette nodded, looking down at the horse. Nervously, she stroked a hand down Chestnut’s mane, making her shake her head.

“She only lets girls ride her, too.”

Yvette’s quickly looked to him, feeling excitement bubble inside her. “Really?”

“No. But it felt like something I should say here. At least you’re smiling now.”

Her smile quickly turned to a frown and she looked ahead. “You’re cruel.”

“No, I’m Gervas.”

Try as she might, she couldn’t keep the frown on her face for long after that response, having to quickly cover her mouth to stifle the giggles. “That was terrible!”

She noticed his head glance towards her for a moment, but then he turned back towards the road a moment later.

She tried not to think about why or what he was thinking. For now, she only put her mind to the task ahead. He was aiding her more than he realized.

Because now that they were on the road again, they likely wouldn’t stop until they finally arrived at the vault. After that, she would likely never see him again. She wondered what he would tell Betan. That she had tricked him? Would he call her Yvette again, or return to calling her Tebaud?

Would Gervas forgive her for lying and deceiving him? Would he at least try to understand why she had to?

MelodyAvant

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