She let go of Nigel's leg and stood up. "Right as rain, there we go." The horse swung his head around and nosed her shoulder affectionately. She stood for a moment, scratching him behind the ears.
There was a soft cough from behind her. Callas didn't jump, but she did turn and slide sideways, putting Nigel's warm bulk between her and the stall door. Riyor leaned on the half-door, an amused look on his face. She sighed. "You shouldn't sneak up on people, you know."
He laughed. "I have to keep in practice, you know. I came down to see to Nigel, but it looks like you got here first. I'm going to forget how to take care of him, if you keep this up."
"I was down here anyway, and I figured that I might as well take care of all of our horses while I was at it. We're going to need them in as good of condition as we can manage, and if I groom them and check their feet, I can catch small problems before they become large ones."
"Even Faran? You're brave. I swear that horse hates everyone who isn't Gavião."
"Faran and I get along pretty well. It's very simple--he doesn't bite me, and I don't set his tail on fire. He and I had it out when Gavião and I first met, about a year ago. Actually, he's a big softie, he just pretends to hate the world. It's a useful trait in a warhorse." From the next stall there came a resounding thump, as a large hoof met the wall on the other side. "Yes, I know you heard that, Faran. Shush."
Riyor rolled his eyes. "You still won't catch me going anywhere near him. I like my horses friendly." Nigel blew air at him and swished his tail. "Yes, like you."
"Well, Faran is friendly. As long as you're Gavião." Callas reached down and picked up a brush from a small niche in the wall, tossing it at him. "Catch! I hadn't quite finished brushing him, so why don't you do it? Nigel hasn't seen much of you for a few days, and he misses you. I'll go take care of Dream." He nodded and smoothly vaulted over the half-door, landing on his toes in the straw bedding. She laughed a bit. "Showoff!"
"Like I said, just keeping in practice."
"If you see Aiden before I do, tell him I sent his saddle to be repaired. I have no idea why that drow is so hard on his tack! It should be back tomorrow. Not that he probably cares, but anyway."
Riyor set to brushing Nigel, and said, "I'll tell him, if I get back before you do. Which I probably will, considering it's Dream you're grooming."
Callas laughed and let herself out of the stall, heading towards a large box stall in the corner of the stables. As she passed, Daffodil stuck her head out of her stall and rattled the feed bucket hanging out the outside of it hopefully. "Greedy lady. You don't actually need to eat, you know, and you only breathe out of habit. You really don't need any more grain, and I *know* you were fed tonight."
Daffodil looked mournful. But it tastes so good... Her ears flicked a bit and she took on a dreamy expression. Please?
"Galvin would never forgive me if I let you get too fat to keep up with Dream. You have a reputation to maintain, lady, and a herd to keep in line. Talk to Galvin, he's a much bigger sucker for you than I am."
The grey mare snorted at her and pulled her head back into her stall. Callas walked past her stall and to Dream's, letting herself in and closing both halves of the stall door behind her. She smiled at Dream, then closed her eyes and leaned against the door for moment, looking worn.
She felt Dream's warm breath on her hair and leaned forward, reaching as far around him as she could and letting him hold her up. She reached for and scratched the place on his withers that was always itchy, her arms barely reaching the spot. Dream shivered his coat. Ah, that's good...the only problem with this form is not having hands to scratch the itches.
"That's what I'm for. Itch scratcher extraordinaire, that's me!"
Among other things. Callas stepped back and opened her eyes. Rough day, wasn't it. It wasn't a question; Dream and she were constantly in contact through the day, and today had been a particularly trying one.
"Goddess. I don't know, Dream. I don't know if I'm cut out for this sort of thing. Trying to get everyone pointed in the right direction is a lot harder than it sounded. Maria is still mortally offended by the fact that we're allied with Jaenus' people. I actually had to stare her down today. She's a good Headmistress, but her prejudices are giving her conniption fits. And I cannot believe how stubborn Sucellus' people are! They go around me when they want something they know I don't want to give them. Sometimes I long for an actual challenge, something direct."
They think differently than you do. They think like wolves, not horses. Packs are different than herds. The power's distributed differently. They'll probably challenge you once things settle down, once their pack leader gets back.
"That's not going to be pretty. You know what I've seen of Marcus. If he decides to be difficult...well, I'm not going to be able to stand against him, power to power. Anyone who can take out a thousand orcs by himself while barely breaking a sweat is someone who I have a very healthy respect for."
Dream nosed her shoulder. I itch. Currying, please? As Callas got the currycomb and the stepstool she kept in his stall, he said, You know, he does have a point. You did rather send him and his people out without a lot of resources and asked them to do the nearly-impossible.
