Shady

Aashi grinned, squeezing her knees together. “Ahh! This is exciting!!!”

“Okay.” Aashi took a deep breath and nodded, hands bunching up the sheet despite herself. She needed to stop. If she really was pregnant — and she was fairly sure ...

“Okay.” Aashi dipped her head. She hated this. She stripped off below the waist and carefully folded her clothes and set them on the chair next to the bed. Then ...

“Makes sense.” Ky nodded. “It’s cool that you like training your own. Makata just wanted us to hand over a perfectly tamed, trained horse. There would have been hell to ...

Aashi followed her out, anxious, despite herself. She had no doubt Sera was an excellent apothecary. But. Well. There was a certain vulnerability that came with submitting to medical care ...

Ky grinned. “Do you work with horses a lot, then?”

“Um… do I need to lay down?” Aashi glanced at the door. “… might be easiest out there if I do?”

“But fun.” Ky smiled. “I was a stable boy for two years. And… well… the circumstances weren’t great and I missed my papa a lot. But I liked the work. ...

“Um… wherever is easiest for you.” Aashi smiled. The apothecary back home could only be called one in the most generous terms possible. And she made house calls. Aashi wasn’t ...

“Oh. That’s true.” She nodded. “You’ve got to pay extra care to their feet, too.”

Aashi’s smile grew and she nodded. “What a good year this has turned into! Getting a husband and a child within months.”

“You’re right. Maybe that would help…” Aashi smiled, looking down at her belly again. “What a blessing!”

Ky hesitated then dipped her head. She didn’t have the courage to argue, despite the number of fights she’d been in with horses. They were bullheaded. She’d never considered the ...

“That’s true.” Aashi nodded, hesitating. “I… think? He’ll be happy about it? I’ve never seen a more excited man than he was my entire pregnancy with Tasia… I just… I ...

“That’s good to know.” Ky nodded, finally settling back to rest her back against the wall next to the hearth. Not that she’d ever be able to afford a horse. ...