Included within Julia’s thoughts, Blackmain shuddered. Her/their own body was betraying her/them, her/their mind was trapped. How could she/they be freed? He watched in horror as a dream version of Cimon stepped into the clearing and began to taunt her/them, even as Julia’s/their flesh caught on fire. The rape that followed was callous, but well-thought out. Blackmain almost cried out in horror, but as Julia wasn’t, he couldn’t either. The dream Julia lay still and Blackmain felt her/their heart stop for a moment. Then she/they began running again.

Blackmain tried to pull away, but found that he could only whimper within their shared mind.

~ Who is there? ~ The voice had a distinct Julia twinge to it, full of the pain they were trying to rescue her from.

~ It is us. ~

~ Go away. I like it here. I can control what happens. ~

~ You are trapped. You just don’t remember what has happened, that you are repeating yourself. You can’t control anything. ~

~ I can so. ~

Julia wrenched her mind away from theirs. How dare they invade? This was her private place. She would show them. She wasn’t giving up. The pain in the cuts reminded her finally of what it really felt like to be alive. They were right. No, they weren’t. If this was a dream, she wouldn’t have any control. Her mind was so occupied that it didn’t notice when Cimon began raping her again. She clung to her thoughts, not letting go, even as her heart stopped and her body stopped being responsive.

She tried desperately to hold the cuts closed with her hands, but more kept on coming as fast as she could tie them off. Ishton distanced himself from her mind and helped her. Now that she was trying for herself, he could help. She glared at him, but accepted the assistance. Her head bent down dealing with the ones on her legs, she didn’t notice Cimon approaching. When he grabbed her hair, Julia, already weakened by the blood loss collapsed. Cimon raped her again and again, this time she could feel it. She and Blackmain, who was still trapped with her mind, screamed.

Suddenly Blackmain was free. His spectral body formed, and he pulled Cimon away from her, just as he had done in real life. He knelt over Julia, helping Ishton to bind her wounds. The dream stopped. Everything stopped. Julia took a deep breath, and rolled away.

~ Leave me alone. I wanted to die here. It’s my choice. ~

~ You wouldn’t, couldn’t have died. We wouldn’t let you. We need you to be whole and healthy. Please don’t hide from us. We found you to save you. ~

~ I wanted to die. ~

Julia hid her face, and cried. The tears fell down, and sizzled as they hit her still burning flesh. It healed over, and it was as if a flood tide had been released. Cuts and bruises healed over, leaving her whole again.

~ Come with us, Julia. Be with us. We will not harm you. We have never wanted to harm you. ~

~ Tell me the truth. ~

~ We will. Just not here. ~

And indeed, the dream forest was fading away, leaving a clinging mist. Blackmain and Ishton hauled Julia to her feet, she was still weak and relatively helpless. They lifted her out, to return to the real world, where everyone was awaiting the results.

The first speaker was perfect in every way, his glowing brown hair drifting off his shoulders as he spoke.

~ We cannot risk things going wrong. We must wipe him out now, and put our plans into action before this goes too far. ~

~ No. we are not ready yet. We are too few in number, we need more. And Julia is not ready to resume control, is she? ~

Others in charge of her healing agreed.

~ She is not ready. The problems in her are very deep. She is beginning to cycle around, more than being stuck in her own trap, but she still needs more time. We need more time. ~

Ishton nudged Blackmain, inviting him to speak.

~ Julia is not ready. It will take many weeks of preparation to inform her of our plans, yet alone get her to go along with them. She is a strong woman, for all her problems. I am bound to protect her. ~

Blackmain paused. Should he tell them what he had discovered about their relationship? Or was it too early, and what if he was wrong? He decided to take the plunge.

~ I recently discovered that Julia is my daughter. I must look after her. She is my own blood and bone, born of my one love. You understand that. ~

There were murmurs of assent. Elves took the bond between children and their parents very seriously. For Blackmain to not know about his daughter was a sin. Children needed to be protected, because often they were so rare and hard to procure.

~ I say she is not ready. When we inadvertently knocked Julia into this state, she had only just realized that we had plans for her. I am sure she thought of them as sinister. How much she was guessing, and what she knew for certain I don’t know. Her suspicions were raised because we kept her inside all the time. All we were doing was trying to protect her. And now it seems, we cannot even protect her from herself. ~

Blackmain lapsed down into silence, he had probably said too much. Ishton moved closer to him for comfort. Any consequences for their actions would need to be taken together. They had done the wrong thing in trying to avoid telling Julia of their plans, and now perhaps it was too late to save her. Elves could be entirely too optimistic, until Ishton felt Julia’s mind for himself, it would be difficult to ascertain the full extent of damage. They waited patiently while the rest discussed. Clearly, there was a lot of dissent.