She started in on currying his coat, the parts she could reach without the stepstool. "I know, but it was the only thing I could think of to delay that army enough to give us time to prepare. I was hoping that they could cause avalanches and other things to slow them down, maybe cause accidents that would make them stop. I didn't mean for them to attack the army outright."
Marcus seems to take a...liberal interpretation of his orders. You may want to remember this.
"The man is going to be a headache for me, isn't he? But we need him, and preferably ungrudgingly. Hell, were our situations reversed and I was the former Hierophant and he the Headmaster, I'd be disgusted that I was suddenly being led by someone twenty years my junior, and nowhere near as powerful. The only thing I have my own side is that Epona chose me for this. Otherwise, I'd actually consider turning the Order over to him. I can do that, I checked."
I really wouldn't do that. Not until you have his measure. He thinks like a druid, and that might not be the best thing for the Order. Epona Headmasters have always been passionate people for a reason.
"I know. It's not a serious suggestion" She meditatively curried Dream, getting rid of dried sweat. "Like you said, they think like wolves, and he used to be pack leader. How do wolves settle issues of precedence?"
I've never been in a wolf pack. Might want to ask Jaenus. She might know--ah, harder right there. Mmmmmmmph.
"Hedonist. Enjoy it while you can, we're likely to spend a few weeks on the road pretty soon. But, you're right, Jaenus would be the person to ask. I can't just show my belly, that's for sure."
You can't compel his respect. He'll develop that in time, but you're going to have to be careful around him. Remember that he is still grieving. All of Sucellus' people are. None of them are quite in their right minds at the moment.
"Granted. I can confront him, pull rank, and make him accept his place in the current state of things. Might injure his pride, though, and the very last thing we need is to have him go rogue on us. We've got enough enemies, we don't need another one. I'd like him close to me, but not in a position of power until I've worked with him enough to really know if he'd be good for a Headmaster position. Hey, hold still, I'm going to get the stepstool, o extremely tall one. Are you always this big in this form? You're almost twenty hands at the withers now."
Dream's mental voice was amused. Actually, I am. Though I can choose to be smaller, if I really want. I'm told it's part of my qualifications for being the one sent to you. I could have come to you in my human form, but I chose this one instead.
She started at his withers, currying him in sweeping strokes. She asked, "What were the other qualifications?"
He shifted under her. A certain...temperament, you'd probably call it. We don't tend to be the most patient--or the most social--of people. I'm unusual in that regard, and in my willingness to spend this much time away from the dream realm.
Callas' hand stilled as she had a thought. "Dream...did you actually have a choice to come to me? I mean...if this wasn't by your choice..."
He snorted. You stopped! After she resumed, moving up to the top part of his neck, he said, Of course I had a choice. I volunteered a long time ago, as a matter of fact. I met you when you were very young, when Epona came to me and asked me if I would consider you as a familiar. I wouldn't have accepted you blind, you know.
"You met me? I think I would have remembered meeting you."
You were, oh, four or so when I first met you. Oh, that itches right there, aaaah. I met you both in dreams and on this plane, though not in forms you probably would recognize. You were not the most charming of children, you know. You were always nicer to me when I appeared as a horse than you did when I was a boy your age.
She laughed. "I was a brat, you mean."
Yes, you were. Temperamental, mischievous, and stubborn. Actually, you're still all three of those things. But I was there. And I've been around, waiting and watching, for a long time.
"It's too bad I didn't know who you were. I could have used a friend to talk to during the trouble with Mama and Papa." She sighed. "Ah, well, I have you now, don't I?" She leaned over and kissed him between the ears. "I pulled your mane and tail yesterday, so I think I can just do a quick comb of them tonight. Any other qualifications that made you the right dream wraith to send to me?"
Those are ones I can tell you about. Though, in a very real way, I was born to be familiars with you--I yours, and you mine. Destiny's sometimes funny like that. A web spun of the choices we make, and the choices we do not.
Callas combed his mane, thinking. "I never would have figured you for a philosopher, Dream. Nothing's set in stone now, though? We're at the point where it all turns."
Who can tell? We all have our own roles to play, and our own choices to make. You're only seeing a thin slice of what's going on, you know.
"I know. It worries me." She finished with his tail, and picked up the hoof pick, patting his left shoulder. "I need to check your feet, could you pick this one up?"
For a few minutes, she worked on his hooves, a companionable silence falling over them. Once she was done with that, she pulled herself up onto his back, stretching out her full length and draping herself with her face in his mane. Callas breathed in his familiar smell and smiled, closing her eyes.
Happy girl. Dream's voice was quiet in her mind.
