"Because I told you to."
Several angry seconds passed before Eva relented. "Do this half and then you can head in for the midday meal."
She listened, thinking he was going to refuse when he didn't move. Finally, she heard the thud of his footsteps as he stalked off. She shook her head. She really hoped his assignment to her wasn't a permanent one. Dealing with his bad mood on a regular basis would be a nightmare.
Why couldn't she have gotten the easy one for once?
Eva tilted her head back, addressing the horse in front of her. "I guess I'll have to find tasks that keep him away from me until he stops acting like a disagreeable ass."
The mare snorted in agreement.
*
Eva stretched, workingout the kinks in her back. Her muscles felt tired and bruised; her bones ached. It had been a long few hours since she’d sent Jason to pull weeds.
She'd discovered the beginning of several crusty scabs on Soona's back, probably rain rot from where her coat hadn’t dried properly after the storm earlier that week. It had required treatment so it didn’t worsen and cause the horse discomfort. Couple that with the younger, unclaimed horses being a bit rambunctious this morning, and she was ready for a meal to fill her belly and a break to give her sore muscles a rest.
Eva set out for the cook's tent.
Part of her job for the morning had been to verify all the horses were present and accounted for. Trateri horses were typically left to roam free while near camp. They rarely wandered too far, preferring to stick with their herds for safety.
Wooden fences, built long ago by the pathfinders to corral their livestock, stretched across the slight hills of the valley, making Eva's job even easier. It hadn't taken long to count the horses, many of whom she knew as well as she knew her own face. Thankfully, none of them had wandered off during the night.
As a result, her walk was peaceful.
Eva was halfway back when a plant caught her eye. She squatted next to it, fingering the half-formed leaves that had already started sprouting. Nettle bright.
Eva growled, cursing inattentive apprentices as she pulled her satchel over her hip and grabbed a sharp tool out of it. She used the tool to dig the plant out by the roots before standing once again. She'd only made it ten feet before she found another nettle bright.
She looked around the pasture, noticing others too. Her stomach grumbled even as she ignored it. Lunch would have to wait. She was going to have to walk the entire pasture to make sure Jason hadn't missed any.
Several hours later, she had finished, finding no less than twenty other nettle bright plants.
Eva stalked toward camp; her temper heated as she tried to talk herself into giving Jason the benefit of the doubt. It was his first day. Nettle bright looked different when it was a young plant. Maybe his old herd master hadn't taught him to recognize it.
It was hard not to dismiss that excuse out of hand. When she’d arrived, Ollie and Hardwick had shown her what plants could cause the herd harm if eaten. It was a basic requirement for any herd master and one of the first lessons you received as an apprentice.
Still, there could be a logical reason for the shoddy work. She'd let him explain before she tried to verbally rip off his head.
She was almost to the cook’s tent when a small crowd beside the corral the pathfinders had built near the end of the pasture, drew her attention. Hardwick had taken over the corral almost as soon as he arrived and used it as a place to train the younger horses, those who hadn’t received a rider yet.
It was a little early for him to start training. She knew he preferred to work with the horses well after the midday meal; furthermore, he usually asked her to help since her presence kept the horses calm and attentive.
Eva caught a glimpse of Jason through the crowd, noticing the other two apprentices standing off to one side. She looked around for Ollie and Hardwick, seeing no signs of them.
Strange. Hardwick didn't allow apprentices in the corral without supervision. His horses were too precious to chance an apprentice damaging them.
Eva drew closer, Caia trotting after her. A stallion's scream split the air. It was all the warning Eva needed as she started sprinting toward the corral.
Stupid man. What did he think he was doing?
He didn't have permission to be in there, and he definitely didn't have permission to deal with that stallion. Worse, Eva recognized the stallion, a chestnut with a lighter mane and a white blaze on his nose. He was stubborn and slightly vicious. One day he'd make an excellent war horse, but that day wasn't today.
Today they'd be lucky if the chestnut didn't kill her idiot apprentice.
Jason flicked a whip behind the stallion's legs. "Enough. Stop fighting me."
The chestnut came back down to four feet, whirling and kicking up dirt as he paced one way before whirling and pacing in the opposite direction.
