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The mare she had been so pleased to receive had proven very quickly that there was a reason for the gift. Siv had little experience with horses, and while she found the blue-black thing pretty, she did not see the true value in her breeding. In fact, it the course of two hours she had learned exactly what sort of horse this mare was. Stubborn, headstrong, and in many ways, too smart. Yet Siv would show her Lord Hunter exactly what sort of prowess she could manage with the beast, whom she had taken to calling Hildr. There was no storage for her at the barn, but Siv was searching for a space to make her home and would certainly keep the mare in mind.
Her intentions had shifted when she had caught wind of the Dark Lady. Though she had intended on presenting her gifts sooner, it had been a long process to strip the color from the hide. She carried them with her always now, and they were carefully wrapped up in the bag resting behind her and on the spotted rump of the horse. Siv turned the mare north and rode well into the night, unaware of how dangerous such a thing was for a horse. Luckily, Hildr was not a spring filly and knew very well how to travel in such conditions. A large part of this was from the lack of fear (which was truly due to ignorance) that came from her rider. While inexperience, there was no lack of confidence, no hesitation—and the mare responded to this. With a rider, the balance of power was determined quickly; while Hildr was dominant on the ground and certainly around the other horses, she was a mare who had carried many riders and knew the difference between cruel, kind, green, and confident.
The starlight gave Siv enough to see the open land before her, and she wondered just how far the woman had gone. Smoke was what gave them away, and as she followed this scent, she soon found the pinprick of light in the darkness. Without hesitation she rode closer, mane billowing around her willowy frame as the wind howled. On the ground alone she was a sight to behold, a behemoth herself—on the horse she was a thing of nightmares, a giantess. There was no formal announcement of her presence, for the noise of the horse would likely announce her well enough.
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