Devin thought for a second and then said, "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but how did anyone catch you?"
She seemed to be unnerved by the question, and took a moment to think about it while she rolled onto her stomach. "One day, I was out walking, and I stepped into some sort of trap covered in leaves so I couldn't see it. It was a hole in the ground, with spikes pointing out of the center and at the bottom so if I tried to pull out my foot, the they dug into my foot. The next day the man who set the trap found me."
When she stopped, Devin assumed that she was finished, but she continued, with her eyes closed and quivering slightly, "He sold me to some aristocrat who gave me over to a trainer. For weeks the trainer would saddle me up and use a cruel bit on the bridle that when pulled, even the slightest amount, would hurt my mouth. If I didn't immediately do what he told me to, he would hit me with the but of a whip."
She took a deep breath, with her eyes still closed, and attempted to stop quivering, but started to tremble. "He put me in the most uncomfortable positions that he could think of and make me stay still. Then he would walk around me and give me a little prick with a needle, or maybe a small lash with his whip. If I even flinched, he would beat me, yelling that if I was to be ridden by a nobleman, I would have to stay still when told, no matter what."
Forest was shaking openly now, but managed to continue talking, "Then, for three days when he wasn't training me, he stopped feeding me. After the three days, he saddled me up like all the other times before, and took me into the field. By then it was spring, and everything was green but, when I tried to eat some grass, he beat me more brutally then ever before. He was shouting that he had thought he almost had me trained, but that he wouldn't give the man who hired him a horse that ate while mounted. He beat me until I couldn't move, and then left me there without tending to the cuts he had given me."
Forest's voice choked off, and she started violently shaking with fear remembering things that had been done to her. Devin wanted to comfort her, but didn't know how, so he sat down next to her and started stroking her neck while softly whispering to her that it would be alright.
Slowly she stopped shaking and just laid on the hill with her eyes still closed. Every few seconds she would quiver slightly for a few seconds. She was still sobbing, but being rubbed on her neck gave she some comfort and soon she had her head resting in his lap while she cried. Even when she had stopped crying, she had her head in his lap, seeming to soak up a sense of security from him.
Then he heard her whisper, "You're the first person who has cared about what happened to me. And the first one to know what I am in a long time."
When he didn't answer, she ventured to ask him a question. "What should I call you?"
Now she was looking at him, so he gave her a small smile before he answered, "Devin."
"Most people stay away from the forests because they are afraid of them. Why are you here?"
"The group I was guide to was attacked by a group of bandits. I chased one into this forest, and by the time I had time to think, I realized I didn't know where I was."
"And where do you wish me to take you?" she asked as she stood up.
Devin frowned while he answered, "I didn't buy you so I could ride you around, I freed you. I refuse to use you as a horse."
This time Forest gave him a smile and said, "I want to go with you, and people who can't tell what I am will think it very strange that a 'horse' is following you around; so where do you want me to take you?"
Devin thought for a moment, and then took out his newly acquired map. There were three towns that seemed to draw him. One was to the south, following the trail. The other was on the other side of the woods, to the east. The final one was to the southwest, on the other side of the woods and then along another trail. For some reason, he desperately wanted to go to all three, so in his mind he made a rout that would allow him to travel to them all.
He stood, and looked up at the afternoon sun to find southwest, then looked at forest and said, "Today were not going anywhere, but tomorrow I guess we'll go that way."
Forest looked at him with a slight curiosity, so took out the bottle that Hanna had given him, and he continued, "Would you let me see to the cuts on your flanks?"
She seemed alarmed at the question, and answer with an edge of uneasiness in her voice, "What are you going to do?"
"This isn't going to hurt, I'm going to heal them. I'm not out to get you."
"If you could do that, why didn't you use it on your leg?"
Devin let out a sigh of exasperation, and said, "I didn't use it because the cut wasn't that bad," but seeing that she needed further reassurance opened the bottle and put some on his cut.
The potion fizzed, and when the fizz had cleared, the cut was gone.
"Now do you believe me?"
Forest sounded embarrassed when she answered, "Yes."
She turned so that her right flank was facing him, and then looked over her shoulder to watch. Devin took the cloth that was around his leg, and rinsed all of his blood off of it with the water from his flask. Then, after wringing it out, poured some of the potion onto it and tenderly rubbed it down each cut. Some of them needed to have more put on because of their size or depth. Then after he was done with the first side, he moved over to her left flank and repeated the process.
When he was finally done, Forest said, "It will rain tonight."
Devin looked up at the sky, and realized that it was cloudy and did look like it would rain any minute now. "Then what about finding a place where it won't get us wet?"
"You don't have to worry about rain till the sun sets, there is plenty of time to look."
Forest was standing by the saddle expectantly, but when Devin hesitated to put it, she smiled and said, "Don't worry, you aren't forcing this on me, and I am sure you will keep your hands to yourself. How else are you going to move these things? Put them on your self?"
Devin, feeling reassured, moved toward her and the riding equipment. For a moment he couldn't locate the saddlebags or saddle blanket, but then found them both under the saddle. He remembered what the stable master had told him about the order, and followed what he was taught. First he put on the blanket, and then rested the saddle bags on top of it. Next he put the saddle over both of them, and moved everything where it fit on her back. Last, he brought saddle's strap around her chest and tightened it enough so nothing would move, but loose enough so that she could breath.
