4, Estrela

“Sure, let’s get out into the garden,” she told him, and they walked out there. The party had been going on for hours and some guests had left. It made the house and garden feel less cramped.

“I wanted to give you the gift from my grandfather and I,” Tenac told her and held out a rolled-up piece of paper.

“Your grandfather?” Ayya asked.

“Yes, he wanted to be here to celebrate, but they have set up camp five hours away and he isn’t as strong as he used to be. But he sends his best and asked me to tell you that the tribe is proud to have another aari as a member,” he nodded.

“That is very kind of him. I have to write him and say thank you,” Ayya said.

“You don’t even know what the gift is,” Tenac laughed.

“It’s the thought that counts,” Ayya told him as she unfolded the paper to read it.

At the top of the paper there was a sketch of a horse, very lifelike, under it was a lot of information about the horse and as Ayya read through it, she froze and looked up at Tenac.

“You are giving me a horse?” she asked.

“Yes,” he smiled.

“Like an actual horse?” she asked.

“Yes, we rarely give out fake ones,” he laughed.

“That is too much, Tenac. I haven’t earned a gift like this,” she objected.

“It’s too late. My grandfather has decided it and she has been marked with your mark,” he shrugged.

“I don’t know what to say. Thank you,” she said.

“You are welcome,” he smiled.

Ayya looked at the document again. The horse’s name was Estrela. Her sire was Estreon. Ayya did the math in her head.

“Tenac, is this the horse I met when your grandfather showed me the herd?” she asked.

“It is,” he sounded pleased that she made the connection. “Estreon’s first offspring. Grandfather said you two had a connection. I think he decided back then that she would be yours,” he told her.

“Please tell me that this doesn’t mean what I think it means,” Ayya said, and pointed to the star beside her horse’s name.

“It means she has the star rating,” Tenac informed her.

“Tenac...” she began.

“Don’t. She is yours. I have had her stabled at the aari stables and everything is taken care of,” he told her.

“She is here?” Ayya asked.

“Yeah, a clan member delivered her a week ago,” Tenac nodded.

“Can we go see her?” Ayya asked excitedly.

“Ayya, it’s past midnight,” Tenac reminded her.

“And?”

“And you have a house full of people here to celebrate you,” he added.

“They won’t notice if we sneak out for half an hour. Please?” she said and smiled at him.

“Fine, but if your father notice we are gone, I’m blaming you,” Tenac caved.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Ayya said. She grabbed his hand and started dragging him through the garden.

“Slow down, Ayya. We will get caught in no time like this,” he laughed.

“No, we won’t,” she smiled and led him to where ivy covered the wall that surrounded the garden.

Beneath it was a gate. They only used it when they needed to get big things in or out of the garden. But now it was perfect for them to sneak out without being noticed.

“Sneaky,” Tenac said as she let him out through the gate and closed it behind them.

They started walking towards the stables.

“Ayya, huh?” Tenac said after a while.

“Yeah, I liked it,” Ayya smiled.

“It suits you. Does it feel strange to be called something else but Mary?” he asked.

“A little, but not as much as I thought it would be,” she confessed.

“I guess that means it was the right choice,” he said.

“Maybe,” she nodded.

“I know you are going on a mission in a couple of weeks,” Tenac then told her.

“It’s okay, Tenac. Your mother already talked with me. I know you can’t be there. It’s okay, I didn’t expect you to,” she said.

“I had hoped I could join it, it will be a little longer than your fieldwork,” he sighed.

“It will be okay. I don’t think they would send a beginner into anything that they can’t handle. Does that mean that you know what the mission is?” she asked.

“Nice try, I’m not telling you. Mother asked me not to, and she is way scarier when she is mad than you,” he shook his head. Ayya laughed.

They reached the stables and walked into the stable that held the horses belonging to the aari. Tenac had once told Ayya that not many aari had their own horse. It showed as the stable was half empty. They walked over to a box in the corner and as they walked closer, Estrela stuck her head out to see who was coming. Ayya walked up to her and let her smell her hand.

“Hey, Estrela, remember me?” Ayya asked.

The horse snorted and then gently butted Ayya’s hand. Ayya started rubbing the beautiful horse’s forehead.

“She is beautiful,” Ayya told Tenac as she took in the sight of the horse.

She had been cute as a foal, but now as a full-grown horse she was stunning. The red head and legs softly blended into the frosted body. The long tail and mane were almost the same colour as Ayya’s own hair.

“She is,” Tenac agreed and patted the horse.

“Thank you, I really am lost for words,” Ayya said. He just smiled at her.

“We can take her out to let you have a feel for her when you have the time,” he told her.

“But not tonight,” he added with a chuckle.

“Oh, sure. How about tomorrow? It’s Saturday,” she smiled.

“It works for me,” he nodded.

