Pandora sat atop Thunder while Russel led him by the reins. He wouldn't walk far. Pandora had moved the Fortress near the largest village she knew about. Russel would be able to purchase a horse for her there.
She wasn't sure she wanted one. There were no horses among Tabitha's familiars. A unicorn, she discovered quickly, had only appearance in common with horses. Thunder didn't behave at all like Justine. The unicorn wouldn't let anyone, even Tabitha, ride her. In fact, Pandora wasn't sure she had ever ridden before.
Pandora wondered why Tabitha didn't have a horse. Thunder seemed very intelligent in his own right, though not a patch on Justine. Surely it would be a simple matter to enchant a horse with further intelligence, consciousness. Tabitha had shown her how when she made Genevieve, her latest feline familiar. It was complicated and required more magic than anything she had ever done.While Russel led quietly, she remembered every detail of the spell that she could. Perhaps this new horse would be her first familiar. Tabitha had said it was easiest done with independent, intelligent creatures than those in herds, those who followed. A horse, she thought, might go either way.
In less than an hour, Russel was haggling with a man over the gold coins in his pocket.
“Pandora,” Russel called. She had stood apart from the men, but she approached now, curious.
“He says I am still short, but he recognizes you. He will give you the horse if you enchant his pregnant wife, give her a safe and easy birth.”
Pandora's eyes widened. “I've never done that.”
