Edith Norris, as always, rose with the sun. As a farmer she was tied to the land, and its rhythms kept time for her as well as any clock. After dressing, she padded around her kitchen listening to the coffee machine chug away, while gathering up some breakfast. When the coffee was done, she poured a cup and deeply inhaled the steam coming off her mug, the dark earthy scent kicking her mind into gear. Carrying the cup to her small kitchen table, she sat and alternated mouthfuls of cereal with slurps of coffee as she mentally reviewed the tasks for the day ahead.
Make sure the feed is stored from yesterday. Look for a new supplier. Sterilize all the plumbing on the second milking line, Norris paused in her train of thought. She knew she was missing something, something significant had happened and she just couldn’t remember what. Her eyes caught the sun gleaming off the peak of the horse barn, and the image of Chiara, naked under her cloak and standing in front of a horse as black as night, swam into her mind’s eye.
“Stupid brain,” Norris muttered to herself, setting down her coffee cup and checking the clock. It was still a good couple of hours before the town’s large animal vet opened for work, but she could leave a message asking him to come out in the next few days to examine the horse. Norris stuffed her feet into her boots, abandoned her half finished coffee to cool on the counter, and headed out the door, dialing Dr. Alberto’s number as she did so.
As she crossed the open area between the house and the working farm buildings, a couple of Norris’s other hands waved to her as they brought in the dairy cows for their morning milking. She had a small crew of hands, beside Chiara, and all of them knew their jobs without her having to stand over them. She waved back and, finishing her message for Alberto’s receptionist to get back to her, entered the barn.
It was quiet in the barn, the rising sun filling the main passageway with golden light and the rich, strong smells of an active farm filled the building. Looking around, she saw her three horses dozing away in their stalls. All three were older animals, well trained, well fed and were all superlative therapy horses, which brought in a tidy sum from the local therapeutic riding association, who regularly leased their use.
The fourth stall was her quarantine stall, for use when one of her animals was sick and as Norris sent her gaze at it, she saw a pair of intelligent eyes looking back her. It was the animal Chiara had brought in last night and Norris was able to get her first good look at it.
“Oh my,” said Norris, breathily, as she took in the features of the horse in the stall. “You are a beauty.” The horse was simply gorgeous and the little girl inside of the mature woman squeed in delight. The animal was glossy black, dark as the night, with the best conformation Norris had ever seen, and its ears had pricked forward at Norris’s words, showing an active mind. Even better, the horse wasn’t panicking or looking anxious, as many wild horses would when finding themselves confined in a stall.
“Hello there,” said Norris, walking up to the stall wall and extending her hand, palm down, for the horse to smell. “Welcome to my farm.”
Luna looked at the extended paw of the creature on the other side of the stall, then back to the face of the older not-minotaur. She had been awoken by the sound of her supplicant’s dam entering the building and had watched her approach. Luna was impressed by what she saw. A mature individual with a confident gait and purposeful carriage, wearing sensible, sturdy coverings that was extending a paw in friendship to her with a welcoming tone of voice.
Curse this form, Luna thought to herself. I can’t even touch hooves with her. But then her body instinctively moved her forward and she inhaled the scent of the creature. It must have been the right thing to do, as the creature smiled, and said something in a pleased tone. The not-minotaur grabbed something from a peg on the wall and opening the door, joined Luna in the stall.
“Easy there,” said Norris, in the gentle tone one used with animals, particularly new ones. You never made abrupt motions, you didn’t force eye contact, you stayed in their field of vision, and you kept talking in a calm, steady voice. Norris smiled as she moved to stand beside the strange, black horse who seemed to be taking her presence in stride. “Hi there, I’m going to put my hand on you now, if you don’t mind,” Norris said, gently placing her hand on the animal’s shoulder.
Luna let the minotaur put its paw on her shoulder; it was only trying to be friendly after all. Almost immediately the creature found the healing scars from Luna’s fight with the great cat, and it carefully traced the parallel lines. The creature made soft, comforting noises as it felt out Luna’s shoulder and chest for lingering damage. It was a friendly, caring touch and Luna allowed herself to relax at the physical contact. Shifting her attention, she extended her other senses and she could feel her supplicant nearby, the slow, but steady flow of magic from the filly had brought Luna’s mind all the way back, and it was truly wonderful to be able to think clearly again.