~ We are decided. You are correct, she is not ready. We shall wait, and prepare for battle. Task-forces will be required to strengthen the shields, and you, Ishton will be part of those. Blackmain, you will drill the others in human warfare, remind them of tactics to use. We remember the last time we fought. Many lives were lost, and we wish to prevent this. Perhaps you will prove more useful to us than your master. You have new thoughts. ~

Blackmain sighed in relief – too soon.

~ Your other actions must be punished however. The pain which Julia is going through must be siphoned off, you will assist with this also. It will be especially uncomfortable for you, Assassin, because you have never been female. You will be put in her mind, and you must change the rules there until she is free. ~

Cimon was standing at the head of the group, looking suitably dark and morose, even though his pale robes were reflecting the watery sunlight. The royal blood was diluted further by the last king’s death, so the royal blue was getting paler. Cimon began speaking.

“It is clear to me that no-one of us could have done this. The queen was well loved…”

Some of the courtiers sniggered at this; her maids alone would have hated her enough to poison her off, given enough incentive.

Cimon continued, staring down the others. His deep voice took on a more sonorous tone.

“It is clear to me that this must be revenged. My agent, my agents think that it was Wayland, in revenge for Julia’s betrayal and death. Others still think that it is the work of the elves again.”

Blackmain reeled back in shock. No-one he knew had been around to do it and in any case, as if any elves would associate with the Queen and her sort. Elves did not care to interfere too often. What they had seen before had confirmed that it was indeed Cimon who had killed her. He almost lost his grip on the vision as Cimon continued.

“We are going to war on all those that harmed us, have harmed our kingdom. No more will we put up with the inferior races. Our blood will once again be pure. When I am stated king, I will bring fortune and glory back to these people, make things better. Send out the heralds, proclaim the coming of a new age, under my rule. No more will we be sullied with elves, or strange neighbors. We shall crush all in our path to greatness. In my world, all humans will be free to walk without fear from the dreaded elves.”

The vision ended abruptly, as if the elven leader had decided that enough rubbish had been heard. Blackmain returned to his surroundings with a jolt. This couldn’t be right, no-one in their right mind would take on the elves. Sure, the elves were never seen, and this tended to breed the assumption that they were shy and weak apparently. Wayland wasn’t exactly an easy pushover either, however weak their current monarchy was. Their people were united, and there was less bickering in the streets to start off with.

He wondered how long Cimon had been planning this, it hadn’t been long yet since the Julia had been rescued. He hoped Julia was safe, the fact that all of the elves had come to the meeting meant that she was alone. Not to be worried about now though, murmuring was beginning to break out in his head as the others discussed what they had seen.
It was usual for them just to retreat further, but the patches of forest strong enough to change into the homes was growing smaller. This clan had not yet been affected, it was far enough into the forest that expansions didn’t matter.

With Julia on their side, perhaps it was time to make an offensive move. A meeting of the other clans would need to be called, because this would affect all of them. Cimon seemed determined to wipe their race out. Although the prophesy said that everything would be successful, the loss of too many elves would be disastrous, they had to maintain their place in society. Equality would be welcomed.

Even the elves’ tortures could be worked into society, there was always some humans, just like Blackmain who would be interested in fulfilling their masochistic desires. Others would just be curious. It wasn’t as if elves needed torture or anything like that, except as a past-time to make their long lives go faster. Things wouldn’t change so much. The humans would probably benefit more from the alliance, healing from the elves and eventual spell work, should they choose to offer it. Peace was best, always.

Oh, and if you know anyone who designs dragon tattoos, tell them to drop me a line at darkthorn@hotmail.co.uk

~ Darkthorn

Collectively, they were beginning to adopt listening poses and far away gazes, as each hooked into the main memory of the room. That was the beauty of having such a room as this, it was relatively easy to network, there was no need to re-create it every time you wanted to talk. The room remembered everything. If it was asked, as it was occasionally, it could name those who had used it, and indeed, this one could name who was nearby at the time, who hadn’t attended. It had been in existence for a very long time, the lives of these elves had shaped it from the very beginning. The meeting house was the central meeting point of the clan, and it was a point of pride to have the best in the area.

