'Jean' walked briskly to the stables and made his way to a stall where a fierce-eyed gray stallion was prancing. Once again 'Jean' began to mutter under his breath, sounding angry. The stableboy had not even bothered to remove the saddle! Jean did so, dusting off a new blanket before draping it across the gray's back. Amongst a few frustrated expletives, Peony heard 'Jean' call the boy "little Curufin".
'Jean' produced a brush from inside his saddlebags and began to groom the horse expertly. After a moment he began to speak, almost as if more to the air than to Peony. "My father was a marvelous equestrian. He taught me horsemanship, including to ride barebacked. His name" referring to the horse "is Storm. I purchased him in Rohan. He has carried me safely for many years, and there is no truer horse in the Riddermark."
'Jean' put the brush away and dumped out the bucket of dirty water the stableboy had shoved in the stall, refilling it with a fresh flask from his bag. 'Jean' fed Storm an apple, and began to caress the stallion's long face, whispering to him softly in fluent High-Elven. It seemed to have a calming effect on the fierce prancer. Peony was sure if anyone else had come near that horse they would have benn bitten- or trampled.
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