If my worshiper keeps supplying me with magic, I should begin to regain my abilities in a few weeks, thought Luna. Wait...what is she... Luna froze as she felt the straps tighten on the bridle the minotaur had slipped over her head while she was preoccupied. How DARE she? Luna reared back in anger, bumping against the back wall of the stall. The impact shook her out of her indignation at being bridled, and she realized she was being foolish. I’ve been given food, water and shelter by these creatures, and as far as they know I am nothing but an animal. Naturally, they are laying a claim to me, as would any Equestrian farmer with a wild animal they had taken in.
“Sorry if I startled you there,” said Norris, to the horse, as she finished securing the animal by snapping a pair of leads to the halter. “But you were so calm up to that point, I was thinking you weren’t as wild as you looked.” Norris watched as the horse tested the leads once with a tug, and then took a step forward to make the lines go slack. The horse looked at her as if to say, “Well? Now what?”
The creature was stroking Luna’s neck while making noises that were sounding oddly apologetic and Luna looked across to the other three equines in the building and saw that they too wore bridles. She was being treated no differently than they, and none of them appeared abused or harmed. In fact, they all looked to be in excellent shape. It is likely for the best if I act like them for now, Luna thought. A simple, brute animal grateful for food and water. Luna leaned her head over as far as the halter and leads would allow, and briefly nuzzled the not-minotaur’s shoulder to demonstrate her thanks.
“That tears it,” said Norris, smiling as the horse nuzzled her. “No wild horse behaves like you do. Either you are way smarter than you look, or you belonged to somebody at some point, or both.” Norris moved to the horse’s left side, and ran her hands slowly down the front leg as she knelt beside it. “Easy there, I just want to have a look at your hoof and—” Norris paused, as she got her a good look at the horse’s underside. “Huh, I definitely remember Chiara calling you ‘he’ last night. No wonder you’re a little touchy, I would be too if someone kept calling me a man. But you, my dear, are all mare. All right, I’m lifting your leg now.” Setting actions to words she lifted the mare’s leg, bending it at the knee and setting it to rest on her own bent leg.
“And that is what we call a solved mystery,” Norris said, smiling in satisfaction as a metal horseshoe glinted back up at her. “No one shoes wild horses, which means you belonged to someone at some point. All that wildness was just what you had to do to survive.” Norris heard Chiara’s quiet snores from the hay loft and smiled as she looked over at some tack hanging on the wall. “Let me do a good check on you girl, and then we’ll see if we can’t get you reacquainted with a saddle.”
The sun poured through the glass window in a golden stream, motes of dust shining like tiny stars in the wide beam of light, which fell full upon the young woman wrapped in a horse blanket on a pile of loose hay. Golden hair spilled around a head that was pillowed on a folded cloak of sturdy grey wool and the steady purr of restful slumber came from the woman. As the sun continued its shining caress on the woman, it warmed her and the blanket she was under, until the sun’s warmth slowly moved from comforting to excessive, and the woman began to stir under her cover.
At first, the woman slowly pushed more and more of the blanket off of her, in an unconscious effort to cool herself, but as perspiration began to bead her forehead, and her sleep became more and more restless she rolled on her makeshift bed and flung out an arm, throwing most of the blanket off of her. Her torso now naked to the world, the woman should have begun to cool, but the direct sunlight she was in prevented that, and sweat began to gather under her modest breasts and in the hollow of her navel. Finally, the heat, her sweat, and the scratchiness of the hay under her outstretched arm combined together to bring the woman to wakefulness.
Chiara opened her eyes and just took in the sun for a moment, lazily taking in the scene around her while her brain worked out where she was. Back in the hay loft, she thought, as she listened to the sounds of the farm around her. All farms have a rhythm and a pace to them, and Norris Dairy Farm was no exception. So, as the various sounds filtered through the barn’s walls to Chiara’s ears. the back of her mind slowly added those sounds together to come up with a time of day. A time of day that was well beyond both Chiara’s normal rising hour and the time she should have been on the job.
“Crap!” Chiara exclaimed, bolting upright as adrenaline dumped into her system. “Crap, crap, crap. I’m late. Oh...Mrs. Norris is gonna kill me.” She scrambled up, off of her bed of loose hay and grabbing up her cloak, swung it around her naked body and fastened the clasp at her throat. All of her clothes were back at her cottage. She would have to run back home, get dressed for work and bike back as fast as she could. She turned toward the door to leave but was brought up short as she saw a note pinned to the door.
Chiara,
I’ve let you sleep because I figured you needed it. There are clothes and some breakfast for you on the other side of the door. Join me at the paddock when you can.
