Origin of the Knightsteeds (1 Jan 2002) Agatha learns the legends of Knight Redmane and Ahearn, Lord of Horses.

The little book opens with the following story:

The Lady Knight Redmane was not from any of the Mirari Houses proper. Whence she came from is not known, but she came to a tourney in April of 36 as a "black knight" -- a warrior in unmarked armor, with no device upon the shield. She did deeds of great valor in the joust, astounding all who saw her with her prowess on the back of a horse. Impressed by her ability, the House of May knighted her.

She brought to May's service two fearsome relics of her heritage: a sword of finest steel, rune-etched by some unknown hand, and a lance of the same manufacture. Not iron nor steel held any terror for Redmane, and though she swore she would not use these dreadful weapons on the fey folk, she willingly employed them against the monsters that beset her adopted House. At this time, trolls held the lands northwest of May's domain, and harried at the people of the villages of that House. Knight Redmane was sent to these villages to bolster their protection.

In the Winter of 36, as she patrolled the borders of May's land, she came upon a cluster of trolls at sport -- they were baiting a great horse, chained to a tree. The stallion's hide was muddied by dirt and mingled blood, but for every jab they took at it with spear, or swipe with club, it still fought gamely to dodge, and lashed back with hoof or tooth if a troll strayed too near.

Filled with rage by this abysmal treatment of so noble an animal. Redmane forgot all caution and, single-handed, beset the trolls. Though they were brave enough in tormenting a bound stallion, the monsters were quite unprepared for an armored woman bearing steel, and those who survived her first charge soon fled before her fury. She dismounted and struck off the chains from the imprisoned stallion, weeping to see the terrible wounds upon his flanks and cuts along his legs. The stallion stood for her, quite still, while she cleansed its hurts, and thinking he must be tamed, she went to her own mount to fetch a spare halter. The stallion's head shied from the leather, however, and his eyes flashed with fire. Surprised, she attempted again, and again, but the stallion showed more spirit and fury with each effort. At last, vexed, she told him, "Fine -- if you won't come with me so I may help you, then stay here and die in the cold!" And, mounting her own gelding, she rode away.

Much to her surprise, the stallion followed her, wearing neither lead nor halter, back to the village where she was stationed. Not knowing what to make of this strange horse, she tended to her gelding and stabled him, and while she did so, the stallion followed her into the barn, and stood by the door. Redmane noted that the other horses seemed to know this stranger. They whickered to him in greeting, but with heads bowed in deference. At last, she walked to the odd horse. "Does m'lord want a stall?" she asked him, sardonically. "A bath? Some hay? A nice currying?"

The stallion declined a stall when she opened one for him, remaining by the closed door instead. Redmane frowned at him, but offered the animal a bucket of oats and hay, and set to washing him off properly, and tending to the myriad of cuts and welts the trolls had left in his hide.

These ministrations the animal submitted to gracefully and without complaint. Redmane's wonder grew, marveling at a beast that would refuse a simple halter, yet tolerate the painful and time-consuming process of treating his wounds. Beneath the blood and dirt, she saw his coat was supple and purest white, the fur long to protect him against the cold. From the breadth of his chest, to the height of his shoulders, to the arch of his neck and the shape of his head, he was truly the most magnificent horse she had ever clapped eyes on. When she was through tending to him, she left to get some much needed sleep -- for her patrol had been an evening one, and by now it was late indeed. She was about to bolt the stable door shut behind her, when she thought better of it, and left the door merely closed.

The following afternoon, when Redmane awoke, the stallion was gone, and were it not for the empty bucket she had fed him from in the stables, she might have thought him naught but a dream.

But that would not be the last time she saw of him. Some four nights later, the young knight found tracks in the snow of his hooves. On her patrols, it seemed that every now and then she would catch a glimpse of a white horse, moving like a ghost, and disappearing again into the blanket of snow. During a raid into the trolls' territory, her company came upon an empty corral, the far end of the enclosure smashed in, and the snow nearby churned by the hooves of horses.

