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Earendil chuckled and patted Miyuki on the head. "Yes, yes, the horses," he grinned. "Come on, this way."

He led Lin and Miyuki over to the next stable, which had several dozen horses in stalls. There were whites, blacks, and all colours of browns, and they were all standing quietly in their stalls, some of them munching on their hay and oats, and others watching skittishly as the group approached.

"They are indeed," Earendil smiled. "And you can go ahead and touch them, just move slowly and don't run."

He let go of Miyuki's hand and stood back to watch. He grinned at Lin, then looked back at Miyuki.

The horses ignored Miyuki, snorting softly when she came closer. A few of them blew out through their nostrils, some of their ears flicked back and forth; one of them stomped a hoof on the ground: but other than that it was silent.

Earendil chuckled softly and smiled down at Lin. "I think so," he murmured, amused. "I can't help but wonder how this is going to go. She tends to get frustrated somewhat easily."

The horse reached out tentatively and sniffed at Miyuki's hand, then rubbed its nose against her palm.

"Open your hand all the way," Earendil called to Miyuki. "It might bite otherwise."

The horse's nose was like velvet, one of the softest things in the world, and it snorted softly as Miyuki stroked its nose. It was a snort of pleasure and affection, and it pressed into her touch.

Earendil chuckled softly. "Like when she got angry with Amalirahc for crushing her snow pile?" he quipped.

The horse brushed its lip against Miyuki's palm as if searching for food, and it blew out through its nostrils when it didn't find anything to eat.

Earendil smiled down at Lin. "Well, it seems like you're doing a good job, so far at least. I mean, I haven't seen her be vindictive yet ... though I'm not sure if she's had reason in the hour since you've arrived. But still. It's something that we can work on together."

"Then we'll just have to wait and see what Miyuki does on the voyage," Earendil smiled softly, watching the child as she interacted with the horse. "See if she somehow gets back at him for something."

The horse decided that it wasn't going to be getting anything from Miyuki and turned away from her, retreating deeper into its stall.

"Because horses can't talk," Earendil chuckled, stepping forward and standing next to her. He put one hand on her shoulder. "Horses don't have intelligence like unicorns do, they can't speak, they can't reason, they don't understand us when we speak. They're a very different creature."