“So they told me.” Valten rubbed his chin, wincing. “I got scolded quite a bit. All three of my sisters are good at scolding.”
She tried to imagine what it must be like to have sisters who cared so much. His younger brother Gabehart, the one who had married Valten’s betrothed, had also been away for two years, living in Hohendorf. Did Valten miss him? She thought it best not to ask.
They continued on their way, forced to pass through the Marktplatz to reach the castle stable.
“Are you wearing those clothes to disguise yourself? No one seems to recognize you.”
“And yet you knew who I was.”
“I heard that coarse fellow say your name.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “But I am inconspicuous in these clothes, don’t you think?”
Gisela allowed herself a brief laugh. “You could hardly be inconspicuous no matter what you wore.” Her heart nearly stopped as she realized he could construe her words two different ways. Either she meant he looked so good that it didn’t matter what he wore—which was certainly true — or her real meaning, which was that he was so tall and broad and intimidating that he could hardly be missed.
They entered the most crowded part of the town square and were no longer able to converse. She couldn’t help but feel pleased at how he kept glancing behind to make sure she was there. When a particularly dirty, burly man stood in their way, Valten waited for him to pass before leading her forward. A few minutes later, she got distracted by some leather feed bags at one booth and bumped into Valten’s back. She felt herself blush, but he pretended not to notice.
They emerged from the packed marketplace, and Hagenheim Castle stood before them as they approached the gatehouse. Valten nodded at the guard, who waved them through while glancing curiously at Gisela.
Once they were inside the castle wall and walking across the quiet yard toward the stable, she asked, “How many horses do you have?”
“Our family owns about thirty, but my father’s knights’ horses board here too.”
Excitement welled inside her as she anticipated seeing so many horses. At one time her father had owned twice that many, but her stepmother had sold them off one by one over the years — often for less than they were worth, since she was ignorant of their value — to satisfy her desire for extravagant clothing and carriages for herself and her daughters. Now her father’s stable housed fewer than ten.
As they made their way across the yard toward the stable, Gisela grew impatient with Valten’s slow stride, wanting to walk ahead of him as they drew near the dark building, where a horse was whinnying and two men were talking.
The men bowed respectfully when Valten entered, then went back to cleaning stalls.
Valten walked straight to the third stall on the right. A horse that looked almost identical to Kaeleb came and bobbed his head up and down over his stall door. He snuffled as Valten rubbed his cheek.
“This is Sieger.”
Gisela held her breath, wondering if the horse would remember her. She let him smell her hand. He held still as she rubbed his forehead. “Guten morgen, Sieger.”
The big animal stretched his neck and sniffed her hair, then nickered. When he rubbed his head against her shoulder as if he had seen her only yesterday, her heart swelled inside her chest. She rubbed him behind his ear and he nickered again, wiggling his nose and searching her hand, no doubt looking for a carrot. He was remembering how she always fed him his favorite treat.
Valten gazed at her out of the corner of his eye before patting his horse. Sieger ignored him and nudged Gisela’s shoulder again.
“I’ve never seen him act this way with a stranger.”
Gisela remembered the last day she’d seen this beautiful creature — a day when life was still happy, when she felt safe and loved, and she still had a father to protect her. Seeing Sieger made her remember all the other horses she’d said good-bye to over the years.
“Perhaps he does know me.” She rubbed the destrier’s nose affectionately, breathing into his nostrils.
She could feel Valten’s eyes on her. With a final pat, she reluctantly moved away from Sieger and turned to Valten. “Can you show me your other horses?”
Valten stared a moment, then said, “Have you seen Sieger before?”
Gisela smiled innocently. “How could I?”
He frowned at her, then led her to the next stall, introducing her first to his courser, then to several other mounts, including the ponies and palfreys preferred by his three sisters. She got an idea about each sister’s personality as she got to know that girl’s horse, and as she listened to the small but pertinent information Valten gave about each one.
“Margaretha’s favorite horse is this palfrey.” Valten led her to a horse with friendly eyes and a white blaze on her forehead. “Her horse loves to run, but she’s gentle and obedient.”
They moved to the next stall. “Kirstyn’s horse is calm and easy to manage, but she doesn’t like crowds.”