Several days thereafter, as a scouting party to which Redmane belonged was trekking through the hills, they were trapped in a cleverly disguised ambush by a large group of trolls. Her mount was cut down beneath her, and though she fought fiercely, she was soon separated from her fellows, and badly outnumbered. The knight's sword sang as she struck down a troll before her, but these monsters were determined, possessed of some unknown source of valor. She sensed movement behind her, and turned, knowing it would be too late, that she would never have her sword around in time to defend her --

-- but behind her, she saw the corpse of a new-fallen troll, its club fallen inches from her, its skull caved in. Blinking, the knight gazed higher, for it seemed in that moment, as if a blizzard had taken shape before her eyes, and was lashing out against the trolls that beset her. Then the image resolved, and she recognized the white stallion she had saved previously, now fighting to save her. She turned to face the attackers before her, trusting the stallion to guard her back -- for she had no other choice. Together, they fought a fierce battle, and Redmane was sore wounded when one troll broke his spear against her armor. At length, however, they prevailed, and the last of the ambushers fled.

Sagging, Redmane leaned against a tree, the long fight leaving her feeling drained, her chest bruised beneath her mail, where the spear point had nearly pierced it. She looked to the great stallion. His hide was spotted with the green blood of trolls, but for himself, he seemed little harmed. "Now, we're even," she told him. Then she pushed away from the tree, setting across the corpse-strewn slope to find her companions.

Her spirits sank as she searched the field, finding one after another of her companions slain, and the bodies of their horses nearby. The stallion followed her, until she collapsed into the snow next to the lifeless form of her last companion. She beat her fists against the ground in helpless rage, knowing that she needed to return to the village, and quickly, for she feared the trolls were planning some fresh attack, and that the unusually clever ambush was a ploy to prevent the scouts from finding out and returning. But alone and dismounted, what hope had she?

Then, she heard the stamp of a hoof against the ground. To her surprise, the white stallion remained, watching her. When she looked at him, he spoke to her in a language without words, and she marvelled that she could understand him. Knight of the fey, he said, I am Ahearn, Lord of Horses.

Neither I nor my herd have had any part in the matters of the fey -- in your wars, be they with trolls, beast, or each other. We are free horses, untamed by the bridle or blanket of any Man or Fey. For Years beyond counting we have roamed these hills unfettered.

But these trolls who have invaded our land and who harry thy people have done worse to mine. Mares of my own herd have been corralled and slain, for sport or food. Some have I rescued ... only to see them die in pregnancy, foaling monsters. The stallion bares his teeth in anger, tossing back a mane like foam on the ocean. I would rid my lands of this evil.

"So would I," the knight answered, her hate for her enemy growing at news of this new outrage.

I know. I have watched thee. Ahearn turned his head to one side. Thou art unlike all others I have known of thy ilk, be they mortal or fey. Thou... He stopped, stamping at the ground.

"I am Knight Redmane of the House of May," the young knight said, "and I swear that I will help you, however I can. But our mutual enemy is preparing to attack a village I am pledged to defend. If I can warn them in time, it will aid us all. Will you help me again, Ahearn?" She stepped towards him, one hand outstretched, but the great white stallion stepped back, snorting.

I am Ahearn, Lord of the Horses. I bow to no man or woman, mortal or fey. In all the Years of my life I have borne no creature upon my back. I swear to no master! His eyes, dark as night, blazed with anger.

Redmane dropped her hand, setting her jaw. Lord of the Horses, she thought to herself, but stubborn as a mule. Aloud she replied, "Then I'll go on my own feet, Ahearn, and may the good Lord help me go quickly." She turned away, stamping her booted feet through the snow.

She had not gone five paces before the stallion strode past her, and moved in front of her to block her path. In exasperation, she cried, "If you're not going to help me, at least get out of my way!"

Ahearn looked at her. Mount, Knight Redmane. Thee, I will bear.

The volume continued with other stories, of how Redmane and Ahearn worked together with the soldiers of May and Ahearn's own people to rid the Green Hills of the trolls. Ahearn was, ever after, Redmane's faithful companion -- her partner, but never her servant. She alone would he consent to bear upon his back, but for her sake he would even wear barding and tack.

With Ahearn as her mount, by Redmane's lance they slew a mighty dragon that was working with the trolls to help them keep control of the Green Hills. That final stroke broke the spirit of the trolls, and the remainder fled the land. With the Green Hills thus cleansed, by the Spring of 37, King Porfirio, in thanks for Redmane's great valor and deeds, granted all the land of them to the knight, and bestowed on her the title of "Lady."

