<div dir="ltr"><div>And here's my latest section.</div><div> </div><div>----</div> More visitors meant more horses. More horses meant it was still late in the evening for the young stablehands to finish grooming, feeding, and exercising the horses. This last task was usually left for the bigger stablehands, those who were teenagers or had already morphed, for their own safety and for the concern of the horses. Not all of the horses were used to unchaperoned children, and actively resisted a much smaller handler on the lead. In this, Nathan was no different. Though he loved animals, Nathan had never been a commanding figure. Having regressed to a 7-year-old's body, there was much less he could physically do compared to the other age regresses. At least he had the energy and stamina of a 7-year-old, and never tired of scrubbing tackles or brushing manes. Still, he couldn't help but watch with envy the bigger boys who led the horses around. "Lost in thought again, boy?" Nathan quickly resumed his brushing. The stallion snorted at the shakiness of the brush and stamped his hoof. The stable master who had barked the warning seemed only slightly less mollified. "These horses are for grooming, not for riding, you understand?" He leaned over, and in a lower voice added, "You especially ought to understand that." Nathan blushed but nodded. "Yes, sir." Only then did he realize a couple of other stablehands had been staring at him the whole time. Nathan had thought that serving his time here would help mend the damage he'd caused them. But the stablehands, and the stable master, all kept their eyes on him, suspicious that he'd try something funny, even if he hadn't been the one holding that knife. Bosok, the boy whose arm had been slashed, had made a quick recovery, but needed a couple more days to regain strength in that arm. As such, he'd been reassigned from leading the horses to mucking stalls and hauling water, a task he much resented, and fueled his ire towards Nathan. Fortunately, Bosok was not here today, and it was only the strict stable master who kept him on edge. The other boys, at least, didn't bully him so much as avoid him. There were a couple exceptions to this, one of them being William, the boy who was grooming the mare beside him. "As I was saying," the stable master said. "I appreciate you boys staying so late. Tomorrow's the first day of the Festival. I know you must be looking forward to it. That's why I'm giving you both the evening shift for the next three days." "Working in the evening?" William said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Yes, after sunset. Now don't be sore, I have other stablehands working mornings and afternoons. William, I know you've got to help your family with one of their market stalls. And Nathan, you're new here, so you ought to enjoy a full Festival at least once. It'll be good for you, see what we Keepers are all about." "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," Nathan said. "Get those fetlocks brushed, both of you, and you're free to go." As soon as the stable master was out of earshot, William leaned over. "You should have come two summers ago. That was one of our more typical Festivals." "I don't have any plans for the Festival," Nathan whispered as he kept up the brush strokes. "Maybe visit the tournament, or the swordfights. I like seeing the animal morphs." "Well, you'd have loved to have seen Misha a while back. It's a shame he won't be appearing again, on account of getting married. You've seen him, haven't you?" "All too well," Nathan said. He shuddered as he remembered that giant black axe, and how quick and deadly the renard almost came with it. "Their wedding's going to be spectacular," William continued. "Maybe they'll bring some cool entertainment along. Have you heard about the Bremen musicians? They're new here, but they're really good." Nathan shrugged. "Maybe I'll meet up with Lucy or Synira, see if they're up for a game of catch-sticks." Nathan had learned a lot in the past couple weeks about age regresses. It had been a long time since he'd been a child, and certain good manners had been lost in his change. It almost hurt to sit still for very long. The other children had so many games he'd never played before, so many that he was convinced some had been made up on the spot. Many of the visitors were bringing along children of their own, which meant more games, more stories, more jokes, and more things to learn. "You ever catched frogs before?" William suddenly asked. Nathan barked a laugh. "It's been years. I spent more time hunting herbs than frogs." "In that case," William said. "You can do a favor for me. My sister's started raiding my bedroom -- saying I need to 'act my age'. I need someone to hold onto a frog for me until Saturday. You up for it?" "This ain't something bad, is it?" Nathan said, a bit of apprehension in his voice. "Oh no, just a bit of teasing for one of the plays. Just meet me tomorrow in the market. Unless you'd like to catch a frog yourself." "Sure, I'll be there," Nathan said, cleaning out his brush. "Just don't get me into any trouble." As the two age regresses left the stables for their nightly residences, a short shadow departed from the wall and followed after them. </div>