Saffron had been pregnant with fraternal twins as a mare. A filly from the stallion at the stable, and a colt from Gelvin. Now, however, she had four children in her womb. Two boys and two girls. It appeared that the filly and colt had multiplied, each getting an identical twin. Gelvin passed this information along to Saffron, Anya, and Ellany. Saffron paled visibly, but didn't say anything.
"At least you are still very early along, sister," Anya said softly, confirming Gelvin's suspicions.
"I am showing," Saffron protested, gesturing to her baby bump.
"Quadruplets show earlier than smaller numbers of children," Ellany said. "What matters is that we are now four riders for four horses. And we should be able to reach Wind's Grove safely." Anya, Gelvin, and Saffron nodded. To Gelvin's surprise, Ellany, despite being a Horse Witch, was particularly skilled at fabric and clothing magics. In a matter of minutes, she was able to gather items from their surroundings and turn them into full outfits for the humans and saddles and bridles for the remaining mares. Anya mounted Iris, Ellany mounted Rain, Saffron mounted thunder, and Gelvin mounted Nightingale. They then set off.
The tension as they rode was thick enough to be cut with a knife. Gelvin could hear Anya, Ellany, and Saffron speaking softly to each other. To softly for him to make out. Nightingale was clearly listening, judging by how her ears were swiveled to face the women. After they rode for half an hour, Gelvin suddenly realized he recognized the area they were in. He had relatives nearby that would be willing to house them for the night. He eagerly told the women, who coldly thanked him.
Gelvin's cousins were, as he suspected, more than happy to let them stay the night. He came up with a lie that the women were close friends and the four were heading to Wind's Grove to escape the violence in the rest of the kingdom. His cousins set the humans up in spare rooms in their house, while the four mares were placed in extra stalls in the stable. As Gelvin fell asleep, he could only pray they didn't run into any more problems. During the night...