Mrs. Norris
Thank the Goddess, Mrs. Norris isn’t mad at me, Chiara thought, breathing a sigh of relief. Carefully opening the door in front of her, Chiara saw a small tray holding a bottle of water, a pair of muffins and folded stack of clothes. Grabbing the tray, she began to wolf down the muffins with one hand while going through the clothes with the other. She recognized them as the backup clothes Mrs. Norris kept on hand for her in case the weather got bad while she was working. A near new pair of jeans, button up flannel shirt, undergarments, socks, belt and a broken in pair of work boots awaited her and as she inhaled the last piece of muffin she dove into the clothes.
Chiara stepped into the passageway through the middle of the barn, stuffing the ends of her shirt into her pants as she did so. Looking around in the light of the new day she saw three horses looking back at her from their stalls. Daisy, Clover and Muffins were always happy to see her and she smiled back at them until she remembered that there should be a fourth equine face looking back at her.
“Where are you?” Chiara asked herself, as she looked into the quarantine stall. Then she remembered Mrs. Norris’s note and her eyes widened in shocked surprise. “No, no, no,” she babbled and sprinted for the exit. As she pelted out of the building to the nearby paddock she blinked as her eyes adjusted to the direct sunlight and then blinked again at the sight she saw in the fenced in area.
Her landlady, Mrs. Norris, was slowly riding around the paddock on her sacred horse. The very animal that had manifested wings and a horn as an avatar of the Goddess was being ridden around like a common beast of burden. Norris saw her young hand standing by fence, looking like she’d been hit in the face with a two by four, and smiled to herself as she directed her mount back toward the girl. When she had first mounted this mare, half an hour ago a wild and wonderful plan had leapt into her mind fully formed, and with Chiara now here it was time to set it into action.
“Good morning, Chiara,” said Mrs. Norris pleasantly as she reined her mount to a stop by the girl. “I trust you had a good sleep?”
“I...you...he...” Chiara stammered out, jaw hanging open.
“Well girl, spit it out,” Norris said, enjoying Chiara’s reaction far more than she let on. “Don’t just stand there like a landed fish with your mouth gaping open.” Chiara closed her mouth with an almost audible snap and took a deep breath through her nose.
“Mrs. Norris—” Chiara began, and Norris blinked as Chiara took the most assertive tone she had ever heard out of the young woman. “—with all due respect, that horse is, or at least was, an avatar of the Goddess. He should be treated with respect as such and not be ridden around like a common animal.”
“Chiara, I love you like a daughter, and it does my heart good to see that you’ll stand up to anyone, even me, that does something you think is wrong,” Norris said, as Chiara’s body language relaxed at the praise. “But there are a few things you’re wrong about here.”
“Oh,” said Chiara, in a much less confrontational tone. “What am I wrong about?”
“First off, this isn’t some magic horse,” began Norris, reaching down to pat the glossy black neck of her mount. “She’s flesh and blood, and though she may have been wild for awhile, she didn’t start that way. She’s shod, and one of the gentlest and most intelligent mounts it’s been my pleasure to be astride. Finally, you notice I’ve been calling this horse ‘she’? That’s because you got it wrong. This is a mare. Not a stallion.”
“I’m sorry,” said Chiara, hanging her head. “I shouldn’t have talked back to you, especially when I know you know more than I do.”
“It's fine, and besides I already said I was okay with it,” Norris said, in assurance as she dismounted. The three of them, Chiara, Norris and the horse were now clustered together closely at the fence, and Norris looked intently into the face of the young woman she had known for the past four years. “Chiara, do you trust me enough to let me run every bit of your life for the next three months?”
“Ma’am, I don’t think I’m exaggerating much when I say that you saved me back when we first met,” said Chiara, in a quiet voice. “I trust you. What do you need me to do?”
“In three months time the ‘New Riders and Horses Dressage’ happens,” said Norris, as Chiara’s eyes opened wide in realization. “I want to enter you and this horse in that competition.”
“Me?” squeaked Chiara. “But I’ve never ridden a horse in my life. I mean, I’ve fed and watered them, mucked out their stalls, but that’s it.”
“I know,” Norris said. “That’s why you’ll be perfect for it. And Blackie here might have been owned at one point, but she’s been wild enough, long enough, to be considered a new horse. Hmm, ‘Blackie’ is a silly name. She needs something better, something befitting a lady like her. Any ideas?”
“Selune, Artemis, um...Moonie?” said Chiara, as she said whatever came to mind. “Wild or not, she was granted the aspect of Selune, so she should have a name that has to do with the moon.”
“Hmmm, something to do with the night or the moon would suit her,” said Norris, pensively, then nodded. “I’ve got it. Come close and put your face right in front of hers.”