Ayya opened the door to the box and stepped inside. Estrela moved around a bit and then let Ayya run her hands over the horse’s body. Ayya tried to get to know every inch of Estrela. When she lifted her mane from the neck, she saw her own mark. She put her hand over it and Estrela looked back at her.

“You are a good girl, aren’t you?” Ayya smiled and rubbed her muzzle.

Estrela let her lips nibble at Ayya’s hand.

“Sorry, I don’t have any treats with me. I’ll bring something tomorrow,” Ayya told her and patted her neck.

“Ready to head back?” Tenac asked. He was standing in the opening to the box with a smile on his face.

“Yeah, thank you for indulging me,” Ayya said, and gave Estrela a last pat.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she told the horse.

As they locked the box door and started walking back home, a realisation hit Ayya.

“Tenac, I don’t have any equipment for her. How do I even go about buying that?” she asked.

“It’s been taken care of,” he chuckled.

“What? How?” she asked, surprised.

“Well, technically. Estrela is a gift from my grandfather since she was his. My gift is the equipment,” he told her.

“Thank you, Tenac. I feel a little stupid to repeat myself, but I really mean it,” she said.

“It’s my pleasure, Ayya. You will need a good horse if you are to be traveling all across the place,” he smiled.

They snuck in through the gate the same way they left. They had been gone less than half an hour and no one seemed to miss them.

“You better be getting back to your guests,” Tenac told her.

“Thank you for your gift, Tenac, and for going with me,” she smiled and walked into the house.

“There you are, sweetheart,” her mother smiled at her.

“Hi mom, I was just with Tenac. He gave me his gift,” Ayya said, holding up the rolled-up document.

“What did he give you?” her mother asked.

“A horse, well, his grandfather gave me a horse. Tenac gave me all the equipment,” Ayya smiled.

“A horse?” her mother said.

“I know, right? It’s amazing. I’m heading for the stables tomorrow to try her out,” Ayya told her.

“That is a remarkable gift,” her mother said.

“It is,” Ayya nodded and smiled at her mother.

Ayya mingled the rest of the night. She thought that would have been a tiresome thing, but in fact, she had fun. There were so many people from different backgrounds that it was interesting to stop and chat with them for a while.

It was almost morning when the family finally said goodbye to the last guests and took a look at their house. It was a mess.

“We’ll leave it for tomorrow,” Ayya’s mother said.

“I should send a message to Tenac and say I won’t make it. I need to help you with this,” Ayya said.

“No, you go and have fun. You have earned it. Your father will help me,” her mother said.

“I will?” Kopa asked. “I mean, I will,” he then nodded after a glance from his wife.

“Still, it would be faster if we were three,” Ayya objected.

“And even faster if we were five. But it will do with two,” her mother smiled, and pushed her towards the stairs.

“Now up to bed. We still have time to sleep for a couple of hours,” she added.

“Yes, mom,” Ayya smiled.

A couple of hours later, Ayya got up. She was far from rested, but she didn’t care. She was off to see Estrela. That was all she could think about.

She ate a quick breakfast, wrote a quick note for her parents, that were still asleep and then took a bunch of apples, carrots and some of the left-over food that was still good to eat and left. She stopped by Buttercup and Fizz and gave them an apple and carrot each. Then she headed to Estrela.

“Hi, girl,” Ayya cooed as Estrela stuck her head out of the box.

Ayya rubbed the horse’s forehead and gave her an apple. Estrela sniffed the apple before snatching it and happily munching it down.

“I thought I would find you here,” Tenac said with amusement as he came walking.

“Already started bribing her?” he asked.

“She’s a good girl and deserves it,” Ayya said, and stroked the horse’s neck.

“Come on, I’ll show you where her things are,” he said.

Ayya spent a lot longer than necessary to groom Estrela, she knew by now that it was a valuable bonding time for horse and rider. When she was done and saddled the horse, Estrela’s fur shone. As she led Estrela out of the stables, Tenac was standing there waiting with Addon.

“Did you have any problems?” he asked, worried.

“No, why?” Ayya answered.

“It took you forever,” he said.

“Oh, I got caught up in the moment,” she had to admit, and snuck a carrot to Addon.

“Ayya,” Tenac sighed.

“What? He’s a good boy,” she told him.

Addon snorted as to say that he agreed and Ayya looked at Tenac with a look that said, ‘Told you so’.

“Fine. Remember when you switched to Fizz from Buttercup and you adjusted the helps?” he asked.

Ayya nodded.

“Expect the same thing. Estrela will be very responsive, and she isn’t used to being cooped up in a box all day. She will have some energy to burn. Do you want to take her for a couple of laps in the pen first?” Tenac asked.

Ayya looked at Estrela and scratched her behind the ears.

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Ayya smiled.

They mounted the horses, and Tenac waited for Ayya to get Estrela to walk. Ayya was amazed at just how responsive Estrela was. The thought of asking the horse to start walking had barely reached Ayya’s muscles before they were moving forward.