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Amalia followed Tanistrae into the stable, and immediately the smell of horses and their leavings assaulted her nostrils. She watched her step. Long ago she had learned to be wary amongst horses. Not so much of the animals themselves, but rather of the trails they left behind them...
The wooden building was huge by her own country's standards, and she imagined that there must be room for at least forty or fifty mounts within. She followed the Ionian woman down one of several rows of stalls, some empty, some occupied by horses of all sizes and colors. Here and there stable-hands chatted while they brushed, fed, and otherwise cared for the great animals.
A few of the grooms paused to look as the two passed by, and Amalia imagined that they did not often see women like the two of them. Herself a tall, red-haired highlander from the mountains of Kalmar dressed in a short black skirt revealing white leggings underneath, and a matching white chemise. Tanistrae a broad-shouldered and ample-breasted woman of their own country of Ionia, but who wore a horseman's leather breeches along with a woman's chemise and bodice, and carried a long, straight, cavalry sword at her hip.
They must make quite the sight, Amalia surmised.
Tanistrae opened one of the last stalls and gestured within. Amalia
found
a sturdy, wide-bodied mare inside. Her chestnut hide was shaggy, and a
wide stripe of lighter hair ran down her back, along with a strip of
white
down her face. She whickered and looked to the open door, and Amalia
standing
in it.
"What is she, fourteen and a half hands? Hardly bigger than a pony." Amalia wondered, then furrowed her brow in puzzlement. "She does not look like the other horses I have seen in your land. Her conformation seems different somehow."
Amalia kept her eyes on the mare, who stared back at her with a certain crafty intelligence in her eyes. The red-haired highlander kept her voice soft, kind, non-threatening. She also kept an eye upon the horse's hooves, only a few feet away, and made sure she was not standing directly behind them.
"You do know something of horses then Amalia." Tanistrae said with a tone of regard in her voice. "But not of plains horses I see."
The shorter, but broader woman stepped beside Amalia, and gestured toward the horse.
"She is a steppe horse." Tanistrae declared. "From the eastern plains. They call her particular breed the Don. Not as big as the larger Ionian horses, but smarter and tougher. When one our horses is exhausted, she will just be breaking a sweat. She can go sixty miles a day, for days on end. She can swim an icy river and still be ready to charge an enemy on the other side afterward. She will eat nearly anything, unlike our mounts, and is used to surviving on almost nothing."
"This little girl may not look like much, but there is no other horse I would rather have." Tanistrae beamed with pride.
"She is the reason I came to Erithri after all. To trade with the plains-folk who come here to buy steel, pottery, and other Ionian trinkets. She cost me a good sword and a mail shirt."
"She is beautiful." Amalia said in a soft, hushed tone, slowly walking nearer to the mare. The horse looked at her, and for a long moment, she looked back at the horse. Then slowly and deliberately, Amalia turned her back to the mare, and faced the Ionian woman.
Now Tanistrae cocked an eyebrow, but did not comment on her behaviour.
"Well now," Tanistrae observed. "That is not what most people say when they see a plains horse!"
"Well, I am not most people." The tall, red-haired Kalmaran woman replied automatically. "My folk say that a dog is man's best friend and that a horse is a woman's."
"Here we say that diamonds are a girl's best friend." Tanistrae commented jadedly, Amalia could see that she was watching the mare behind her, and she wondered what the horse was doing.
"Diamonds are bright and pretty, so I am told." Amalia frowned, listening intently for the horse behind her. "But they are also cold and hard. A woman's best friend should be warm, and strong for her when she cannot be."
"Now you sound like a philosopher!" The Ionian woman proclaimed. "You did not study under Olybrius or Trasaric did you?"
"I do not even know who those people are." Amalia explained seriously. "I am only who I am. Priestess of Vanadis, herbalist, healer, and seamstress."
"And quite the Warrior, with that unarmed fighting style of yours, Rose dear." Tanistrae smiled. "What did you call it again?"
"Tomnäve?" The highlander said, listening to the mare's footsteps coming nearer behind her. "I did not forget that. Fighting is not what I am, it is just what I sometimes have to do. What we all have to now and again."
"Look at yourself good woman Tanistrae." Amalia shifted the focus of the subject. "Horsewoman, archer, trader, and I suspect there is a scholar in you as well. As well as a few other surprises I am sure."
"I am just me." Tanistrae snorted.
Amalia felt the steppe horse nuzzle her back, and finally the tall mountain woman turned to face her again, a huge smile cresting her squarish features. She whispered softly to the mare, praising her, and gently petted her neck.
"What is her name?" Amalia asked.
"I think I am going to call her Dyani." The broad-shouldered Ionian replied quietly.
Amalia smiled, both at her new friend and at the mare, and continued to softly praise Dyani and stroke her hide. Amalia was amazed at how thick the mare's hair felt. She found hairs coming off the horse as she stroked, and remembered that this being spring, she was shedding her winter coat. She leaned in closely and lay her head against the mare's neck, closing her eyes and listening to the horse breathe. The mare looked from one human to another, her ears flicking back and forth, and whickered pleasantly.
Amalia glanced back at Tanistrae, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"It looks like someone is horse-crazy to me." She laughed, picking up a pair of stiff brushes and handing one to Amalia.. "Let's get her cleaned up, so she can strut her stuff like a proper lady."
"I have always loved horses." Amalia explained, taking the brush and going to work. Using strong, even strokes, she started to clean off the dust and dirt of the trail from the mare's neck. "They are the gift of Vanadis after all."
