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“Yes, I should say so,” said Léof. He recalled suddenly Æthel tied outside her stall. “I ought to put my horse away,” he added.
“Good,” said Thornden, and he left.
Léof hung the bridle he was still holding back up, then paused for a moment to study the tack room. It wasn’t completely disorganized, but it was close. There were just so many horses stabled here now that Léof was no longer sure of which set of tack belonged to which rider and which horse belonged to each rider (though the horses themselves he had gotten to know well enough in the last month). The soldiers tended to look after their own horses, which meant that Léof had less work but also less control.
Yet he was responsible for the hoses here, all of the horses, as well as the stable equipment. So far, he had simply dealt with the disarray in silence, picking up after people when brushes were left lying about. Was it any wonder that the soldiers did not take him seriously or respect his authority in the stables? Leaving the tack room as it was for now, he turned and walked slowly back to Æthel. He chewed on his lip thoughtfully.
What he needed to do was lay down some ground rules. Small things, like putting equipment back where it belonged. He wondered if he could get a roster, too. Along with that could go some kind of check list, to make sure all the horses were fed and watered and bedded down regularly. He remembered one time that he and his sister had found a certain kind of chalky rock that they could write with – but he’d also need something to write on. Maybe Stigend or Garstan would have some ideas…
He untied Æthel and led her back to her stall, leaving her there after stroking her neck a couple of times and scratching her behind the ears. He needed to prove to the soldiers that his authority was good. They didn’t listen to him because his authority came from Eodwine. What if he went and talked to Athanar? Told him about the changes he wanted to make? Athanar could make the soldiers listen.
Was this the way that Thornden was trying to get him to think? What had he said again? Something about how others’ opinions didn’t make him who he was… that might be so, but their good opinion of him would make his job much easier. The idea of them having to listen to him rather than the other way around made him smile grimly. Yes, he would go and speak with Athanar. And hopefully Athanar would listen to him.
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