Several days later he took her to a stable, saying that he'd found the perfect mount for her. She was a bit dubious as she entered, and even more dubious as every single horse in the building immediately started acting up. "I don't know about this," she said, eying the prancing, whinnying animals. The stablemaster was eying them too, with something like shock. Even his most placid old ponies, meant for children, were dancing in place and tossing their heads.

"I promise," said Galen, "this horse had been trained to be the calmest thing on four legs. I don't understand why you make horses so nervous, but I can assure you that this one won't be as high-strung as the others."

"If you say so."

They reached the end of the long building where a showy palomino stallion stood in the last stall. And unlike every other horse in the building he wasn't shifting and dancing, though the set of his ears indicated that he wasn't exactly happy. "He's a special one," said the stablemaster. "He wouldn't move a muscle if you stood in front of him and screamed in his face."

"What was he trained for?" Serali asked, curious.

"Some fool lord with more money than sense decided that he wanted to go dragon hunting. He had this horse trained so that he would have a suitably noble mount for his battles. He couldn't wait though, and went off without the horse, saying he'd be back and pay the rest of what he owed for the training with dragonscale, but he never came back. I don't know if it's because he never found a dragon, or if it's because he did and it didn't go well, but I've had the beast sitting here ever since, and I've finally given up on the fool ever coming back."

Amazing, the one horse in the whole kingdom that won't bolt at the sight of me, and Galen wants to buy him for me!

Serali held her hand out to him, to let him get her scent before she got too close. He tossed his head and shifted nervously for a moment, then stilled and relaxed. Serali stroked his neck. He was rock still, only his ears, still back, betraying his nervousness.

The stablemaster led him out, got him saddled, and took him outside. And when Serali stepped up to him he didn't so much as flinch. He did flinch, just a little, when she swung up on his back, but once she was up there his ears came forward again. Apparently "dragon sitting behind me in the saddle" wasn't quite as alarming as "dragon standing right in front of me."

Galen paid the stablemaster, and she thanked him for the undoubtedly very expensive present. It was one of a great number of things that he had gotten her. He seemed to love spending money on her. He often bought magical components for her spells, since that's what she said she could use. She didn't do that sort of magic as often as she did the sort that used only word and thought, but she did a bit, and having a wide variety of components opened up a great many options to her. One present she had to laugh at though. Unicorn's hair and gryphon feathers were all things that she needed, but in spells calling for dragon's blood, she found her own worked just fine, even when she was in human form. So, when she was presented with a vial of dragon's blood, no doubt obtained at great expense, it was all she could do to keep a straight face.

The horse though was a splendid gift, and she took easily to riding. Though Galen had to remember to keep his own horse from getting too close to her lest it spook and throw him, they still were able to enjoy many an afternoon gallop through parks or across fields outside the city.

Serali didn't think she could possibly be happier. Yes, life was good.