“I was very sorry to hear about the lady and the little lord, my lord,” he said. “My wife’s out looking for them right now.”
His wife worked in the kitchens and was an exceptionally good cook when it came to cakes and pastries.
“There’s a dangerous man on the loose,” I said. “I hope she isn’t out searching by herself.”
“She’s with her sister,” Ejam said. “I hope they do run across the kidnapper. He won’t know what hit him.”
He shook his head wearily as if he was glad to be away from them for a while.
“What brought you to the stables?” I said.
“Whenever I used to run away as a lad, it was always to the stables,” Ejam said. “I’ve always had a good friendship with beasts. I thought maybe Bianca and Cleb might have taken refuge here for some reason. I checked but they’re not here.”
That was a shame. It would have saved us a heap of trouble.
“And we heard the rumor about Bianca being the one who took the little lord,” Ejam said, his top lip curling into a sneer. “But neither of us believe that, my lord. Anyone who met her and saw how good she was with the little lord would know that.”
I was glad I wasn’t the only one who thought that way.
“Is there something I can help you with, my lord?” he said.
“Tell me, do arjaths smell as well as they hear?” I said, thinking back to that day we went riding. The arjath could hear its friends easily through the dense forest foliage.
“Better, my lord,” Ejam said proudly.
I extracted Cleb’s toy spy. I unwrapped it and held it by the sock so the creature wouldn’t mix my scent with the toy’s. I held it out to the stable master.
“Could it stiff this and track where the other toys are?” I said.
“I don’t see why not,” Ejam said. “They’ve been known to track more difficult things.”
He led us down the long row of stable doors, each with an arjath poking out of it. They watched as we passed, their nostrils flaring. We came to the room at the far end.
“Snorter has the best nose,” Ejam said. “The only trouble is, he lost a leg some time ago. I didn’t have the heart to put him down. Sorry about that, my lord,” he said, and he looked at the ground to conceal his shame. “I’ve been sharing my food with him. He hasn’t cost you anything extra.”
“If you put him down, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to find the kidnapper,” I said. “And in future, take whatever food you need for these animals. They should eat well. The same can be said for you.”
Ejam’s grin spread from ear to ear.
“Thank you, sir!” he said.
He extended the toy to Snorter, who leaned so far out of his stable Ejam had to take a step back. Snorter breathed in hard and almost sucked the tiny toy out of his hand.
“Easy there, Snorter,” he said, running his other hand over the creature’s long nose. “We need a favor from you. Some friends of ours have gone missing. We need you to use that magical smelling skill of yours to track them down. Do you think you can do that?”
I shared a look with Waev. We were both a little apprehensive. Were we really going to trust the word of a man who talked to animals?
Then the animal bobbed his head. I could have sworn he was nodding.
“There’s a good boy,” Ejam said, smacking him good-naturedly on the neck.
Snorter reared up on his hind legs and slammed his front legs on the stable door.
BANG! BANG BANG BANG!
The other arjaths picked up the drumbeat, thumping hard on their stable doors.
“Looks like he can smell him all right,” Ejam said. “Step back!”
He opened the stable door and immediately waved his arms in front of the creature to calm him down. Snorter tried to sneak past him but the stable master wouldn’t let him. He ran his hands down the great animal’s neck and over his thick fur.
“Woah, boy,” he said. “Steady. You’ll get to go find him. Don’t worry about that. But you know the rules. Harness first.”
He slipped the harness on over Snorter’s head.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to ride him. He seemed too active for my taste.
“Are you sure it’s safe to ride him?” I said. “I wouldn’t want to hurt him with his missing leg.”
“He’ll be fine,” Ejam said, putting the saddle on his back and giving him a treat. “He could do with a little time out of his stable.”
It wasn’t him I was worried about.
Ejam opened another door and prepped a second arjath for riding.
I rubbed Snorter’s nose and made sure the others weren’t watching.
“If you can find Bianca and Cleb, I swear to the Creator himself you will eat nothing but treats all day long,” I said. “Your stable master will be given the same. So, what do you say? Will you find them for me? I miss them a lot.”
Snorter bobbed his head again and pawed at the stable floor with his front foot.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I said.
My heart swelled at the thought that every member of the guard, every cook, every maid, every neighbor, every single one of them had answered the call. None had to. It was the middle of the night. Many would be taking time off, sleeping, but they hadn’t hesitated to lend their hand to help. I made a mental note to thank them all personally and have a huge celebration.
It was the least I could do.
Ejam could barely hold onto the arjaths, they were so excited about taking off. Waev and I swung onto their backs. I would have said “Thank you” to the stable master but the moment he let go of their harnesses, the arjaths took off like a shot. It was all I could do to hang on.
Arjaths were ideal at a slow gallop but due to the strange shape