]]> http://darkthorn.sorrowfulunfounded.com/2008/09/24-death/feed/ 0 http://darkthorn.sorrowfulunfounded.com/2008/09/23-bathing/ http://darkthorn.sorrowfulunfounded.com/2008/09/23-bathing/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:00:57 +0000 darkthorn http://darkthorn.sorrowfulunfounded.com/?p=86 Elves were scattered in and around the bathing pools, lounging in the patches of sun that peeped in through the thick branches of the trees. Blackmain skirted his way carefully around the slippery rocks, trying to avoid stepping on any out-flung limbs. Elves, so messy he thought quietly, under tight shield. It was never predictable what some would take offence to, even if it wasn’t If he remembered correctly, Ishton would be right at the top, in the hottest possible pool. Blackmain didn’t feel quite up to boiling himself, but lying on the cool stone next to the steaming bath would be lovely. Moreover, if that involved a massage, well, he wouldn’t object.

As predicted, Ishton was relaxing in the hottest pool, alone except for a couple of other Adepts. Blackmain wondered if Ishton’s main reason for choosing that particular heat had anything to do with the flocks of elves that seemed to want to surround him if he chose anywhere else. From the look on his face, he was deep in discussion with the other elves. Blackmain didn’t want to interfere, so he sat on the edge and gingerly trailed his toes into the water, enjoying the quiet. One of the advantages of mind speech was no voices to break the silence of the woods, only the sounds of the birds and the animals.

Blackmain was suddenly reminded of the little lizard that had given him away to Cimon when he was rescuing Julia. He regretted letting the man go now, it would have been far better to destroy him early. With the other Queen on the throne instead, and Julia with a male heir to the throne it would have been relatively simple to knock the Queen off and allow Julia to be acting regent. On second thoughts, Julia might not be content to just let her son to take the throne, she might want to have proper power for a time, to set things right. It wouldn’t be a bad thing, especially if she was Kolark’s daughter. Nevertheless, as the elves said, everything happened for a reason. Things would work out in the end, because it had been foretold that there would be an upheaval. One could never expect things to happen on their own though, some pushing forwards never caused any harm.

Ishton looked up at Blackmain, hopped out of the glorified bathtub and gestured with his hands. He was stark naked, his rippling muscles stretching out beneath his tanned skin as he stretched. Blackmain removed his own clothes, and laid them in Ishton’s lap, then put his own head down. The elves sent a shiver of laughter around, human’s modesty always amused them. Blackmain didn’t flinch, he wasn’t ruining his own values for them, it was more comfortable and less distracting this way anyway.

Massage came easily to Ishton, he gently tousled Blackmain’s hair and settled into an almost-rhythm. His fingers took away the ache in Blackmain’s head as time wore on and night settled in. The lack of lights lulled Blackmain back to sleep and his pleasant dreams returned, much to the further amusement of the elves. Ishton continued to massage his head and neck, gradually turning the entire situation into a performance.

When Blackmain woke a couple of hours later, it was to the sighs of disappointment from the other elves. He sat up quickly, glaring at Ishton, who only smiled and laughed with the rest of them.

~ Sorry old friend, they wanted something to amuse them. ~

~ You could have found something else. Other than me. ~

~ Why? When I know you will forgive me. ~

Blackmain growled inaudibly, Ishton was right as always. The massage had loosened all his limbs and he was feeling more relaxed than he had been in quite a while. Moving seemed like a bad option, lying here where he didn’t have to worry about anything else was so peaceful He should have known that it wouldn’t last however, as the silence was broken by the running of feet and a general mind-surge.

~ A meeting is called. All are expected to attend. ~

The message was filled with underlying images of what would be done to those who didn’t go to it. Blackmain wondered if that included him too. Most of those inventive tortures would have him dead in half the time it took the elves to set up the equipment.

Blackmain looked around for his practical clothes and was only slightly dismayed to see the predictable scanty elven robes laid out for him, hanging in mid air. He sighed at the waste of magic, but of course, he would be in a guest bedroom and the elves liked to display their power in order to dissuade any violence. Blackmain was used to this from his many prior visits, and was not in the least distressed. He climbed out of the hanging bed, attempting to gently disentangle his limbs from the clinging static blankets. That was one of the good elven pieces of invention, the blankets would never fall off in the night and leave you cold, even if they were less warm than regular ones.

Blackmain growled. The stupid things were still being attracted to him, and were holding tight. “Blasted, annoying, frustrating, wearisome…” he muttered angrily.

