‘Tell me, Niniel’ the stable-master said leaning on the table, looking at her closely. ‘What sort of skills and experience do you have with horses?’
Oh dear. Her experience with horses was mostly limited to the occasional theft; She could hardly tell Derufin that. On occasion, she had helped in Inns. The horses always seemed to like her and she liked that they didn't expect her to speak. She could tell the stable-master that; it was true enough, just not the entire truth.
"I-I used to h-h-help with th-th-them at the I-i-inns I found, in ex-exchange for l-l-lodging for the n-n-night. I-I can al-always c-c-calm them; h-h-horses l-l-like me. A-a-and I-I th-th-think I re-remem-remember helping s-s-someone with a s-s-sick one, once. I-I don't remember a-a-a lot of what I u-u-used t-t-to do." She shrugged. "I-I do t-t-take care of m-m-my own horse, though."
It didn't sound like a lot of experience to her and maybe the stable-master wouldn't think that she knew enough about horses to help him, but she could hardly tell him that she knew how to check a horse's condition. He would ask how, and she wasn't going to tell him that she knew that because a thief might have to get away quickly and a horse with bad wind or other defects would not be an asset.
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