Dmitri was tending to one of the riding school’s ill horses when a stallion pranced up to him without a rider. Dmitri frowned at the stallion.
“And who might you be?” he asked. Before his eyes, the stallion transformed into a blond man. “Ah. You must be the new Horse Witch.”
“Yes, I am. Gelvin Warstone.” Gelvin held out a hand. Dmitri shook it warily.
“Dmitri Copperstone.” To Dmitri’s pleasure, Gelvin immediately paled. “Are you feeling all right?” Dmitri asked, feigning concern.
“Ah, um, yes,” Gelvin stammered. “It was just a long trip here.”
“I assume you made the trip in horse form, given that you arrived in horse form?” Dmitri asked. Gelvin nodded. “Interesting.”
“Oftentimes, I feel more comfortable in horse form than human form,” Gelvin said. “It is quite common amongst Horse Witches.”
“I see.” Dmitri looked Gelvin up and down. “You seem to be my sister’s age. Did you know Anya?” he asked casually. Gelvin paled further.
“N-no, why- why would you even ask that?”
“Just curious. After all, any friend of my sister’s is a friend of mine.” Dmitri didn’t think Gelvin could get any paler, but he somehow did. “If you want to take over tending to Lucky, here, I can let the schoolmaster know you’ve arrived.”
“Gladly,” Gelvin said, clearly relieved to have a way out of the conversation. Dmitri walked away from Gelvin, ideas swirling in his head. His goal was twofold: to keep the mares safe and to enact some small revenge upon Gelvin. The full revenge would take place later, with the might of his entire family behind him. For now, he wanted to do something about the slimy man.
Luckily, his close bond with the schoolmaster was strong enough that he could convince him of just about anything. Particularly where witches were involved. Dmitri adored his friend, but the man was completely oblivious about witches. That left Dmitri with multiple options to achieve both his goals.