It was moments like this that one wondered what the elves had been thinking when they had designed their chambers. His monologue must have been louder than he had originally thought, as an androgynous figure appeared at the doorway. It wasn’t really a doorway, more like a slit in the cloths surrounding the bed.

~ How are you feeling? ~

The mind-voice was distinctly female, a sharp contrast with the solid body it was coming from. It was laced with desire and images of the owner’s sexual encounters. Blackmain’s head upped its throbbing as he attempted to send a firm warning to the figure in the same language. His voice still shaky, and not as controlled as he would like, Blackmain replied.

~ I am not better. No, I am not interested in you. I am here on business. Where are my Ishton and my Julia? ~

Blackmain accompanied the names with vivid images, colours and overtones of ownership. Some of the young elves never learnt he was taken. At least now Julia would provide them with a more acknowledged relationship, that of taking many partners and never being satisfied with less. Julia! Where was she? He tried again, obviously the elf wasn’t receptive to his first communication.

~ Where is Julia? Where is Ishton? I want my friends. ~

Blackmain endeavoured to attach sexual desire to the word/image “want” in order to convey urgency to the elf. It was the last thing he was feeling right now, desire for Ishton yes, but only to have his strong hands massaging his back and neck to make the headache go away. Desire for Julia was just wrong, and insensitive. She had been through so much, and she didn’t need to add incest to her list of problems, as tantalising as that might be to some of the more sadistic pleasure-loving elves.

~ She is safe with the healers. She has started her recovery. We are yet to know of the rest of her state. He is bathing, do you wish to join us? ~

~ I shall. Now shoo. ~

Blackmain had finally freed himself from the blankets and unselfconsciously walked over to the clothes. He sighed, wishing once again that his own clothes were evident. He didn’t feel up to arguing with the elf about the clothes, he had the feeling he was lucky to have gotten any at all. Now, if his memory served him correctly, the baths were very close nearby. Blackmain focussed in on the water sounds, and walked in that direction.

The tracking charm which had automatically activated when they arrived hovered over their heads, providing a point of reference for the other elves in the area. It was intended to ensure that visitors would not stray into the elven paths and could be gently shuttled away by the other protective charms. Ishton was a native, so instead it would alert them to the fact of his homecoming.

Slowly, even as the night drew even closer around them, other lights began to approach. The elves surrounded the three with sighs and murmurings, very little which would have been decodable by the average listener. The majority of their communications was in their heads, thinking was relatively safe this far into the woods. Most were able to hold very firmly onto their thoughts and project selectively, with minimum interference. Anyone who overhead would most likely think they were going mad anyway, as the thought-language elves used was very distinct and virtually impregnable. If a couple of elves could be found to cooperate with humans, directions to the generals and significant authoritarian figures as they staged their petty wars would be impossible to replicate. Fortunately, very few elves associated with humans, Ishton was an exception, especially within this much sectioned clan.

Ishton and his experiments in the lands of humans were frowned upon by his clan-mates. His new plan, and his involvement with Blackmain, had almost led to a rift forming between him and the elders. Luckily, the relatively younger elves could see the wisdom in his plan. To have a human ruler that was allied with the elves would help stop their steadily decreasing numbers from dwindling further, promoting dalliances and fewer deaths. The times were changing for the elves as the forests grew smaller, and humans became cockier about their invulnerability. Elves would not resort to becoming simple consorts, or second wives to gain a hold on the human lands – it would be an all or nothing.

Sad as Julia’s plight was, it was convenient for the other elves that lacked Ishton’s morals. She could be healed with difficulty, and it would take many more weeks of work. In the mean time, they could happily entertain Ishton, to persuade him to remain a longer time with them. Ishton was famous for his exploits, especially the tale that had cost him his beautiful visage. This made him a much wanted bed-partner, but he habitually turned down anyone’s advances as well as making his visits back to the clan infrequent because of his attachment to Blackmain.

Attachment to any human was dangerous to elves, because of humans’ short life-spans and correspondingly rapid changing nature. An ally one day could become your deadliest enemy the next week. Elves were no strangers to corruption and betrayal, but the form that humans’ practiced was ill-planned and rough in comparison. Mere death was little to an elf, their life-length often was more a curse than a boon, watching any human companions die and the world being destroyed around them as their own ageless beauty lasted. Elves perfected the art of torture to entertain themselves in their long lives, both on themselves and others. Eventually, some of them grew to love it so much that they combined it with their love-making, pleasure combined with exquisite pain. Some of the more private clans were said to take pleasure only in pain, raping their human servants, and taking amusement in their pathetic lives.

