190. Long Forgotten Promise.

We found them outside overtaking the backyard.

Ilianna and Ciren were sparing lightly with wooden daggers while Zephyr was further away looking at a specific spot in front of him about 30 ft away from us.

" Are you ready? " asked Cintia.

" Yeah, go on.." said Zephyr.

We stood near them but didn't bother and stayed silent.

Cintia concentrated, and her eyes light up white.

" Okay, I can see it.." said Zephyr, waiving his hand.

She relaxed a little, but her eyes didn't change. " Okay! I'm doing it! "

She shouted and walked backwards step by step after about a dozen.

" Stop!.. It disappeared.." said Zephyr.

She released her power and took a deep breath.

" About 45 ft, not bad! "

He walked back towards us slowly, and Cintia took a seat.

" That was my limit. " she said, looking towards us, fully aware we were watching the whole time. " I increased it since coming here. "

" That's incredible Cintia, you can safely use your power from a good distance away. How many does it affect? " asked Demelza.

" It's up to me, I can make you see anything from a few feet without much stamina loss but once the distance go beyond 20 ft it's harder to maintain the illusion, it drains me. The more people, the faster. " she said.

Zephyr came closer and asked.

" So tell it, which arrow head won? "

We retold what happened over at the smithy, while Carlos took over the supervision of the kids' training.

" We overheard Alexander's big speech to the troops, so tell me exactly when, where, and how. " I asked.

" In 6 days, preparations are done, and we make our way towards Hori, which is about a day or two on horseback, yes ladies .. ride " he said it again when we shot some looks.

" In order to make this as fast as possible, we all ride, no wagons. "

We shared some excited looks, ad that to the to-do list, riding lessons.

" Anyway, depending on how long that will take, we either come home or go towards Misao.. we'll see. " he finished.

" I'll say let's go and pick horses! " Eleanor was very enthusiastic.

"" Let's ""

Before we could leave, a sweaty little girl approached us.

" Dad said," I can pick my horse now. " she said nonchalantly.

" It's called a Pony, princess.." Zephyr picked her up.

" Yes.. I'm getting one as well...what? " Ciren asked her brother while patting her clothes.

" If Anna gets one .."

I stepped closer to my family.

" Did you check if we even have ponies? " I asked him.

" Nope .. but it's not my problem, I'm not the one who promised her this months ago. " he shrugged, handing me our daughter.

Ughh .. I forgot about that one. She was promised by me, but lately, I'm thinking she played me like a fiddle.

" Fine, we check, and if we don't have any, it'll have to wait until we're back. " I said, giving him a quick kiss and followed the girls who had already left.

Along the way, we ran into Veila, who looked out of breath.

" Hey...guys..I'm looking for Zephyr? " she asked, stopping in front of us.

" He is home. We just left him. Why? Something wrong? " I asked.

She shook her head quickly. " No problem, just want to ask if I can come along with my sisters. "

As she said that, we saw Mia and Aim coming from afar.

" You want to make some coin on the villages? " asked Demelza.

" Absolutely... I read people's future here too many times. " she said without an ounce of shame. " Arriving with other blessed headed by Leader Zephyr will already be enough to attract clients, rich ones. "

I bet people from Hori will pay good coin, but..

" What about your sisters? They want to perform as well? " I asked.

" Nope, they want to join the hunt. " she answered, sounding a little sceptical.

They just catched up to us. " Hey ladies, we are looking..

" He is at home. Good luck. " I cut Mia off.

We left them and walked until we ended up the newly built stables.

Having more than a hundred more horses now, they needed space, so they were quickly built and maintained.

" So many horses.." Eleanor stepped up timidly. " Is there anyone in charge of them? "

That was a good question. I saw some guys standing near Put Anna down, gone, and asked them.

" Lylly, it's me.. " it was Thomas Hender, a guy who asked for my hand when we were 18 years old.

" Hey Thomas.. I didn't recognize you. How have you been? " I asked.

He looked different from the skinny little guy I remembered, he grown a few inch, and his hair grew out.

" I'm very well, thank you. Leader Zephyr asked me and my family to look after these horses. My aunt thinks it's a prophecy from the Monroe girl coming true. " he said with a shy smile.

I remembered hearing something like that.

" I see. Well, we came to pick a horse.. how much do they cost anyway?"

I didn't bring coin with me but could send Eli home for some.

" That will be a day when Leader Zephyr has to pay for his own horses. " he gave an incredulous look.

" What do you mean? Aren't these horses..

" Are the property of Emet village and with it Leader Zephyr's. " he said with unshakeable resolve.

I saw some signs of fanaticism in his eyes but ignored it.

" I..Alright then. Can you bring some ponies for my little ones? Zephyr wants them to have one.. " I said.

He and some others went away, and I rejoined the girls. One was already patting her chosen one.

Demelza was feeding a large brown mare, giggling as she took the apple from her hand.

" I going with her..we like each other already. " she said, patting her side.

I took a look myself and saw Zephyr's black mare standing in her own little round pen, enjoying some people washing her.

That looked like one pampered horse but fitted him perfectly. I needed one equally radiant.

Spotted a few horses in a separate large round pen with a few colourful ones no one paid attention to.

Thomas and some man brought back a few small ponies delighted the girls as Eli joined me, watching them.

" Thomas said they called Mustang's, and they're wild horses..hard to break in, dangerous even. " she explained.

" I see .. let's go get one for ourselves.." I said after a few seconds of silence.

" Had a feeling you say that. "