<br/>"Er, no..." Ashalia twisted her lips, "For anyone else, my parents would<em>kill</em>me if I lent out the horses, but I am rather certain they will reward you once they know about all this anyway, sooo..."<br/><br/>"And, I suppose, encouraging adventurers to root out such monsters as blight the Forest Kingdom's wildlands is what we've done for generations!" She batted her eyelashes at Randal, adn then hopped up. "There are up to four horses about - we checked since the burglarly, and none were set free or slain, it seems - they'll be waiting for you outside in a few minutes. Though I suggest only taking as many as you need to ride upon each, not out of stinginess on my part, but because they would be a burden for you to lead along. With those halflings' haversacks, I expect you won't need beasts of burden even for a dragon's hoard!"<br/><br/>She slipped out the back and, a few minutes later, a rather strapping stable-boy (the sort who, at a glance one suspected of spending more time than any given family  matron than might her own husband) was idling on the front path of the horse, four light horses calmly presenting their noses to be rubbed by his exceedingly sure hands.