Athea POV

It has been two months since Kimi hatched. She grew every day and now she was flying around me as I went on my walks.

Athea? Kimi asked me, are we going to that big town on the other side of these woods?

I nodded, Yes, we are. Granny says that is the King's Market. We're going to be staying there for the next few months.

I sat down on a boulder and pulled out my flute and started playing a soft tune. Kimi lighted down on a low hanging branch over my head, humming along with the tune. I heard someone coming through the bushes towards us. I stopped playing and looked up. Coming through the bushes was a beautiful, dark bay horse with a white star on his forehead. On his back was a finely made saddle but no rider and it was covered in a layer of dust. He tossed his head and shook his mane, causing his bridle to jingle. His dark eyes looked at me. I stood up and I walked up to him. He pushed his muzzle against my cheek and lipped at my hair.

A horse? Kimi asked, What is it doing here?

I don't know.

I took hold of the horses reins and stroked his face.

"Where is your master, beautiful?" I whispered to him in Elvish, "Did you throw him off or something?"

The horse just blew in my face and nuzzled me, whickering. I smiled and led the horse back towards where Granny made camp. He followed me without complaints and nickered when he saw Granny's old mare. Granny looked up from her packing and her eyes widened.

"What do you have there, Athea? Where did he come from?" she asked, "And where is his rider?"

I just shrugged. I stroked his face and fingered the name plate on his cheek strap.

"Trego..." I whispered.

"What did you say, Athea?" Granny asked.

"Trego," I answered then pointed at the name plate.

"Is that his name? He looks very well cared for. Who ever owns him obviously cares about him," Granny said as she patted Trego's neck, "We'll bring him to the Market and look for his owner. His saddle looks very expensive so his owner may be very wealthy."

I nodded and looped Trego's reins over a bush and helped Granny finish packing. When everything was packed into the wagon and the mare hitched up, Kimi perched on my shoulder as I grabbed Trego's reins up again. I sat on the back of the wagon and led Trego behind it. He walked calmly, bobbing his head at me every now and again. Kimi's green eyes never left Trego.

Why are we bringing him with us? Kimi asked, Does he belong to you now?

I shook my head, chuckling slightly, No, Kimi. Didn't you hear Granny? He's lost and the best way for us to find his master is to bring him to the Market.

Kimi hummed then shifted herself that way she was laying on my shoulder, her tail wrapping itself loosely around my neck. She rested her head on her paws, still watching Trego. Trego just walked calmly behind the wagon.

***

About an hour later, we arrived at the gates to the King's Marketplace. I stared in awe at the towering walls surrounding the city beyond the Market. Granny glanced back and laughed.

"That's the King's City beyond that wall. The Royal Family live on the far side, overlooking Moon Lake," Granny explained.

I nodded, letting her know that I understood. Kimi looked around, not leaving my shoulder. I heard her growl softly at a man in a uniform holding his hand up at Granny, signaling her to stop. Granny pulled her mare to stop and the man approached us.

"Good morning, soldier," Granny greeted.

The man nodded in response, "Do you have your papers, Ma'am?"

Granny smiled, "I do. Athea, will you get my bag for me, please?"

I nodded and reached for her bag then handed it to her. She pulled out a notebook sized leather folder and pulled out a paper. The soldier took the paper from Granny and looked it over. He looked back towards me, causing me to flinch slightly which caused Kimi to growl again. The soldier looked back at Granny, making me sigh in relief silently.

"Who is the girl?" he asked.

"My apprentice," Granny answered, "I'm training her to take over for me when I can't do this work anymore."

The soldier just shook his head and gave Granny her papers back, waving us along. Kimi hid under my hair as we passed by and I watched him warily. Even after almost four months of traveling through towns and trading posts, men still made me nervous and Kimi knew it.

We moved slowly through the Marketplace. There were people everywhere. Men, women, and children of all ages were walking around shopping at the different stalls of the market. I saw one stall selling shoes, one selling dresses and coats, and one selling exotic birds. Granny stopped the wagon in front of an empty market stall and motioned me to get out. I hopped out of the wagon and tied Trego to the side of the wagon. As we unloaded, I heard a man shouting. I turned to see a middle aged man storming up to us with a few soldiers following behind him. Trego started making panicked sounds at their loud voices.

"Granny?" I whispered to her, pointing to the men coming towards us.

I grabbed Trego's bridle, whispering soothing words in Elvish to him while I stroked his face and neck in calming strokes.

Granny got between the men and me, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Do we have a problem here, sir?" she asked calmly.

The man looked like he was about to explode in anger, causing me to whimper quietly. This man reminded me too much of the monster that called himself my father.

"A problem?" the man repeated, "Is that horse yours?" He asked, pointing at Trego.

Granny shook her head, "No he is not. My granddaughter found him early this morning in the woods about an hour outside of town. We were hoping to find his owner."

The man looked accusingly at me, "So she's the thief. Take her, men"

The soldiers moved towards me, causing me to freeze up in panic. Trego reared up at the men and moved himself between us, his back legs aimed at the men. One of the men managed to get behind me and grabbed my arms, pulling me away from Trego. I cried out on fear, trying to get out of his grip.

Suddenly, Kimi launched herself from my neck at the soldier's face, screeching and clawing at his eyes and biting his nose.

Stay away!!!she shouted at the man, even though he can't hear her.

The soldier let go of me and started to swat at Kimi. I pulled away just to be grabbed by another one of the soldiers. This one was bigger then the other one Kimi was attacking. His hands gripped my shoulders and lifted me up. I screamed in terror and I started crying, struggling to get out of the man's grip. Kimi now launched herself at the man holding me, aiming for his eyes but this man was wearing a helmet. Kimi managed to make him let me go by biting and clawing at his neck, screeching like a demon. Unfortunately, there was another soldier that grabbed me as I tried to run to Granny and this one used me as a shield against Kimi. She tried to get at him but the man just kept moving so she couldn't get to an opening.

Trego, on the other hand, swung his head around and bit the man on his backside, his ears pinned against his head. The man dropped me and I ran to Granny but the fourth man, the one who accused me of stealing Trego, got a hold of me and held a knife to my throat, making me freeze in fear. He glared at Kimi and pressed the knife into my skin, not drawing blood but enough to make his point. Kimi hissed and snarled, flying circles around the man but didn't attack. Granny glared daggers, but didn't come closer.

"Good," the man said, "Now, this is what's going to happen. We are going to take this girl with us to be tried for horse theft."

Granny started fuming, "I told you that she did not steal that horse. She found him wandering in the woods and we were going to try to find his master."

"This girl is a thief and do you have any idea who that horse belongs to?"

Granny rolled her eyes, "Does everything I say go in one ear and out the other? No but I get the feeling that you're about to tell us."

"Damn straight. That horse belongs to one of the king's sons and stealing that horse is punishable by hanging!" the man shouted.

I froze and my eyes widened and tears started falling again.

"ENOUGH!!" a voice shouted from behind us.