Fly?

An update on what is going on in my fairytale:

Marion was taken aback. Fly? He had heard of these so called winged horses before, but he thought that they were only legends, or at least creatures of the long ago past. This was impossible. And if he really could fly, why was Hessa entrusting him to Marion?

“I believe in your quest,” Hessa said, as if she could read his mind. She was grinning at him and the light from her lantern caused shadows to dance across her face. It twinkled in her eyes, and he found a deep sense of trust resting in them. Both trust of her in him, and trust of him in her. It had been a long time since he had really trusted someone.

He nodded. “I appreciate your trust. And I am very grateful of your confidence in me as well as this amazing gift.”

“Oh it’s not a gift,” Hessa laughed. “I’m letting you borrow him. He belongs to me.” She began to unlatch the door to the stall as she reached for a halter hanging on a hook nearby. She pushed the door into the stall, stepping through the narrow gap and reaching underneath Veridus’s neck. Steadily the slipped the halter over his narrow face and latched it behind his ears. He grunted and nuzzled her in the shoulder. Then she swung the door open farther and began to lead him into the barn corridor.

The creature was even bigger up close. Marion, tall though he was, could barely see over Veridus’s whithers, and his chest was almost twice as wide as Marion’s. The horse snorted and glared at Marion, as if offended by his shocked expression.

“Come, I’ll show you how to ride him.” Hessa began to lead Veridus toward the door to the barn and out into the dim moonlight. The gate creaked again. Marion followed quickly behind, but it seemed he had barely passed through the gate before Hessa has swiftly mounted the horse and was off, sailing smoothly and silently through the night sky.