Niernan still felt bad about the fright he had given Teme the other day, he knew the boy had needed the wake up call and he had been relieved when he hadn't scented him on the border at all for a few days, but now, as he finished his patrol and headed for the stable he couldn't stop thinking about it. He thought that he might have been a bit too harsh, the fear he had seen in his nephews eyes had made him want to stop and scoop the boy up, protect him from all that might harm or scare him. He shook his head violently, he needed to get rid of these thoughts, Teme was grown up now, he was becoming more responsible and making friends, Nier needed to focus on his own life. He had a job to think about, planning patrols, doing all he could to make the pack borders safe, but he also had to find time for his cat, his brother, Grace, Darcy and his fellow pack members. Right now he was making time for the young colt.
Nier and Darcy had been training each other really, the wolf had little experience with horses, but a healthy respect of the hoofed animals. He had been pleased to see Darcy getting along so well with Temeraires filly, Helexia, knowing that horses were social animals and it was good for him to have companions. He thought over what he might be doing with Darcy today, the colt was already fine with a head collar, already followed Niernan at heel like an obedient dog, and was so mild mannered that he didn't need a personality adjustment. Nier thought that he might like to teach the horse to stay and come on command, not that he could do much else with Darcy still being so young and so small, his head only just reaching the tops of Niernans thighs.
Pushing open the stable door he stood in silent shock for a moment, instead of the bitter smell of horse waste and soiled hay, the sight of dusty stables and equine chaos, he encountered a clean and ordered stable. It seemed someone with a knowledge of caring for horses had joined the pack recently, he was glad, he and the others had next to no idea how to manage a stables properly, but now their horses would live in happy comfort. The most telling change was when Nier moved forward to Darcy's stable, the little foal contentedly asleep on a bed of fresh hay, his long knobbly legs tucked underneath him, his nose touching the hay. He smiled affectionately at his foal for a moment, more than happy to admire the piebald horse, his white face one of his most striking features, his body mostly dark, just like his father, with bright white slashes. The contrast of his two coat colours always struck Niernan, he still couldn't believe sometimes that he had been so lucky to be able to own such a handsome colt.
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