Free The Eye of Elicion: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol 1 by Rachel Ronning

horses and she made her way to the stables. When she reached the stables she found eight horses already saddled. The stable master greeted them.
    “Good afternoon, my name is Gareth. This is your first class, and I like to get my students on horses as soon as possible. You will learn all about horse care. A normal class will include saddling your horse, riding, unsaddling, and a brush down. That said; let’s not waste any more time. Please select a horse.”
    Teachers sure seemed to like to jump into their classes. Lucy liked it but at the same time it was kind of a sink or swim approach. Perhaps they knew that some students were nervous and putting off the inevitable didn’t make it any less frightening.
    Lucy walked up to a beautiful dappled gray. She was nervous, and she was sure that wasn’t going to make the horse any more comfortable with her. Then she remembered the moonstones and thought it couldn’t hurt to try. Lucy brushed her hand softly over the horse’s nose and thought as hard as she could.
    “Hello, my name is Lucy. I have never ridden a horse before. I’ll try my best to do things right and I hope you will be patient with me.” Lucy almost laughed at herself. She suddenly felt silly for trying to talk to a horse with her mind. Then, softly at first but growing louder with every word, there came a response.
    “ Hello Lucy, call me Ash.”
    Lucy assumed this was all normal.
    “ Any suggestions on how to mount?” she asked .
    “ Put your foot in the stirrup, grab the saddle horn with one hand, my neck with the other, and vault on. I promise to stay still while you do this.”
    “ Thank you.”
    Lucy did as she was told and found herself successfully atop Ash. Darren was already mounted and smiled at her. Grant and Chloe made it up without much fuss. Philip managed to mount his horse on his fifth try and sat there looking terrified. Gareth mounted his horse and instructed them to follow.
    He led them around the paddock at a walk, then a little faster. Lucy loved riding. It felt right and it was fun. Gareth took them out on a trail. Between her natural ability and mental instructions from Ash, Lucy had a wonderful time.
    “ Lucy, you need to grip with your thighs, not your whole leg.”
    “ Oh, thanks,”
    “ Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
    “ Yes.”
    The trail was long and winding so they mostly walked. As time drifted by, the class became more comfortable with their horses. Once they were back in the paddock, Gareth took them through some drills. He had set up cones for them to weave through. Lucy watched some of the others have problems with this.
    “ Ash? Why are they having trouble?”
    “ Their horses are trying to go one way, but the people are telling them to go the other way and not very successfully I might add.”
    “ I assume you can handle cones. I’ll hang on, you weave through, deal?”
    “ Deal.”
    “ Are you going to go left or right first?”
    “ Right, I think.”
    So they did. Lucy let Ash have her head and they went through beautifully.
    “ Well, done,” congratulated Lucy.
    “ Of course,” replied Ash. “Any horse can weave through cones.”
    Every time they went through, Ash moved faster until they were weaving through the cones at a gallop. Lucy laughed. She was having so much fun. She never knew riding a horse could feel so freeing and exhilarating. Gareth seemed impressed.
    “You know,” said Darren pulling up beside her, “If the only thing you can’t do is shoot an arrow, I might have to be jealous.”
    Lucy laughed, and Ash ran through the cones again.
    When the class was done Lucy dismounted, thanked Ash for a wonderful first class, and stumbled out of the stables. It felt odd to walk after sitting on a horse for so long. Also, she could feel how tired her inner thigh muscles were. She was going to be sore tonight. At the edge of the paddock, on the way to the school, she met up with Justin.
    “You ride well. Looks like you are a natural at something