Gallop Swiftmane's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

Gallop turned from the empty grove toward the worn bench beside his stable, where he and his partner always met after she walked off to think. He expected two days of waiting. He got an afternoon. Her hoofbeats came down the ridge a full day early, and that alone told him the news was heavy. She carried something cradled in both arms. An egg. Larger than her chest, its shell swirling with emerald and sapphire, patterns moving slow under the light. She set it on the bench between them. It hummed faintly against the wood. "A buyer," she said. "In the southern holds. He'll fund every furlong. Banked turns intact. Prize gold for three seasons." She rested a hand on the shell. "He wants this in return. Delivered by me. Personally. It's a six-month ride." Gallop looked at the egg. Then at her. Six months meant she would not see the first race. She would not stand at the turn she had redrawn. The circuit would exist — but the centaur who had built it with him would be a thousand furlongs away when it did. A clatter from the path. Mervin Bogbutton hustled up with Bramblewick Thistlehop a step behind. "Take it," Mervin said. "Obviously. That's just logic." Bramblewick adjusted his hat. "Clearly a bargain. I'd haul it myself. I wouldn't, actually. But I'd say I would." Gallop did not look at them. He met her eyes. "Go," he said. She nodded once. She lifted the egg. She walked back up the ridge before either of them could soften it. Gallop stood alone beside the bench with a funded circuit and no partner to run it.