As the horse bobbed his head, Corvina managed a weak smile. It felt a little better to be here, out in the air, with another living being. Reaching back and rummaging in her bag for a moment, Corvina produced an apple. She didn’t know much about horses, but she seemed to remember apples were one thing they ate. She hadn’t wanted to go nosing around for whatever they were feeding him with here, and she hadn’t wanted to show up empty-handed. She had considered the possibility that she might need a bribe. That this wasn’t the case was a nice surprise, and a very welcome change from the other things going on in her life.
She held out the apple, hoping it would be accepted. As she did, she thought of the only other place she had wanted to go since this whole mess started….well, apart from just away. The carnival already had horses, in a way, and there was one she’d always thought of as hers. Her carousel horse.
Of course, she hadn’t gone. She’d fought the urge to climb onto the dark and silent carousel and just sit on her chosen steed, sit and rest her head against its mane and put her arms around its neck the way she used to when she was a little girl. So what had she done?
“I found a real horse instead,” Corvina said out loud. “You make a very good option, you know.”