Redmane built herself a house there, as well as stables and barns where Ahearn and his folk might weather summer storms and the cold of winter. Some of Ahearn's offspring had permitted knights to mount them for the war against the trolls, and many of these stayed with their chosen riders. Ahearn thus founded the line of Knightsteeds, and for ever afterwards the finest horses in Mirari all came from the Green Hills, though while Lady Knight Redmane controlled the lands, she was exceedingly selective in who she would permit to buy those fine mounts.

Together with Ahearn, Redmane continued on further adventures. In the summer of 37, she fought and slew the dragon Nukpana -- and with that, declared her adventuring days over. She retired to live quietly for two Years in her manse, with her herds, among the Green Hills.

Until, in the summer of the 39th Year of Mirari, a messenger came to her door.

He wore over him a great pale cloak, and his hands, when she saw them, were gloved. He spoke in a whispering voice that the Lady Knight distrusted, and asked leave to purchase a score of her finest broodmares. He offered an astronomical figure as their price. But Redmane had no great love of money, and when she asked him where he was from, or to what end he wished the mares, he refused to answer. In turn, she refused to sell them.

Several Days later, a woman claiming to be a servant of December came with an escort to claim a dozen horses promised to him. All their papers seemed in order, yet Ahearn warned Redmane not to trust them. The Lady Knight put them off on one pretext or another for a few days, and they grew increasingly anxious to claim their charges and be gone. Something about them grated on Redmane, and though it was nothing she could put into words, at last she flatly refused them the mounts and turned them out of her lands. She felt some misgivings about turning down December, one of her favorites among the lords, but she refused to send horses with people she could not trust.

Later that same day, a wolf arrived from December, with a message that the party he had sent to claim the horses had been waylaid by bandits in the Golden Woods ... several days earlier. December asked her to hold the horses until such time as another escort could be readied. Redmane took Ahearn and rode the length and breadth of the Green Hills, looking for the imposters she had just turned out, but she could find no trace of them.

Weeks later, as summer drew on to a close, Redmane had a final visitor. Like the first, he wore a light but all-concealing cloak, and his mount was similarly garbed in a blanket that fell to its feet. Little could be made out of the beast, but some say that whatever it was had eight legs, and no head. Redmane met him at the gates of her lands, and through their conversation, he stayed mounted. The man gestured occasionally with his right hand, but kept the left hidden from view.

They spoke for perhaps thirty minutes, then the visitor wheeled his mount about and galloped off. Exactly what they spoke of no one knows, but immediately thereafter, Redmane sent out several messages -- one to Queen Panelea, warning her to expect an attack from the northern trolls, and stating that she suspected a darker force than a dragon would be behind this one, but that she had no proof yet, and could not be certain, even in her own mind. Another went to the Golden Hawks, offering the same warning and asking what they knew of eight-legged beasts -- and what Thomas has told them of Jack of Hearts, and of the Year's End.

After sending the messages, she opened the doors to all her stables and barns, and all the gates to every pasture, then turned out her herds, chasing them into the hills. She sent away her servants and locked the doors to her house. At last, she armed Ahearn and herself for war, fastening her steel lance to his barding, with its green banner and golden horse flying in the breeze. She girded her steel sword about her, and arrayed herself in armor. Mounting, she set off on the northward road.

What became of her thereafter, no one knows, but she has not been seen by reliable witness in Mirari since.

As Agatha finishes the book, Lady Yseult watches her with somber eyes. When the girl closes it and puts it down, the antlered woman says. "Since Redmane left the Green Hills, they have been reclaimed by wild things. Monsters roam there once more, and few venture into them. Her horses, now wild once more, run free through the fields, led by different stallions. For thirteen years, naught has been seen of Ahearn, presumed gone these many Years, along with his rider.

"But this Autumn, there have been rumors that a great white stallion again leads the largest of the herds in the Green Hills, and there are curious tidings of a purpose to the movements of the mustangs, as if their leader was searching for something...."

"I think I'll need to investigate those rumors," Agatha says, looking thoughtful. "If it truly is Ahearn, then he'd have important information about what happened on Redmane's last mission."

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