Airlea looked shocked by the bluntness of the slave’s question. As freely as she often spoke and had them speak around her never in her days had one been so crass. He appeared to immediately regret the question, however, as he well should have. “You’re right to ask for a pardon, Tempus. You may speak freely in my presence around me but there are such things you shouldn’t ever dare bring up in the presence of your superiors,” she murmured with a slight shake of her head. “You come from a different world, though, where I’m sure there were different social standards … You have my forgiveness, but please learn to hold your tongue in the future when it comes to such matters,” she chastised gently, clearly not overly insulted though her feathers had been a bit ruffled.<br/><br/>Eryx had merely cringed at the question, not because he himself found it to be overstepping certain bounds but because he knew that Airlea would react as she had. The short remainder of their ride was spent in rigid silence between the three, and when the reached the stables Airlea departed after pressing a brief kiss to each of her good friend’s cheeks. Eryx chuckled lowly then as he turned to look at Tempus, a friendly smile on his face. “There are a few topics that are a bit touchy as far as Airlea’s concern. Her virtue has come into question in the past, so sex happens to be one of them,” he commented quietly before nodding his head towards the entrance to the grand structure they were headed into. “To answer your question though, Tempus, you’re free to take whatever sexual liberties you see fit. Of course, it is never advised to seek out the ladies of the house, even if they request your services … The men of the house, however, might seek you out. You are a strapping specimen, and I know a few of Pelias’ boys would kill for a night with a Germanic beauty such as yourself,” he laughed pleasantly as he stopped in the center of the barn aisle, moving to pull the nicely cushioned saddle from the grey mare’s back.<br/><br/>“Now, Tempus, I’ve got a lot to teach you and we don’t have a terribly long amount of time to do it. But let it never be said that I’m not a fair man; I’ll give you a day to get acquainted with your surroundings here at the estate. You can stick with me if you’d like while I go about my work so you can get the lay of the land and a general idea of what tasks you’ll be expected to perform on the daily around here,” he commented as he led one of the horses to the mouth of a stall, slipping the bridle from over its head and allowing it to meander in before he fastened the gate shut. He did the same with the second horse in his possession, Airlea’s having been the only one donning a saddle, and then he took the last beast from Tempus and lead it down to its designated stall.<br/><br/>Eryx glanced back and motioned the other young man forward, stepping first into a room within which hung a number of pieces of leather, wood, and cloth tack for the various horses. “The tack store is here. On days when I’m particularly busy, you’ll be in charge of returning the tack to this room after I’ve dismounted. You’ll also be in charge of grooming up and putting out the animal I’ve handed of to you. I’ll show you which fields each of them go into when we go to bring them in for the evening,” he explained quietly as he moved to hang the bridles in their respective places, each marked with a wooden plank carved in with the animal’s name. He stepped out then, moving on to explain how each stall was home to a different animal, whose names he’d learn over time, and he also showed him the hayloft stores, and natural progression led him through a small door into a room up upon the hayloft.<br/><br/>“This is our humble chamber. It isn’t much, and we do sleep on straw covered with a couple of blankets, but it’s more comfortable than the stone cots they sleep in over in the servant’s quarters,” he commented as he glanced around. The room was fairly plain aside from a single tapestry hung up upon the easternmost wall at the head of their heavily stacked pile of straw and blankets. It depicted a man, presumably, it was meant to be Eryx, charging on a midnight black steed ahead of a crowd of other riders on horses of various coat patterns. It was a finely made tapestry, likely commissioned by Airlea or another admirer of the champion. “If you aren’t comfortable sharing a sleeping space I understand, I can spare a blanket and you can sleep in the main hayloft until we find better accommodations if it suits you.”