After a while, they arrived at the village and the four of them got off from the farmer's wagon. Thatcher thanked the man once more and the farmer rode off.
"We'll need to find some new clothes." Thatcher said to them all. "As we can't travel like this."
Roxane's mind immediately went to stealing, but Thatcher had another idea in mind. Soon, they had purchased a new set of clothing for everyone. As everything was already ready made, Thatcher had paid less money. He asked the tailors if they could wear the clothing out.
"Now all we need are horses and some provisions." Thatcher went off to find somewhere he could procure horses while Kian lead the women to the market.
Bustling with many people, the market was in complete chaos. Many people were peddling off their wares and despite being a small village market, it seemed they often had a lot of travelers passing through. They were easily able to blend in with the others as they bought various things, Kian mostly bought dried meat and other types of food that took less time to spoil.
It didn't take long for Thatcher to catch up with them, he had the reins of three horses in tow. Roxane thought riding separately would be better, so she had requested she and Diana be given their own horse.
Diana moved closer to Roxane, and she recognized her friend had something to tell her.
"Roxane what are we going to do? We don't know how to ride a horse." She said it in a small voice, but Roxane could hear her terror.
Roxane understood her fear, but she didn't want to admit to Thatcher that they had no clue on how to ride a horse. Instead, she watched as Thatcher gracefully mounted his horse after packing away half of the provisions and tying them up next to the saddle.
Kian did the same with his horse, taking the bags they already had and tying it securely on his horse. He mounted his black horse with ease just as Roxane was barely grabbing onto her horse's reins.
She secured her own satchel as best as she could, and when she went to climb up on the horse, the damn beast pulled away.
Roxane frowned. She and Diana exchanged worried looks as the horse backed away from Roxane again.
"Maybe he can sense what you are?" Diana offered.
Roxane looked around the market until her eyes fell on the same farmer that had given them a ride on his wagon.
"Give me one moment." She grumbled and set off in the direction of the farmer. The farmer smiled as he saw the lovely visage of the young woman walking towards him. He brightly greeted her as if she were a longtime friend.
"Hello again dearie. What can I do for you?" His smile led Roxane to naturally bring out her own. She looked down at the stall full of vegetables laid out on the table.
"I was wondering if you could spare a single carrot." She held up one of her fingers, and at the same time she closed one of her golden eyes. "Please. I'm in kind of a bind as my horse is acting out."
The farmer smiled at her and quickly put a carrot in her hands.
"Please, take this. That young man over there overpaid me for giving you all a ride and I want to repay the kindness."
Roxane gave her thanks and walked away as she gave the man one final wave goodbye. She made her way back to the three and went to stand directly beside her stubborn horse. It regarded her warily as it flattened back its ears.
Roxane held up the carrot, and as the horse opened its mouth to take it, she moved it away from its reach.
"This is only for horses who will let me mount them. Do you understand?" She was talking to a horse, but somehow, she was sure that the horse understood her. The horse's nostrils flared as he huffed and kicked at the ground, not at all happy with the tone in Roxane's voice.
Diana came between the two, putting her hand gently on the horse's head. Miraculously, the horse seemed to love Diana's touch as it bowed its head to let Diana have better access all so she could continue patting its head.
Diana laughed and scratched behind the horse's ears. She beckoned Roxane to hand her the carrot and Roxane mutely handed it over to her.
"Please be a good boy and let us ride you? Here, this carrot is for you." She gave the carrot to the horse and it greedily ate it all up. Diana looked at her and nodded, gesturing for Roxane to take the reins.
Roxane let out an exasperated sigh as she couldn't believe Diana was able to calm down the horse. She moved towards it cautiously and lifted herself up onto the horse's back, grateful that she had settled on a buying a long slitted skirt with pants underneath as it would be impossible for her to straddle the horse in a dress.
When she was confident that the horse wouldn't buckle her off its back, she took Diana's hand and helped her get on the horse behind her. Diana's lean arms snaked around her waist and held on to her tightly.
Thatcher nodded over to them as he watched the women, and as if making sure they were mounting correctly. He took the reins in his hands and very lightly tapped the side of his horse, and as if magic, his horse began to move forward. Kian did the same with his and they went off.
Roxane felt her heart thumping inside her chest and she tried her best to not appear as nervous as she felt. She positioned her hands on the reins of the horse just as she had seen the other two do, and with her legs, she gently squeezed the sides of her horse.
For a second Roxane was worried she had done it wrong, but she was surprised when the horse underneath her started moving. She quickly wiped her face of any indication that she was surprised. The horse, for the most part, let itself be ridden quite easily.
Although she was clumsy with steering the beast to keep up with the two men taking up the front, the horse seemed to make up for its rider's faults. In all honesty, Roxane felt as if the horse was steering itself as the hours passed on by.
She suspected the horse was acting on its best behavior only because Diana was on its back.
They rode on the horses until the sun was low enough that it was about to dip behind the surrounding mountains, casting golden rays into the sky above. Thatcher hopped off his horse in one fluid motion that Roxane had been convinced that she would be able to do the same.
She stumbled as soon as her feet touched the ground. Roxane had to quickly hang on to her horse's saddle as her legs threatened to give out from underneath her.
"Careful now. We've been riding for a long time with barely any stops. Your legs are going to be very wobbly." Thatcher noticed the state Roxane was in and quickly went over to them to help. He lifted Diana off from the back of the horse and gently set her down on the ground.
Immediately Diana also stumbled, her legs just about giving out. Thatcher quickly grabbed her arm, holding her up.
"T-Thank you." Diana said, her face reddened with embarrassment. "I didn't think I would be this exhausted."
"Not a problem." Thatcher smiled down at her, trying to comfort the woman.
As the day before, the two men did all the work preparing the camp as Roxane and Diana massaged their aching legs. As they ate some of the provisions they had bought, Roxane was already dreading tomorrow as they had another full day of riding ahead of them.