Chapter 137: The Curse of Pretty
Traveling went on just as expected.
The thick, wet snow that had fallen overnight had long since froze and made for a heavy layer on the ground that the horses crunched through as they ran forward. For a long while, that was the only noise to be heard.
The apprentice and knight weren’t going as fast as possible in case the ground was uncertain in some areas, but their pace was good enough. It was so much so that, despite leaving later in the morning, they made it to the inn in the evening.
When they were near the stable, Irene dismounted off of Sorrel and she turned to the knight who still sat atop his horse.
"Shall I put your horse away, sir?" she asked. "There wasn’t a stablehand last time."
Sir Gunnar’s faint smile was revealed as he pulled the scarf off of his face. He was proud to see that Irene was already behaving even more dutifully than she did before.
"Yes," he responded. "I will check in with the innkeeper and find us something warm to eat."
The girl took his horse’s reins and led the two large animals to the stable which was tightly closed considering the season. Unlike the time before, it seemed there were a few more visitors.
Luckily, there were still plenty of stalls available for horses.
It seemed that someone had been tending to them at least a little bit because there were small fires lit in metal cages hanging on the posts. Their chains were so long that there was no risk of fire, but they still kept the place a little bit warm.
Since she petted Sorrel so affectionately after giving him food, she decided she ought to do the same to Sir Gunnar’s horse.