Darin muttered to herself, “Right. Straight back, moving hips, squeezing my knees means go faster.” She looked up from her lap, “Are we good with that Talbot?” Talbot let out a snort and shook his head in a sort of nod, so Darin nodded as well, “We are good then.”

It wasn’t actually that hard once Darin found herself in position. At times Talbot would go a little faster. Darin found herself paying attention to Talbot’s ears. The left one would flick back when ever he sped up. So, the next time they were just walking, before Talbot got a chance, Darin reached out to tap his left ear. The horse flicked the ear back as he broke out into a trot. This time he didn’t stop. The human thought for a moment before reaching out to tap his right ear. Then he slowed down. That was certainly going to be an interesting system, and Darin could already see how it would cause problems.

She told him that, “That won’t work for everything Talbot.” He snorted at her, “I mean it! It’s fine for training me to ride, but in combat or running away it won’t work.” This time his snort conveyed the feeling of reluctant agreement, “Thank you. But we will figure something out. I promise.”

Talbot nodded again. He was by far the smartest horse Darin had ever meet. He wasn’t as sweet as Heath, but he was more intelligence. The farmer had told Darin that Talbot told him things. She was willing to believer that the horse was smarter than most people, herself included. Then her eyes went wide as she suddenly remembered something.

Her tone was accusatory, “Your person said you told him what I was doing! How did you know?”

The noise Talbot made could only be described as a laugh. Darin stared at him in shock. This was a big deal. Talbot may have seen the band around her thigh, but how had the horse known that it contained The Seed? Darin believed that Talbot knew. There was no doubting that. Still, she needed to know how he knew. That way she could make sure that her tell didn’t tell other people, people like Mark. 

She scolded Talbot, “This isn’t funny! Going faster when I’m not expecting it; I can see why that would be funny. Tossing me off could be funny if I wasn’t seriously hurt. The Seed is important, and I don’t want people to know I have it if I can help it.” She gestured out to Ridahne, “I didn’t even tell Ridahne! She had to figure it out for herself!”

Talbot stopped suddenly, and it took all Darin had just to stay on. She got the impression that Talbot wasn’t all that impressed with her. That was okay, Darin wasn’t impressed with herself either. Then, with as little warning as when he stopped, Talbot started up again. He hadn’t told her how he knew. Then again, maybe he had, and She just wasn’t listening or paying attention properly. She supposed that was more likely. It would explain why he was irritated with her.

Darin asked another question in a softer tone of voice, “Can people like Mark find in the same way?” Talbot shook his head, “Well okay then. I’ll take that.”

Talbot let out another whinny. His left ear flicked twice. Darin’s eyes went wide. She was just in time. As soon as her arms were wrapped around his neck. he took off faster than he ever had before. Talbot bucked a little bit, and Darin forced herself to sit up straight. It wasn’t that bag. In fact, once she got use to it, it was a nice way to move. Then Talbot stop suddenly, and she fell straight off.

Darin landed on her back to stare straight up at the sky, “Owe.”