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Salael practically lept into the clean, clear air. How wonderful it felt to be outside! Away from the turmoil she knew to be going on in the hold at the discovery of her "death". Amazing the wonders a little bit of wherry blood could do.
The stables were empty except for a few stable hands who didn't comment or notice her arrival, or that she slipped into the stall belonging to Salael's personal mare, Vazire.
 The little charcol colored mare whinnied a welcome to Salael, who she recognized perfectly despite her altered appearance. A runner, especially one as smart as her Vazire, did not rely soley on sight to identify their rider.
"Quiet sweet," Salael whispered, pulling a cube of sweetner from her pocket and giving it to her runner. "We have to leave. Now."
Vazire's ear's pricked up at the tone of Salael's voice. She knew something was wrong, and she knew that they did have to leave, and as soon as possible. Vazire snorted and neighed nervously.
As quietly as she could, Salael selected a saddle and bridle and slipped them onto Vazire, who didn't resist one bit, as she often did just to be difficult. Once her bags were secured, Salael led her runner out of the back exit of the stables. The stable hands would not notice Vazire's absence until much, much later.
Vazire's name meant run in some ancient language, and as she shifted easily from a walk to a trot to a canter and then, at Salael's urging, a gallop, Salael remembered her reason for naming the mare as she had. Running was what she was made for.
So run Vazire did. Miles and miles, until they reached the nearest hold that Salael deemed far enough away to show her face at. It was a tiny little place, but it had a stable, and that meant they would be in need of stable hands.
Sure enough, the stables were indeed in need of stable hands. Vazire was comfortably settled in a stall and given water and feed while Salael, under the name Salel, was taken inside and given the human equivalent of what her runner was recieving. She must be handsome as a boy, Salael realized, blushing, for she was getting looks she knew all too well from some of the holder girls.
After the evening meal, she was taken to her quarters. They were many times smaller than her own back at the Hold, but there she had been Lady Heir, here she was just a stablehand, and a new one at that.
Salael had just slipped into sleep on her less-than-quality furs than someone pounded on her door, demanding that she get up and get out to the stables immediatly. One of the mares was foaling, and they needed her help.
Thankful that she had been too tired to undress, Salael quickly rebound her hair and opened her door to find the Stablemaster standing there, looking as imposing as any Stablemaster she'd ever known. "Come with me," he ordered and she, being the meek little stablehand she was, obeyed.
The mare gave birth to a healthy young colt, the color and exact replica of his sire, according to one of the other stablehands. A few of the holder girls were there, all whispering as Salael might have done over a new boy around the hold. It made Salael blush. What would they think when they found out the truth?
As Salael washed her bloodied hands off in a bucket, one of the girls came up to her, touching her lightly on the shoulder, makign her flinch. "Salel?" the girl asked shakily.
Salael turned around to regard her with the same attention she might have paid to a rock. "Yes?"
She smiled coyly. Oh boy. Here it comes. "Would you be interested in joining me in my quarters tonight?" she asked in a tone Salael had used once or twice herself. "I hear the stablehands' quarters are just horrid..." the girl's hand meandered up her arm. This was going to end up very emberassing if Salael didn't stop it right now.
So she stopped it. Or tried to. "I think I'll live," she smiled, removing the holder girl's hand from her arm. "They're not that bad."
The holder girl, though dissapointed, was not to be deterred. "Just take me back to my quarters?" she pleaded and feigned a shiver. "It's so very cold."
Salael was at a loss. She was only saved by the Stablemaster. "Tydeia!" he bellowed. "Stop flirting with my stablehands!"
Tydeia rolled her eyes at the Stablemaster and gave Salael a parting smile before running off to join her friends. Their giggles carried in the crisp night air, making Salael yearn for home and giggling with her own friends.
When she finally arrived back at her quarters, Salael collapesed onto her bed, dying and escaping from her hold had been tiring, and she soon drifted off into sleep...
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