Dragon's Fire

She then dismissed the wards surrounding her room, replaced her disguise, opened the door, and walked out confidently. Once she was out of the inn, she strode purposefully through the streets to the stable where she was keeping her horse. The man running the stable was an old friend, and he knew that her horse wouldn't willingly leave with anyone but her, so it didn't matter what guise she was wearing at any given time. She entered the stable and went straight to her horse's stall.

"Hey, Blaze, how're we doing?" she asked softly as she reached out to stroke the white stripe running down her face, the reason for the horse's name. The horse nickered and nodded, pawing the ground slightly.

"Anxious, huh? Well, don't worry. We're leaving today. In a couple hours, actually. Sound good to you?" She scratched a spot she knew Blaze always liked having scratched, and laughed softly as she enthusiastically shook her head. "Okay, Blaze, let me go see if Ken is around, and then we'll go."

She walked softly down the row between the stalls to the office and knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in," a voice called from inside.

"Hello, Ken," she replied as she opened the door. "I'm gonna take Blaze. What do I owe you?"

"Well, let's go make sure you can take Blaze, then we'll discuss it," Ken replied as he stood and walked around his desk.

"Okay."

When they approached the stall, Ken reached over and scratched Blaze between the ears. "Hey, girl. This lady wants to take you. What do you think?" Blaze nickered loudly and nodded her head enthusiastically.

"She's ready to go, alright," Talon laughed as she reached over to scratch the horse as well.

"Okay, Talon," Ken laughed as well. "You never do look the same, do you? But what are you doing here?" Ken looked surprised to see her.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here? Is there a reason I shouldn't be?" Talon looked at Ken appraisingly.

"Well, aside from the fact that the couriers are crying that they finally cought the infamous Talon, no. Not really."Ken looked Talon up and down. "But obviously, they don't have the right person."

"Obviously. What are they saying?"

Not much right now. At least, the one I heard was only saying that the King's guards had apprehended a woman matching a description for Talon... Yourself. So I wasn't expecting to see you very soon... Anyway, it was three days at one gold piece per day, so that's three gold pieces. Her tack is over there." He pointed to a nearby rack. "Let's get her saddled up, and then we'll settle up accounts."