The herd

“He is a beautiful horse,” she told him with a smile.

“He is,” Ceran smiled back at her and she let her hand fall.

“He is my prize stallion. But he is getting older so I have my hopes set on Estreon,” he told her as he started walking again.

“That’s him over there,” he pointed out a horse that stood to the side of the herd, looking out over it. He was stunning with a pale body and dark brown head and legs.

“His first confirmed foal is a couple of months old,” Ceran continued and pointed out a chestnut-coloured horse that were walking close by them, she had a foal by her side. The foal had a cream-coloured body and read head and legs.

“It’s adorable,” Mary laughed.

“She is. It will be interesting to see how she does at her evaluation,” Ceran said, proudly.

The foal looked up as she heard them and looked curiously at them. After hesitating, she slowly walked towards them. Her mother looked up to see what she was doing, but apparently deemed them trustworthy as she continued grazing.

Mary held out her hand as the foal got closer and the foal stretched out her neck to sniff Mary’s hand.

Once she determined Mary wasn’t dangerous, she let out a small snort and started skipping around Ceran and Mary. Showing off her new legs and running up to buff at Mary as to inviting her to play. Mary laughed and scratched the foal behind the ears, which seemed to be appreciated.

“She is cute,” Mary laughed.

“She is,” Ceran agreed. “Are you a little wild thing?” he asked the foal, and Mary noticed he had switched to Helu.

“I’m sorry, Mary. That was impolite of me, a bad habit I’m afraid,” he said to Mary, switching back to Salamis, when he realised what he did.

“No, it’s no problem,” Mary told him in Helu and smiled at his surprised look.

“Tenac has been teaching me. I hope that is okay,” Mary explained. Tenac’s grandfather looked past her to Tenac and smiled.

“It’s amazing,” he told her. “I am surprised you have learned this much in six months,” he then said.

“I learned Salamis much faster. But then I was surrounded by people that I could talk to. I only know Tenac that I can practise Helu with, so it’s a slow process,” Mary said.

“Slow process?” Ceran chuckled. Looking at Tenac, he shrugged.

“Tell you what, we will speak Helu when you are here so you can get some practice at it,” he told her.

“That would be wonderful, but you have to have patience with me. I’m not near fluid in it,” Mary said.

“I’m just happy to hear you speaking it. You will soon speak it as a native. I know it,” Ceran smiled. Then he looked at Tenac.

“I think you can help Nontuf, Mary, and I will be fine,” he said.

Tenac looked at Mary. She just smiled back at him. She liked his grandfather and had no issues being alone with him.

“I won’t let anything happen to her. Now go on,” Ceran said.

“Yes, grandfather,” Tenac said and left.

“He is worried about you,” his grandfather told Mary.

“He is protective. My father made him promise to take care of me,” Mary said.

“Yes, that must be it,” Ceran smiled.

“What is this evaluation you give the horses?” Mary asked to change the subject. She had to use the Salamis word for evaluation. Ceran taught her the word in Helu.

“When the horses are about two years old, their owner evaluates them. First, they are evaluated to see how fast, strong, and intelligent they are. We use a three-grade scale. Sun, that’s mediocre. Moon, that’s good, and the horse has great potential. Star is very rare, it’s just for those horses that exceed our hopes,” he explained.

“Do your herd contain any stars?” Mary asked.

“Two, Arimay and Estreon, Arimay has sired two stars. One is Addon, and the other is Arimo. I gifted him to Nontuf,” Ceran said.

“Once the horse has gotten its grade, it is then given a name. Lastly, the owner will assess what to do with it. The usual options are to keep it or to trade it with another clan in one of gatherings we have. A little more unusual is to decide to give it as a gift,” he continued to explain.

“If you want to keep it, you will brand it with your mark. Otherwise, you will draft an owner certificate that you then give to the new owner either by trade or gift,” he concluded.

“Is it only men that can own horses?” Mary asked.

“No, everyone above the age of sixteen can own a horse. When you turn sixteen, you are given your mark by the chief of your clan. It is individual to you and no matter what happens in your life, it never changes,” he told her.