"Now I am starting to like this Goddess of yours Amalia!" Tanistrae smiled. "You really do know how to care for a horse, don't you girl?
"Not the Ionian way, of breaking the poor animal." Tanistrae continued with a scowl. "But plains-fashion. Listening and talking to a horse. Convincing it to be your partner in life, not bullying it into becoming your slave."
"Oh yes, I learned at the monastery, years ago. All of us Priestesses know 'Horse-Talk' as you say. How else could we treat a gift from our Great Mother?" Amalia replied easily, never taking her attention from the horse. "We had a stallion and several mares there. All Halfingers, much smaller than the horses you Ionians have of course. Your folk would call even the largest of our steeds ponies. I even assisted in the birth of a foal in my last year. I never did learn to ride though."
"What?" Tanistrae started, pausing from where she was brushing on the other side of the horse. "Really?"
"I have never even been on a horse's back." Amalia confessed. "Not even once."
"There was just no time for me to learn, what with learning herbalism, healing, magic, and sewing." Amalia explained, moving down to clean the horse's upper legs. "Oh, and learning to fight too. Not to mention learning to just be a woman. That was hard enough on its own! I was only there for six years after all."
"Six years…" Tanistrae snorted, shaking her head as she returned to grooming her new mount.. "And you never got on a horse's back. That is a shame. One we will have to rectify, my dear."
Amalia smiled at that and moved down to the mare's knees.
"I learned horse-wisdom on the plains," Tanistrae continued. "From when I was just a tiny thing. I was on a horse the same time I was learning to walk. Granted, she was an old girl, and I was mostly just hanging on for dear life at first! But I learned, from the best teacher there was, how a woman and a horse can become friends for life."
"So how is it that you learned to groom, but never rode yourself." Tanistrae wondered.
"Oh, my herbalism." Amalia replied easily. "Horses are a necessity for us Roser. Without them, we could not be what we are. Not fully."
Tanistrae gave her an questioning look, and before Amalia could reply, Dyani began to loudly urinate on the straw-covered floor.
"This is why." Amalia smiled, and let one finger drift into the trail of hot urine, holding it up for the Ionian woman to see.
"Horse pee?" The Ionian wondered, looking clearly unimpressed.
"Pregnant mare's urine." Amalia explained. "The Goddess' special gift to us."
Tanistrae gave the other woman a dubious look, but otherwise said nothing.
"With this, a few simple tools, and the proper application of magic, I can distill Kvinde Essens. What your folk might call the essence of womanhood." Said Amalia "The elixir that has changed my body so much to what a born woman's should be. You did notice my breasts before, my figure, and how soft my skin is. Without this, we Roser would have none of that."
Tanistrae considered that, and Amalia continued as they both began to clean the horse once more.
"We have also learned to use Kvinde Essens to control a woman's courses. So that they come when desired, and are easier to bear. We can make a woman more fertile, or keep her from conceiving all together. Most of all, when given to a woman who is beyond her child-bearing years, it maintains her health and well-being, especially the strength of her bones."
"Really?" The Ionian archer wondered, and Amalia could see the other woman was not certain if she could believe her.
"Oh yes." Amalia insisted, as she moved to groom Dyani's withers and side. "I learned to distill Essens years ago, so that I could create it to care for myself and others. It normally comes out in a liquid, that I mix with a powder and pack into small tablets of the proper dosage. You just take one a day, and let it dissolve under your tongue."
"My." Tanistrae said. "And this can keep you from conceiving you say?"
"Well, I do not have to worry about that particular problem." Amalia smiled. "But you could take the same tablets I use, and never worry about having a child. Until you stopped using it that is. Then you could quicken with child at any time. I would have to create a special batch to make you more fertile."
The Ionian archer smiled. "No more lemon peels for this girl then! You are sure of this now?"
"We have used this for centuries, since the old times, long before your old Empire fell. It works. I would not be here, looking like I do, if not."
Tanistrae began to comb out Dyani's mane, using her fingers rather than the brush. The mare whickered with pleasure as the Ionian stroked her hair, and Amalia could not suppress a smile of delight as she watched her ears flit about. From her years at the monastery, she knew that grooming was an important part of bonding with a horse. She also found it to be personally very calming. Almost as much so as her early morning Tomnäve exercises.
"I wish I had someone to do this for me sometime!" Tanistrae laughed, and ran her fingers through her own long, dark tresses for a moment. "This mane of my own gets so tangled at times. Sometimes I think I should just cut it short, like you do."
"I think your hair is beautiful, like the rest of you." Amalia said. "I would be glad to help you with it. I have even learned to create a wash that leaves it scented like flowers."
Tanistrae turned her head, and Amalia wondered if she were blushing.
"I am hardly beautiful." Tanistrae snorted. "Too tall, too muscular, too much shoulder, too many scars, too hard..."
"The only thing men like about me are these." She declared, glancing down at her ample bosom. "The rest of me, pfft!"
"I think you are quite lovely." Amalia softly reassured, and then changed her tone to something brighter, more humorous. "Of course that is coming from the girl who just stuck her finger in horse piss!"
That got a laugh from the archer, and an answering giggle in turn from the author of the joke. Amalia felt good, here in the stall with her new friend and the horse. Warm. A way she had not felt in a long, long time.
Amalia basked in the feeling, and Tanistrae made her heart smile when she spoke next.
"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, my dear Rose."