He Told Me to Live

3 | Songbird

"Whoa!" Isa ran into the stables, running past me and sticking her head in the different stalls. "I didn't know there were so many horses in the Scout Regiment!"

I held out my hand and the nearest one nuzzled into my bandaged palm. "I'm fine." I mumbled with my head pressed against the horse's. "What's its name?" Furlan asked.

"This is Sista. You're going to have her. She's generally calm and level-headed, but she's quick and agile, so it shouldn't be a problem for amateurs." I walked down the stalls with horses ever so often trying to nuzzle their faces into my neck.

"Levi, you'll have Trish."

He looked into the stall. "It's smaller than Sista."

"He's younger than her. Youngest in these stables. He should grow taller than her over time, however." I held out my hand and he trotted over to me. "Trish, this is Levi. Listen to him well and I'll give you treats later."

"You sound so comfortable with them!" I turned to Isa, seeing that she had already mounted a horse. "Horses are animals, there to listen and obey. I feel that I am somewhat on the same level with them."

"Which one's your horse?"

I let out a single whistle and a white stallion stepped out of one of the stalls, walking towards me. "Cinder. He won't listen to anyone other than me, so he was given to me." He immediately began trying to eat Furlan's hair and I whistled again. "Cinder, back in your stall."

He seemed to begrudgingly make his way back to his stall and I closed the small gate. "I apologize. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Furlan combed through his hair a bit. "Quite the trouble maker, huh?"

"Only around other people. Don't take it personally." I placed a saddle on Sista and saw that Isa had already taken the liberty of putting a saddle on Monty, the horse that she had hopped on before I had told her to. He didn't seem to be fussing about it, so I paid no mind.

Furlan and Isa immediately ran out with the horse I provided and began riding around.

Levi waited for me to put a saddle on Trish.

"Oi." I looked over and he was staring down at me as I knelt down next to Trish. "Are you pretending or something?"

"What do you mean?"

"The moment you stepped into this stable, your entire demeanour changed. You think I wouldn't figure it out?"

"In what way would you say my demeanour changed?"

"You're more relaxed." His response sounded pitiful. I assume he thought that I was scared of those in the Scouts, or that I had been brainwashed into it. Perhaps I was. But I didn't think that at the time. "When you're told your whole life that you're nothing more than cattle, would you not be more comfortable with said livestock?"

Levi gave me a curious look. "Who told you that?"

I couldn't tell if he was trying to get to know me, or if he was trying to know my weaknesses. But I was told to answer any questions they had, so I did. "My previous owner. Before the Scouts."

"I see. Do you just listen to anybody?"

"What I listen to depends on my level of trust with them. And their status compared to me."

"So with the three of us?"

I was quiet for a few seconds, buckling the saddle around Trish. Was he trying to determine what I thought of them? Was he trying to figure out how to strike me?

"I trust you enough to obey simple or easy instructions."

"What would that fall under?"

This felt a bit like an interrogation. "Anything that a mother would be able to tell their child. And a child, their mother. That's what that would fall under."