They had been walking amongst the horses. Mary was amazed at the experience of moving in-between the big animals. It seemed that there was no end to the sea of horses. The foal had followed them and was happily cantering in a circle around them. Once in a while, she approached Mary for scratches.

“Little one, your mother must get worried,” Mary told her. The little horse ignored her and kept running and bucking.

As they got to the edge of the herd, the foal hesitated.

“Go on, get back to your mother,” Mary told her again.

The foal butted her hand with its head and got a final scratch. Then it turned around a neighed, got a response and trotted off in that direction. Mary laughed.

As they walked back to camp, Ceran asked Mary questions about Domne, and Mary answered as best she could. They had almost reached Tenac’s uncle’s tent when Mary saw the boy that she had talked to the last time she had been there. She smiled at him and waved.

He smiled back and ran up to them. He bent his head in respect to Ceran, and then he looked at Mary.

“Hello,” Mary said. He saw him look at her with surprise as she had spoken Helu.

“Hello, miss. I just wanted to say thank you for the cookies,” he said.

“Did you like them?” Mary asked.

“Yes, very much. My little sister liked hers as well. I gave her two of mine as she ate her so fast,” he said.

“That was very kind of you. You’re a good brother,” Mary told him and reached into her pocket. She had a little bag with some cookies she was planning to share with Tenac. But she handed it to the boy.

“Since you’re such a kind boy, you deserve a reward. But give at least one of them to your sister, okay?” she told him.

“Thank you! I promise,” he said, giving her a bright smile.

“You are a natural at handling people,” Ceran said as they continued walking. Mary looked at him with surprise.

“I don’t know about that,” she objected.

“I do, I have been chief for over forty years. I have trained my son and my grandson to do what you do without hesitation,” he smiled at her.

“Thank you,” she said as they walked into the tent. Tenac’s family were all in the tent, the woman was preparing lunch and the men sat talking.

Mary walked over to the women to help. She hoped that after the last time, they would let her. Before she could ask, Tenac’s grandfather announced that they all should speak Helu with Mary and that they should help her learn the language. Mary blushed at all the attention, but it was soon forgotten as she helped the women.

---

Tenac watched Mary working with the other women. If it wasn’t for her clothes, you would have thought she had been raised a Che’hul. He was fascinated by her ability to assimilate into her surroundings. He had seen her do the same when she first came to Salmis.

His aunt treated her like one of her daughters, and they were all joking and laughing. Tenac also saw the look that Nontuf was giving Mary. Tenac didn’t like it. His grandfather asked him about his new position and his upcoming travels. Tenac was forced to focus on the conversation.

When they ate, his grandfather turned his attention to Mary again. Tenac had never seen his grandfather give his attention to someone in that way before. Mary patiently answered all his questions, only occasionally having to ask for a meaning of a word or replacing one of her own with a word in Salamis.

“Mary, do you want to go for a walk?” Nontuf asked after they had finished eating. Tenac was about to object, but Mary beat him to it.

“Thank you, but I need to help your mother and your sisters with the clean-up,” Mary said, looking at Tenac’s aunt.

“That’s right,” Beruda nodded, and Mary smiled at her.

“Good. Nontuf, make sure Tenac’s and Mary’s horses are ready. They can’t stay for long if they are to get home before the gate closes. Tenac, may I have a word with you?” Tenac’s grandfather said.

Tenac wanted to say no, he hadn’t got to spend that much time with Mary. But he knew better and followed his grandfather out of the tent. Feeling safe that his aunt would look after Mary.

---

Mary had helped the women clean up and was sitting and talking about the pattern on the blankets with Beruda when Tenac walked in.

“Mary, my grandfather would like to see you,” he said, giving her his hand to help her up.

“Thank you for letting me pick your brain,” Mary smiled at Beruda as she accepted his hand.

“No, thank you for asking. It’s so fun to have someone to tell these things to that actually wants to know,” Beruda smiled.

“Do you know what this is about?” Mary asked Tenac as they walked to his grandfather’s tent.

“I’m not going to tell you, you will just have to wait and see,” he smiled.

As they walked into the tent, his grandfather sat in his usual spot and to his right sat Tenac’s uncle.

“Come on in, Mary. Take a seat. You too, Tenac,” Ceran told them. They both did as asked.