Willfur
The long, long ears cup forward, excitement blooming full and unrestrained across his features. Pleasant surprise sets his hooves drumming lightly in place with sudden energy, his scrub-brush tail wagging happily across his hocks and breaking the silence between them with a tinkling strain from the bell tied there. “You do? You will?! Thank you!” And then, only a little more calmly, his earlier apprehension forgiven and all but forgotten, “That’s very kind of you, Thana. I would be most grateful.”
He smiles, consciously pairing the name and face in his mind. He wants to remember her correctly and it helps make the mare seem that much less intimidating, almost friendly now, with his own emotion coloring the view. She does seem more at ease at least, despite her restive eyes, her companion settling quietly behind her and the sounds of the forest beginning to swell again throughout the forest, seemingly unperturbed by the brief interruption.
"I’m no stranger to travel.” He confides, lifting one narrow forehoof to show its short, worn toe ground smooth by untold miles, many of them rough and far from flat. “And I’ve come this far already. And without the generous promise of an escort.” He might have winked then, had he been talking to anyone else, but something feels... impertinent about the notion now, with those too intense eyes on him, so he tips an ear and nods his head appreciatively instead. Better to err on the side of propriety.
"Do you live there? The Dawn Court, I mean. I've heard it's like a castle of old - all stone and walls and towers." He pictures an airy, gothic structure at first, with tall windows and long hallways, then wonders if the interior might be renovated, filled with elaborate baroque works of art in marble, silk, and oils. Ah, the possibilities!
@Thana