The impact of something warm, softy and smelly on Mika's head woke him from a sound sleep. Confused, he looked up just in time to get a face full of manure fresh from the hind end of a mule that had backed up into his corner. Sputtering, Mika sat up and batted the heavy lumps off. "Hey!" The mule gave a braying sound that was suspiciously like laughter and rejoined its twin. Mika could not tell them apart, but he decided it was probably the peddler getting some revenge.
Standing, Mika shook more lumps out of his matted hair and wiped the sticky remains off his cheeks and nose as best he could. He was vaguely surprised that the stink didn't really bother him, or even the knowledge that he had mule shit on his face and in his hair. He sighed. "I guess I deserve at least that much. But you know, you're young and healthy now. I bet you and Benjamin have 20 years more, way better than what you had as a human, right?"
The mules just 'haaawwed' at him, and Mika felt a little silly talking to them. Still, he did get nuzzled by both animals as he cleaned up the mess where he had been sleeping and got the water and feed stocked. The sun was just coming up over the horizon, but since he had gone to sleep shortly after dusk he'd had plenty of sleep.
He was already mucking out a third stall when Robin came in. The Innkeeper looked surprised when he saw Mika already at work. "I had you pegged as a slugabed!" After a quick inspection of the first two stalls, the man nodded in approval. "Up on time and doing good work. I'm proud of you, Boy!"
Mika grinned happily. "Thank you, sir!" He felt a warm glow of satisfaction that lasted for another stall or two before confusion began to creep in. Why should he be happy about being a good stableboy? He was a wizard, a grown man with powers and friends and... and he liked being a stableboy. That thought short-circuited the rising fear and outrage about losing his status. He still had his power. But there were no more expectations from anyone. He did not have to worry about impressing anyone, or hours of study to research spells and locate obscure ingredients. He was a stableboy. A dumb-looking peasant who only had to keep stalls and animals clean and use his power to change the occasional traveler into a horse. Even being filthy and naked was oddly liberating. He didn't mind the smell or look, and he'd been through enough towns and villages to know it was not uncommon to see boys just like him.
Well, not quite like him. Mika looked down at his massive male parts and grinned. Most other boys would be very jealous of what he had on display. Content with that, he went back to mucking stalls and grooming animals.