Sassy was enjoying the feed she had been given in the stable when Gelvin entered the stable. He had a palomino quarter horse filly on a lead with him.
“How is that feed?” Gelvin asked Sassy. He checked the bucket. “You ate it all! Perfect, you should be producing milk now.” Sassy stared at him, confused. Milk? What was he talking about? She was a horse, not a cow!
Gelvin opened the door to the stall Sassy was in. He brought the foal in.
“Nyx, you are to raise Aura here as your own,” he said. Sassy was more confused. Nyx wasn’t her name! What was going on? “I will check on you throughout the night to make sure the two of you are adjusting properly. If you find yourself unable to care for her, I will give her to a different mare. But I thought it more poetic for you to nurse her.”
The foal, Aura, wobbled over to Sassy and ducked her head under Sassy’s belly. Sassy flinched as the filly latched onto the udder she didn’t even realize she had and began to suckle hungrily. Gelvin smiled.
“You are a born mother. No doubt you will nurse your own foal just as well when you give birth.” Sassy was starting to get alarmed. Give birth? Oh no, he scanned her with his magic earlier. The stallion that had impregnated Berries must have done the same to Sassy. “I will be back in a few hours.” Gelvin left the stable.
Sassy, now Nyx, stood woodenly as Aura nursed from her. Finally, Aura finished. She looked up at Nyx.
“It is I, Anya,” the filly whinnied softly. Nyx stared at her. “Gelvin is a horse witch. My magic was too low to stop the curse he put upon my food from taking effect.”
“What is his plan?” Nyx asked.
“Gelvin has no plan. It is his employer, the farmer, that instructed him to do these things. The farmer intends for you to be a broodmare on the farm. Whether he plans to sell or breed me, I know not.”
“We need to escape now.”
“We cannot. Gelvin will be checking every few hours to make sure you have not rejected me.” Aura huffed. “This plan was hatched the moment we arrived, I fear. The feed you were given was charmed so you would produce the milk to nurse me.”
“Scoundrels,” Nyx neighed. She stomped the ground. “Now what?”