Luckily for Julia, Ishton’s clan was more involved in the healing of minds touched by rape. Her mind, trapped in the dream as it was, was not an uncommon sight to the mind-healers, who had helped those with worse traumas, such as incest. Julia was indeed more warped than those others, a combination of anxiety, depression and guilt that could hardly be replicated. If such a thing could be bottled, it would prove the elf’s successful mastery of magic, and attribute him to Adept status. Very few were able to do this successfully, without becoming trapped themselves, nor have access to such a wealth of pain. In the weeks to follow, Julia would become the subject of a very intense healing. Her healing was all the more prominent by her beautiful continence, and her need for mating as part of the healing process.

~ We have to get help. I cannot deal with a healing of this nature. ~

~ Where? How bad is it? We must save her. It is important to me. ~

~ My people. I know of one, he can help us. It is bad. Her mind is circling, with no finality being reached. I believe that she cannot escape from it by herself. Now is not the time to ask you why she is suddenly more important to you.~

~ I. Yes. ~

~ I shall prepare the magic for taking her. You take whatever you need. ~

Blackmain paused a moment, wondering whether he should go or not, despite what Ishton had said. He had much still to do before winter, and if they had to remain in the elven colony for too long, his chance to finalize the plans for summer would be lost. They had to save Julia though, without her, nothing would work. And if he was right, and she was his daughter, he would need to be there. The elves could likely tell him if his suspicion was correct anyway.

~ Hurry. I don’t know where or when this will end for Julia. We need to transport her as soon as possible. ~

Blackmain’s cloak was hanging on the back of the door, effortlessly blending into the wooden background. Blackmain decided against taking his crossbow, it wouldn’t be diplomatic when it was a peaceful mission. His throwing knives would be enough to remain them of his profession, as well as his simple dagger. The sword was an essential; its magic always came in handy for some reason and it often provided him with additional power to draw on when he was desperate. He shrugged on the breastplate; better protected than dead, but left the shield in its box.

Ishton rose from the floor gracefully, and walked to the workroom, mentally preparing himself to cast the energy back into the stone floor. It was a pity that he had needed to wipe it clean after the last casting, but the residual energy wouldn’t have assisted either, negatively charged as it was. He sank to his knees again, tracing a wide circle as big as the cramped room would allow. He followed this initial circle with two smaller ones, leaving a gap for Blackmain and Julia to enter. He then started to fill in the concentric rings with intricate looping designs, typical of elven work. Each of the circles followed a specific function: the first for protection, the second for direction and the third to hold everything together. Many a human spell-caster had forgotten this last ring, and paid for it in blood as their body parts separated during the journey. Equally, the ring of protection couldn’t hold if someone got the directions wrong – a seething pool of acid waste or a nest of determined poisonous vipers weren’t deterred by a protection spell that needed to be maintained by the caster constantly.

Nothing of the sort could go wrong with Ishton’s casting however, Ishton was a Master and had made this exact trip many times, often with Blackmain a dead weight on his shoulders. The man never did learn he wasn’t invulnerable. It hurt Ishton more often now, his friend was getting old, and Ishton could sense the tiredness in his thoughts. Blackmain entered with Julia inverted over his shoulders, indeed similar to Ishton’s memories. He smiled, and Blackmain looked at him quizzically.

~ What is so funny my friend? ~

~ You. But hurry still, we must depart. ~

Ishton and Blackmain gently laid Julia between them, her long limbs barely fitting within the confined circles. Ishton hurriedly closed the circles behind them, deftly inscribing the final directional instructions. Blackmain and Ishton settled down into mediation positions, Blackmain groaning slightly as his knees bent uncomfortably. Ishton reached again for Blackmain’s mind, drawing on it’s strength. Both were weakened, it would take both of their energies to reach the elven outpost. Even as Ishton pulled towards the area, he hoped that someone would be there to greet them, forewarned by one of the Seers.

Julia wouldn’t be waking for a while still he thought. Time enough to fulfill his desires. He reached out towards Ishton’s slumbering mind, but discovered with dismay that he was still firmly entrenched in the dream-world. Blackmain sighed in frustration, it would have been a good release for them both, there was so much tension in the air. As tempting as it was to wake Ishton, it wouldn’t be right. Blackmain decided that he should go for a ride instead.

