"And she loves to eat..." Jill added, glaring at her horse. The glare was belied by the fond smile that played at her lips, and she didn't do anything to stop the insistent muzzle. Jill herself lacked the polish brought by polite society, but she fully expected Salma to behave as well as a noble lady.
If Jill had been of a different mindset, she might have questioned whether a man inclined to visit brothels was either kind or very likely to be so towards his horse. But she wasn't, and while she did have strong views on treating animals badly, she had met people who did it too seldom to be very suspicious. Simply put, Jill loved animals so much that she couldn't imagine anyone treating them badly. (Although she had punched a few in the face for doing so over the years.) "I'm glad to hear it," she began thoughtfully. "Maybe next time I get home I can ask my fath..." At this point, reality caught up with her. It would be unlikely that she returned to her father's farm in the near future. If ever, perhaps. She would not get a chance to ask about Lugus.
Shaking it off, not letting her mind dwell on the sadness that threatened to envelope her, she instead applied herself to the idea of Riding Lessons. The last time she had tried to teach anyone hadn't gone very well, rather it had been a disaster. Clearly, if she wanted Lillie to like it more than Im...Emi...that woman she had met a few years ago had, she had to plan it better. A few times the teyrns' children had sneaked into the stables, wanting to pet the horses and hear her stories about them. With the younger, she had never gone further than lifting them up and letting them pat a soft nose or stroke a flank. The older ones though, she sometimes took up before her in the saddle, riding a slow lap around the training yard while listening to their delighted shrieks and giggles. Glancing at Lillie, she tried to calculate if the both of them would fit, her saddle made for lightness, and comfort for one rider, not two. And those times when she had taken someone up beside her, it had always been someone who already could ride or a child small enough to position more easily. But Jill wasn't really one to back down, not when she imagined she could see a tentative interest in Lillie's eyes. "If I sat behind you I could explain how itä's done," she suggested. "Or if you just want to go for a ride you could sit behind me." And finally, looking not too interested in the option herself and with a fleeting and rather wistful glance at her horse, she said. "Or if you just want to rest your feet I'm sure Salma would behave better with someone on her back, even if we're just walking."
See, she could be careful and let people choose for themselves instead of making them to things that put them off riding for ever...