Sir?
Beneath his collected demeanor, Orhan pondered what the word meant. Was it a colloquialism? A slanderous word? A term of respect? He hoped for the latter, for - at this hour - he was fast running out of the energy needed to deal with subtle mockery and disrespect from a stranger.
The dark stallion was not from here, that much was clear from his unusual manner of speaking. But from what Orhan could tell, the rest of his speech seemed to be more or less completely genuine. He looked into the stranger's eyes and was surprised to find that he believed him.
Still, if there was one thing he had learned from his mother, it was that he should always be wary, if not outright distrustful, of any strangers that wandered into his home: especially strangers of the male variety.
"All right," he said after a long pause, and gave the stranger a curt nod. "I am not one to turn away someone who would not harm me or my herd, but that still begs the question: what brings you to these parts, especially at so late an hour?"
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