-----There in the stables, they see the long line of horses. Seth and Kazel can see the large warhorse that Sol rides standing in its stall. Next to it is the odd-looking golden maned horse of Sarah's that has the bright eyes of blue. Beside them are the two darker horses the hunters rode in on.
-----The horses quiver slightly as Seth and the stable boy begin to saddle them up. Outside the stable, all seems quiet for the moment.
-----Seth continues to help the boy saddle the horses. When they are finished, seeing that there are more horses, Seth says, "You saddle those as well and take them to the Gilded Pony, I'll lead these out for you."
-----Kazel whispers to Seth from somewhere, "Not the Gilded Pony, Maime recognizes us there! And why would he saddle horses that aren't Sol's?"
-----Seth whispers behind him, "No, Maime runs the Cloven Inn. The Wizards stayed at the Gilded Pony. It will give the boy something to do! I can feel things will go astray before morning somehow."
-----Seth says aloud, "There is a man staying in room six at the Gilded Pony. He has need of the other horses. His name is Alvin, he has green eyes by the way."
-----Kazel smacks herself and mumbles something close to "... nevermind."
-----The stable boy looks at Seth with wide eyes. "How many horses?" he asks and turns and looks at the long line of other horses sleeping in their stalls. It is obvious that the other horses number close to a score and they belong to the patrols and perhaps the officials in the keep.
-----After a few minutes, the two guards enter into the stables from one of the doors. "Sir?" one of them asks and Seth notices that they are keeping their distance from him. "We have not received a message from the Holy Temple of Joren. May we notify Chamberlain Otimus to assist you?"
-----Their eyes then light on the stable boy saddling up some of the other horses and the guards' eyes narrow.
-----Seth nods, "Yes, any help will be most appreciated. You two guards help the stable boy saddle some more horses."
-----"No," one of the guards says firmly as he begins to draw his sword, "step away from the horses." He stares at Seth in his disguised form.
-----The other guard calls over to the stable boy, "Boy, come over here to us . . . now!" The young lad stops what he is doing and carefully walks over to the guards. With wide eyes, the boy stares at Seth as he steps away from one of the horses as he makes more room for himself.
-----Before the guards can move forward, Seth summons up a quick spell while drawing forth a bit of sand. In the next moment both guards and the stable boy collapse to the earthen floor unconscious. A nearby horse seems to be slumbering also a bit deeper.
-----Seth immediately moves over to the guards and stable boy and binds them, also searching them at the same time. "Kazel, get the other two and let's get out of here with the horses!"
-----Kazel reappears out of thin air. Her hood is up and a black cloth is covering her lower face showing only her eyes. "Good save Seth... I was about to do something crazy there. Those two guards were told by the guards at the gate that no message was sent from the Temple, so they told them to be alert. You better change form to something else; maybe a guard so you can tell them all is okay after all? And can you cast sleep again if we need to?"
-----In the mean time she quickly works to bind the sleeping people and hide them with piles of straw, canvas, or anything close by.
-----After a while of binding and searching, Seth assumes the form of a guard and makes his way to the gate, and tells the gate guards that everything is ok, as per Kazel's suggestion. As he walks past Kazel, he mumbles, "One last sleep spell!"
-----Seth remains in the shadows as he talks to the guards and they seem to relax at his words. As he heads back toward the stable, one of the guards tells him, "Call out if you need us!"
-----Seth reenters the stables while Kazel finishes hiding the last of the three sleeping ones.
-----After looking around the stables, Seth mentions, "I think the guards bought it!"
-----Seth still looks around. "Well I guess we should take the horses and leave. Should we replace Sarah's horse with another? I always felt as if she had some unnatural bond with it?"
-----"I thought the bond was with her little owl. Can she have more than one of these bonds? You know better than me." Kazel looks to Seth for an answer. "If you think the horse can do unnatural things for her we can take another. Or we can take it anyway and either free it or have some horse steaks, just in case it remembers."
-----Kazel smiles at the thought of brushing up her butchering skills. She whispers her conversations even though no one is around.