Heading down the halls, Jrasta told them they had one more stop to make. They needed horses. It was a good thing, too. With the chain mail he was wearing, the sword, the packs he was carrying and now the food in the packs, Liam was sure he could not travel very far on his own two feet.

They made their way down toward the gate they had entered upon coming to the castle. As they stepped out into the courtyard, the soldiers all turned and began to shout words of encouragement!

"It's the Traveler!" "Welcome, Traveler!" "Safe journeys on your quest, Traveler!" "Do not let Kenny the Dragon kill you, whatever kind of person or creature he might be!"

Liam thought he'd ask a really dumb question. "Hey, this might be a really dumb question, but if this creature we are going to fight looks like a dragon and has a name like, 'Kenny the Dragon,' do you think it's possible that maybe he is a dragon?"

All three of his companions stopped in their tracks and turned toward him with a look of incredulity on their faces. They all stared at him for a moment before breaking out in laughter. Jep laughed so hard he began to tear up and had to wipe his eyes with his wings. Jrasta collapsed in laughter on the ground and held his stomach while his toes wiggled extra fast. When Liam looked at Ezra, he was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe properly. One of the soldiers standing near had overheard and began a deep, slow chuckle.

When they had calmed down, Ezra was the first to find his voice and speak up. "Liam, I don't know what would make you ask that. Maybe you should think your questions through a bit more from this point on so you don't embarrass yourself." He put his hand on Liam's shoulder. "I'm just looking out for you."

Jep looked up at Liam and simply shook his head before walking on. Jrasta had a look of pity on his face. "It's okay, Liam. I think you've had a rough day with a lot of surprises. Perhaps in a couple days, if things settle down, you'll be able to think a little more clearly and ask fewer silly questions."

They arrived at the stables, and Jrasta turned to the rest of the group. "We will need a few good horses. Jep can ride up with me. We'll ask the stable boy for his best horses with the greatest endurance so we can make good time each day.

They walked up to the stable boy. He was a young, thin lad, likely around seventeen. He sat there chewing on something that looked like a piece of grass as he stared at the wall on the other side of the courtyard. Jrasta stepped up and explained their situation. They were on a quest given by the Regent and needed some horses.

"Horses? I gots some horses! I gots big ones, and I gots small ones. I also gots brown ones, black ones, white ones, and I even gots some that are a bunch of different colors." The stable boy seemed well informed on what he had in stock. "How many horses you wants?"

"We would like three horses," Jrasta said.

The stable boy looked at Jrasta for a moment, then blinked, then stared some more. Jrasta seemed unsure how to proceed. He waited some more, but after a while, he seemed to grow impatient. He repeated his request, "We would like three horses."

The boy nodded slowly, giving the false impression that he understood the situation and was about to respond. They began to feel somewhat uncomfortable with the blank look on his face, and they realized that the stable boy had perhaps left them and gone somewhere else while his body remained glued to the spot.

"Okay, then we will just take three horses," Jrasta said to no one in particular.

They moved into the stable. Liam was getting more and more used to nothing in Arestana being what he expected it to be. He half expected the "horses" in the stables to be ostriches or even giant spiders. He didn't like the idea of riding a giant spider.

When he saw the horses were in fact horses, he felt relief wash over him. Jrasta went around and selected three good mounts for the group. Liam's horse was a dappled gray gelding that he named Lenny. Jrasta showed him how to saddle it and secure his pack just behind the saddle. Each one took enough oats for their horse.

Liam watched closely as Ezra and Jrasta climbed up into their saddles. He tried to copy what they did as best as he could, but he knew he still had a lot to learn about horses. He managed to get up on the horse, but almost slid off the other side onto the ground.

When they were all in the saddle and Jep was seated securely on what looked like a nest on the back of Jrasta's horse, they started out of the stable. Jrasta took the lead with Liam just behind so he could show Liam a thing or two about how to ride.

They passed the stable boy, and he looked up at them with a look of wonder on his face. "Hey, nice horses! I gots some horses! Some of my horses are just like those horses! I gots lots of different kinds of horses. You want some horses? I gots horses!" He then rolled over onto his back and stared at the cloudless sky.

The team rode on through the castle gate and down the street, heading for the gate of the city. Their quest was about to begin.

I hope you are enjoying the first part of Arestana: The Key Quest. Keep reading to find out what happens next! If you want to get a hold of this entire story, you can pick it up from Amazon, Chapters, Foyles or just about everywhere else!

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