Apprentices. Great.
She hated when they got new ones. She always ended up having to knock some sense into a couple of the thick-headed ones. They saw her as a Lowlander and thought they didn't have to listen. They soon learned otherwise. If not from her, then from the other herd masters.
She grimaced. Training untested apprentices into proper herd masters took time and patience she preferred to reserve for her charges.
"It won't be so bad," Ollie said, guessing where her thoughts had gone. "They're practically half-trained already."
"Easy for you to say," Eva muttered, scraping her spoon along the bottom of the bowl. "You're not the one they always pick a fight with."
"Maybe this time don't take the bait."
She leveled an unamused stare on Ollie.
"You'll be grateful soon enough," Ollie promised, unaffected. "Foal season is upon us. I predict in a couple of weeks you'll be thanking the stars we have three extra hands to help."
Doubtful.
"No use griping. It is what it is. Each of them will shadow one of us while I assess their skills," Hardwick rumbled. "Ollie, you're with Delia, I'll take Quinn. Eva, you're with Jason."
Eva waved her spoon to signal her compliance while making a less than thrilled sound she hoped would be mistaken for enthusiasm.
Hardwick's grunt said he had correctly interpreted her effort for what it was but wasn't going to take issue with it now. "Eva, you're on the west pasture, Ollie take the south. I'll check on last night's foal."
Hardwick stood, jerking his chin at Quinn. The tall Trateri trailed behind the head herd master with one last glance at his fellow apprentices.
Ollie sighed and set his bowl in the wash basin and gestured for the woman to follow him. Eva had to fight back her groan when she realized the most troublesome of the lot had been assigned to her.
Jason's face reflected a similar disbelief and dislike, no happier about his placement than she.
So much for her peaceful morning.
Eva's spoon plopped back into her bowl and she set the half-eaten food aside, her appetite gone.
She stood. "Let's get to it."
*
By midmorning, Evawas wiping the sweat from her eyes as she tried to talk herself out of throttling her new apprentice. Well, Hardwick's apprentice that she was in charge of whipping into some semblance of shape.
It wasn't that Jason was dumb or bad at tending to the horses. Quite the opposite actually. He had some talent with the horses. Unfortunately, he also had a talent for arguing and second-guessing every order Eva issued.
It was enough to make her long for the peace of yesterday, when she was able to check on the herd in relative silence and not have to count to three every time she opened her mouth for fear of what would come out of it.
Why had Hardwick given her the worst of the bunch? Something told her Quinn or Delia wouldn't have been nearly so hard on her nerves.
"Are we done yet?" Jason whined.
Eva gave him a disbelieving look. They were barely halfway through their morning chores.
"I'm hungry. When is the midday meal?"
"Not for a while yet." Eva ran her hands along the mare's legs, picking up one hoof and checking the frog for rocks before moving to the next.
Jason let out an angry exhale, his frustration and unhappiness as loud as a shout. "How much longer are we going to be doing this? These horses haven't been ridden for weeks. Why are we checking them for injuries?"
"Any horse from this herd needs to be ready to ride out at a moment's notice. By making sure they're healthy every day, we can catch things before they become a bigger issue." Patience wasn't Eva's strong suit, especially when the answer should be obvious.
There was a grumble from behind her that she ignored as she straightened and patted the pretty piebald mare's neck. The mare moved off, ducking her head to tear out a clump of grass.
