One of the few joys Elaine indulged in when the Hunters were sequestered in Camp Half Blood was the abundance of horses. Horses and pegasi were two aspects of being human that she missed. Artemis and her loyal girls hunted with wolves and birds of prey, but hardly ever did they utilize equines. It had something to do with a long-ago feud between Poseidon and the goddesses. Horses were not ideal hunting companions, being herd animals more than predators. Elaine intellectually knew this.
It didn't stop her from spending plenty of time in the stables, rather than on the archery fields or stuck in the cabin. She knew most of the pegasi, and according to one of the children of Poseidon, they were happy enough to carry her. (The constant bribes probably didn't hurt - honey cakes and maple sugar candies. Most pegasi had an enormous sweet tooth.) Today's mount had happily accepted her honey cake, rewarding Elaine with a whiskery horse kiss. Diadem had left a long slobber stain on Elaine's shoulder, crumbs and grass spread liberally over the fine lawn fabric.
Diadem was a nervy filly, skittering away from the smallest of excuses. She had even managed to throw Elaine, which took quite a bit of initiative. Elaine rode like her knees were glued to her mount; a habit that had taken a couple of decades to develop. It was far from her first fall. Then, Elaine had been beaten for touching her master's horse, badly enough that she hadn't been able to sit for several days.\
Now, Elaine collected herself from the ground. She had dirt ground into the seat of her jeans, and a pretty good ache working through her back. It wouldn't last long. Wouldn't happen, except Elaine wanted the reminder of the consequences of getting cocky. She collected Diadem's reins, and scooped her brimmed hat up.
"Shows me who's boss, doesn't it?" she asked softly. Diadem whickered, and shoved her nose in Elaine's front pocket.
"Naughty ponies don't get treats," was the admonishment. She tapped Diadem's ear, and grinned at the filthy look she was given. Adding an endearment in Creole only made her mount toss her head, clearly miffed. Elaine switched back to English.
"We'll walk to Thalia's tree, then. Stretch our legs, not out wings." Diadem greeted this by blowing vigorously, probably thinking that it was the first sensible thing Elaine wanted to do.
Problem! Thalia's tree was occupied. Elaine wasn't close enough to hear the girl's yelling, but she could see her wipe something off her face. Maybe tears. By the time the Hunter got close enough to speak in a conversational tone, the girl - a daughter of Hecate, maybe - was pondering several books.
"That one is useless," she offered, pointing to one of the Greek books. It really was - it was written by a human trying to rewrite history instead of preserve it.
EnsembleWord Count 482