Blackmain followed the same path as Julia to the paddock. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the flattened grass from her passage. Blackmain did however notice Starless’ coat, far from its normal luster. It looked like someone had been riding him hard, and then had carelessly left the horse un-groomed. Blackmain growled under his breath, in both annoyance and anxiety. Starless never allowed anyone else to ride him. Blackmain touched the horse’s mind carefully, the sensitive horse often noticed him probing and objected venomously. He winced involuntarily; something Starless knew how to do was kick.

Starless’ memories were just beginning to form. A young woman had come out for a ride. She had left him like this because she didn’t know where the groom was. She had tried her best though, no need to be too angry. It must have been Julia! thought Blackmain to himself. She must have come out and ridden him while Blackmain was sleeping. But surely, Starless never let anyone else ride without Blackmain’s consent. Even Ishton, who was very good with horses, wasn’t allowed on Starless’ back. A nuisance sometimes, especially if something was to happen to Blackmain. It would be a shame to have to kill the horse because he had died too.

Blackmain probed deeper. But all he could get was a vague thought of “Blackmain-like”. Perhaps because he had rescued the girl? No, that wouldn’t account for it. It wasn’t possible that they were related. Blackmain still didn’t know who his mother was. Julia was from someplace else, a foreign princess. Her beauty did not fit in with the regular population. Her beauty, like Kolark’s. Starless could have sensed it in her. Kolark’s daughter? It couldn’t be. Kolark had always been able to ride Starless, but it was immediately obvious that Starless preferred Blackmain. Eventually, Starless had even completely rejected Kolark, especially after their relationship had started to disintegrate.

Julia, Blackmain mused, she was somehow related to him. A new thought: His daughter? Perhaps that was why he was having all these memories brought back. What could this new connection do to him though? This did not fit in well with their plan for her. How could she replace the old king if her father was a common man, like Blackmain? He wasn’t made to be a father. This wasn’t his role. Blackmain reassured himself, it wasn’t like she really needed one anyway, she was a full-grown woman now. If it was true, what then, what would they do? Ishton would have to be told of course.

Blackmain suddenly remembered that Julia was lying at home, still sleeping. Out cold on the floor in fact, because she had realized some of their plans. How would she react if they told her? Blackmain slowed his thoughts. It wouldn’t do any good. There was no proof that she was his daughter after all. Perhaps she would know more. That was it. But Kolark would not have told her the truth. It would have been too dangerous to admit it. It would have sparked off a war as the king of Naxos would have been insulted by receiving a bastard daughter in tribute if he had known.

Blackmain sighed. Why couldn’t life be simple? It was pretty absurd of him to expect a quiet life, he had chosen to be an assassin after all. He was getting old though, someone must be found to take his place. He would go looking for an apprentice tomorrow. It was rare for any practical trade to get new apprentices before winter, but there was a surprising amount of theory that needed to be covered before any fieldwork would be completed. He laughed at himself. The likelihood of finding anyone vaguely suitable was slim anyway. Not to mention a boy who would put up with a female and an elf being treated as equal in the house.

Assassins had to be choosy, one small slip would cost you your life. And it was a duty, which had to be served before everything else – including love. Being invisible, and upholding the proper values of the continent were the requirement. No chance of a normal life. Blackmain had his horses, but really, no-one knew who he was. That was a small price to pay for his freedom. Freedom? What was freedom? He was bound to protect the land and it’s people, the waiver he had signed when he was first apprenticed himself had squashed all ideas on normalcy. It wasn’t as if he could plan for his future. He was planning Julia’s future for her though, the next best thing. Was that right? What would she want? Ironically, Blackmain realized that he was indeed being her father by guiding her, living through her.

Blackmain looked up. It was getting late, and he had barely moved in the entire time with Starless. The horse stamped, aware that his master was paying attention to him again.

“Yes, let’s ride.”

Blackmain boosted himself on, and melded into the horse as they flew together down the path. The sun set as Blackmain and Starless rounded the crest for home. Ishton was standing in the doorway, observing them. Blackmain gave his friend a cheeky wave, maintaining his hold on Starless with his knees only. Ishton didn’t seem to notice, he returned inside the house.

The ride had cleared Blackmain’s head. He dismounted, and went to get the brushes from the rocky shelf hidden carefully nearby in the wall surrounding the property. He made up his mind to tell Julia where they were. If she liked horses, it was something else she could do when they were cooped up for the winter.