Thalen has served as stablemaster to Hile’s family for generations, and his life has settled into the rhythm of hooves, feed, and weather. Horses are his true language. He knows their moods, their limits, and their needs with an ease that suggests instinct rather than study. Some say he understands them better than most people understand one another. Thalen would not argue the point.
He is a quiet man, prickly with strangers and uninterested in idle talk. Conversation does not come easily to him, and he does not try to force it. He is most at ease in the stables, knee deep in straw or murmuring to a nervous colt until it settles. There, his reserve softens into focus, and his hands move with practiced confidence.
Years of service speak to his loyalty, though its object remains a matter of gentle debate. Thalen is devoted to Hile’s household, but that devotion seems rooted less in affection for the family than in responsibility for the animals entrusted to him. He serves people because it allows him to serve the horses properly. That priority has never wavered.
Results speak for him. The stables under Thalen’s care run clean, orderly, and calm. Horses are well trained, well fed, and rarely injured. Problems are anticipated and addressed before they grow serious. Those who depend on mounts know better than to question his methods.
Thalen’s first impression is one of distance and discipline. The deeper impression, earned with time, is of quiet pride and absolute competence. In all Cendomvita, there are few better places to leave a horse, and few men more content to remain where they are most needed.