"I am. Despite everything...sometimes I am."
Keep that. If your soul freezes over, everything is lost.
She twined her fingers in his mane. "What do you mean?"
The moment you stop feeling, and especially the moment when you stop grieving the outcomes of the choices you make, is the moment that our enemies win. They can win in a number of ways, but that's one of the more sure. You've accepted this burden, and you have to keep carrying it.
"I know. Though I am afraid that I won't be able to. And I am afraid for the others."
Me, too. Though I will be here throughout.
They fell back into silence, Callas resting her cheek on his neck.
Dream shifted under her. His voice was oddly tentative. Callas?
"What is it, Dream?"
I hate to mention it, but...I don't think anyone else will. And someone needs to.
"Please don't dance around whatever it is, dear heart. You know I hate it when people do that."
He drew a breath and let out a shuddering sigh. You do know that there is a possibility that any number of your friends may die in the coming months.
"I hardly ever forget it."
The ones in the most danger are the ones closest to you. Gavião and Galvin. If the enemy wants to cripple you, they will strike at them.
"There's nothing new about that. But, you know...death isn't necessarily permanent around us. All of us have cheated it at least once."
That's the thing. He paused, and seemed to be searching for words. As our enemies begin to feel we are a threat instead of an annoyance, they will begin to attack us with weapons that don't leave bodies behind.
"I know. I've been trying not to think of it. My power only extends so far right now, and I can't yet resurrect the dead. Raise, yes....but that requires a body, a relatively whole one."
And another problem is that our enemies have killed the god who held sway over resurrection. At this point, if they want, they can probably block specific souls from coming back to this plane. They could come back to the dream realm, but not this one. Your ability to raise the dead will be unimpeded, because the soul lingers by the body for a while before moving on. But when the body is destroyed, or the soul has already moved on...you see the problem.
"I do." She bit her lip, staring into space. "This is not good."
Little one, they will soon be aiming bigger weapons at us. Galvin or Gavião or both may perish. You need to come to terms with this before it happens, because if you do not, I cannot vouch for my ability to keep you sane. Our bond is still too new.
"I..." She trailed off. "I cannot imagine life without either of them. How could I do this without Gavião? He's my strength, and whether or not he knows it, he's the best teacher I've ever had. And Galvin...ah, Dream, he and I are almost as connected as you and I are. We don't speak mind to mind, but we are bound regardless. Losing him would be like losing half of my soul." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I thought about what might happen if I die and he is left to carry my burden, but not if I...lost him, and had to carry all of this myself..." Her voice broke, and she closed her eyes, for the moment looking much younger than her nineteen years.
"You three keep me steady, and are holding me up while I try to learn what I need to know to do my job. Without any one of you, I'm lost."
I know. And this is why I brought this up. If Galvin's soul leaves the mortal plane, the bond you two share will break. And that... His silent voice was filled with an aching sadness, as if he were remembering something that happened long ago. It is difficult to predict how it will take you. But you will need to remember that you cannot give into the temptation to retreat from the pain. I will be here, and I will help as I can. And the rest of your companions will help, as well.
Callas took a breath, and let it out, shuddering. "Dream...do what you have to. I trust you." She nuzzled her face in his mane. "You're right. I have to be prepared for it to happen, as much as I can be. It won't make it hurt any less, though."
No. It won't. You're stronger than you think you are, though. But if we are fortunate, none of this will come to pass and you and Galvin will grow old together and have many black-haired babies who will be riding before they can walk.
"We can only hope." She was silent for a moment. "That's the qualification you can't tell me about, isn't it? You had a bond like this one break, too, didn't you?"
I did. I...cannot speak of it.
"Too painful?"
It was a long time ago, the pain has faded quite a bit. But I am bound not to speak of it. Please do not pry.
"Of course not." For a time, they were silent together, breathing in unison.
A voice from outside the stall came, muffled by the wood. "Callas? Are you in there?" Gavião's gruff voice was unmistakable.
"Yes, just a minute, I'll be right out." She slipped off of Dream's back, landing softly in the straw. She took his head in both of her hands and kissed his forehead. "I'll see you tonight, dear one?"
In dreams, as always. Callas ran her fingers through his mane, and then opened the stall door, fastening the top half open and latching the bottom one loosely enough that Dream could let himself out if he wanted to. She went out into the corridor, looking up at Gavião. Suddenly, she stepped towards him and hugged him fiercely for just a moment. Then she let go of him and turned to walk away.
"What was that for?" Gavião's voice was puzzled.
She looked back at him, her eyes dark and her expression unreadable. "Just because. Shall we go?"
Dream watched them retreat, remembering.
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