“Okay,” said Chiara, putting her face a few inches away from the mouth of the night black horse. She looked up into the great eyes of the mare before her, who looked back directly into her own eyes and she began to lose herself in that inhuman regard. “Now what?”
“This is an old Irish ritual to bond horse and rider,” said Norris with a quiet, intent voice. “Breathe in as she breathes out, breathe out as she breathes in. Share each other’s air, like you will share a saddle. Share each other’s lives, because you both are gonna depend on the other.” Norris waited until she saw Chiara obey, new mount and incipient rider sharing each other’s air and unbidden, Norris felt the hairs on the back of her arm start to rise.
“I name thee, Luna,” Norris said in pronouncement, and the hairs on her arms went straight up. Ignoring the sensation she quietly said, “Luna, this is your rider, Chiara. Chiara, say hello to Luna.”
“Hello Luna,” said Chiara, still lost in those equine depths. “I’m Chiara.”
Luna had found being saddled and ridden a surprisingly pleasant experience. She hadn’t been sure what to make of the saddle the older creature had strapped to her at first, but the being’s calm words and gentle touches had told Luna that no harm was intended. She had allowed herself to be lead out of the stall, without protest, and into a nearby fenced area where the use of the saddle became evident when the creature had levered itself onto Luna’s back. Luna hadn’t been sure of what to do at that point and had shuffled around somewhat nervously.
The creature now sitting astride Luna continued to speak calmly to her, stroking her neck and Luna felt her nervousness abating. This then, was to be her purpose here, Luna realized. The life of being these creatures riding animal wouldn’t be so bad. Her supplicant’s dam was an easy weight on Luna’s back and it obviously meant to take care of Luna in exchange for her service as a mount, as it did the other equines in its service.
Luna decided that she could accept that, and over the next while allowed the creature to command and control her as she learned to move as it directed her. It was oddly like following the directions of a dance partner: Luna learned to stop, start, walk, trot and turn in response to the pressure from a knee, or a pull on her reins. The creature never raised its voice at Luna, even when she made a mistake. It simply repeated the command through its knees or the reins, and spoke again in that same calm voice, until Luna got it right and the creature’s patience and gentleness laid to rest Luna’s last worries about submitting herself to these creatures’ control.
Luna was trotting in a circle with her rider when she caught sight of her worshiper standing outside the fence line and she was reined to a stop opposite the filly. Dam and filly spoke for a moment or two and then the dam got off of Luna.
Magic or not, I need to start learning their language, thought Luna as filly and dam resumed their conversation, which ended oddly as the dam pulled Luna and the filly’s head close to each other. A moment later Luna felt the filly’s breaths waft across her nose and Luna realized that the filly was sharing its breath with her. How do they know this? Luna thought, as the filly’s air carried its magic deep into Luna. This is an old unicorn ritual for parents to kindle a newborn foal’s magic. How can they know this?
“Luna,” said the dam, and as the creature spoke Luna’s name, the magic Luna was inhaling from her worshipper kindled to life the forgotten and banked embers of Luna’s own magic into fitful flame. “Luna, hii ni mpanda yako, Chiara. Chiara, kusema vor Luna.” Luna’s ears went back as she realized the creature was introducing its filly to her.
“Vor Luna, ni Chiara,” said the filly, deeply inhaling Luna’s breath as it did.
Chiara. Her name is Chiara, thought Luna. Hello Chiara, I’m Luna. Luna nuzzled the short yellow mane of the filly and as she did Luna felt something latch into place between the two of them.
“Now, that’s what I call bonding,” said Norris smiling, as she watched Chiara nuzzle back against the side of the horse’s face. It always gave her a warm feeling to see a horse and rider begin the relationship between them.
“Not that I’m complaining, but why do you want me and Luna to bond like this?” asked Chiara, one hand still on the horse’s neck as if she never wanted to take it off.
“Other pairs for the competition have been training for months already,” Norris said, smile changing to a determined look. “If the two of you are going to be at all competitive, you need to be with her and riding her as much as possible. You need to bond with each other to the point where the two of you are in perfect sync. You need to know Luna’s every move and mood, and she needs to have complete trust in you, as well as learn all the moves she will need to know.”
“Do you really think we can do it?” Chiara asked, eyes wide at the enormity of the task.
“You’ve got a good shot at it,” Norris said, smile returning. “She’s gorgeous, and you aren’t bad to look at either.” Chiara blushed. “Plus, you’re a light little thing and Luna’s smart as a whip. You both have a hell of a good shot at doing well. So, first things first. We’ll start out with you learning the proper way to curry, wash, and dry a horse.”