Wilson broke out in loud, appreciative laughter once the sly little comment reached her ears, wanting Keely to understand that she had no qualms whatsoever with hearing rough language. Being a woman in a male-dominated profession had cured her of such sensibilities (if, indeed, she\'d ever had any!) long ago. It was another impressive thing about Keely, another way in which she could relate to the girl. Not in the sense that both had a dirty mouth when the moment and company warranted it, but in the fact that they\'d both reached a similar juncture of experience in their present lives, despite the difference in their ages. Wilson had been born noble, educated comprehensively and chosen a career of hard work and physical strain over being a decoration. Keely had been born into hard work and untold strain, only to be plucked out of that life to be comprehensively educated and molded into a noble.
Both of them were able to see both sides of the fence, and the young woman would no doubt develop the ability to perch in exactly the right spot upon that divider, once she realised she didn\'t have to come down on either side of it. Lam looked forward to watching this process and, if Dagger ever approached her again, she considered volunteering her services to assist; if he could foresee a capacity in which she could assist, of course.
Thoughts of her lover made her feel grim, so she turned her attention back to the girl, quickening her pace and leading her silently to the back corner of the top floor, where the Stable Master\'s room was. "That they are," she agreed to Keely\'s comment that the horses were all beautiful, "but along this aisle here you\'ll find the most beautiful specimens of all. Four of them belong to your father - naturally." She spared her companion a wry a grin, using her empty hand to indicate the length of the virtual wooden tunnel they were currently traversing.
"To give you a bit more insight to what you\'re seeing as you walk around, you should know that the city provides quarters in the stables, for those employed here, and your father\'s animals hold one of the prime positions on this floor - near the royal animals, beside the Stable Master\'s rooms. It\'s considered to be the safest part of the entire building, because there\'s always so much activity there with the workers always coming to his office and the general bustle that comes with a central command post, but I can assure you it\'s all in their minds. My guards see to the safety of the entire building," she grinned at the raven-haired girl, tapping her temple knowingly, inferring that the nobility of the city wouldn\'t know what was good for them if it was stewed and placed before them on a silver platter.
"One thing that surprises many is the fact that Stable Master Linley doesn\'t actually live up here; he has a family and it\'s not practical, so he resides in a house with them, works here most of his waking hours and allows the Stable Manager - who I\'m about to introduce you to - to live here instead. It\'s convenient for both of them, I believe, and fulfills the city\'s requirements that an authority be on hand in the stables at every hour of the day."
By this stage, they\'d reached the corner she\'d been heading for and she spied Gallagher standing in the aisle, hands on hips, listening intently as a man in a grubby pair of brown pants, hay-flecked vest and a long, loose ochre-coloured shirt beneath it spoke earnestly to him. The blonde was dressed in much the same way, except his vest and pants were black and lacking in dirt or hay decorations. Wilson vaguely recognised the talking man - who was two heads shorter than the tall, blonde manager - as one of the trainers. Or horse breakers. She wasn\'t entirely certain, but she saw him riding in the northern corrals most frequently and occasionally exercising the prestigious beasts in the open countryside, as if testing their merit, otherwise. He was important, anyway.
Wilson had the grace to stop a few metres short of the men, allowing them time to conclude their conversation. "That\'s Gallagher, the Stable Manager," she whispered to Keely, indicating the lanky man with a nod of her head before steering Keely to the right to stand at a large stall door. The top half was open, so she leaned on the closed bottom half and peered inside to the massive space within.
It was as big as two of the tack rooms they\'d occupied so recently - to have their spat - and was a room unto itself. There were four occupied stalls directly ahead of where they stood and a space at the end (to their right) covered with hay for the horses to roll in. Wilson knew that the walls down there were covered with these particular horses\' bridles, leads, curry combs and all the tack they\'d ever need, as well as benches designed specifically to hold their well-maintained saddles and blankets, but that the angle from which she and Keely observed at the front door, prevented them from seeing it. Everything was kept with the horses that it belonged to here in the stables (even if they were housed in small stalls on the ground floor), for it was the stable workers\' job to care for the equipment, saddle the horses upon request and wash them down after they\'d been returned. The service in the stables - for those who could afford it - was exemplary.
"That\'s him," Wilson said, making it obvious that she\'d changed the subject from talking about the Stable Manager to the stall contents by nodding at the intelligent eyes staring back from the pure black stallion directly ahead of them. If she stretched, she could just about touch the massive head - should the beast permit it. "He\'s the one that\'s sired the Queen\'s foal - about to be a dad, aren\'t you, boy?" she asked the horse affectionately.
At the sound of her voice, other heads appeared over the doors of the next two stalls. Beside the black was a beautiful amber-coloured stallion sporting a glossy black mane and black ear rims, and the inquisitive face of a pure white mare - at least a hand smaller - now peered out from the other side of him. No face was seen in the fourth space but a decidedly cranky kick caused the door to reverberate smartly, and snuffling could be heard accompanying the restlessly stamping hooves within. The two middle horses\' ears flicked at the loud noise, but they didn\'t pull away.
