Starday Spiritwalk

In the morning Ossian gets up early (as usual) but he can't find his usual inspiration for painting. Today he is restless, like he hasn't been since he came to Amber. There is simply too much he has to think about.

And how does one prepare for a spirit walk?

Ossian gets out and grabs some early breakfast. When he comes back inspirations strikes and he starts working on a painting that has been left unfinished for a long time now. He is still painting when the first knock on the door comes.

Hannah is wide awake this morning and looks like she may have been up for some time. She has a basket full of things over her arm, covered with a circle of buckskin. When Ossian opens the door she smiles at him.

Ossian opens the door wearing some kind of old overcoat over his clothes. What color the coat once was is now unintelligible, because of all the paint stains on it. Ossian also seems to have been up for a few hours.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" she asks.

"Well enough." Ossian says with a smile, taking off the coat and hanging it on a peg. "Considering the rather dramatic ending of yesterday."

"Come on in, come on in. I take it you get up early?" Ossian says.

"Well, if I sleep, usually I do. Just before dawn is my favorite time," Hannah smiles, looking around.

"You can get the same play of light at sunset, but there are so much else going on at that time." Ossian says, almost absentmindedly "But I geuss you get up early for other reasons?"

"I just like the quiet - it's the quietest time," she explains.

The room is surprisingly tidy; there are several large cabinets with tinted glass doors, containing rolls and piles of sketches and drawings. There are three unfinished paintings visible, each on an easel of its own; the largest one stands near the window. It shows Amber city and the castle, seen from the sea; but the city is transformed into a city of slender towers; also the castle has a more gracile look to it. In one corner, on a pedestal, Ossian has an unfinished stone sculpture. He also has a small desk, with his big sketchbook and a few pecils as the only items on it. There are several chairs and stools, none of them matching in sytle or even height. There is also a rather comfy looking couch and a thick soft rug on the floor. The bed seems to be hidden behind a curtain.

But even as Hannah is looking around the room, the curtian in front of the bed is drawn back by a languid white hand.

"Good morning," says Lucas.

He is reclining at ease on the bed, fully dressed in the same existentialist garb he had favoured the previous day, it seems, although it seems he has acquired a green carnation from somewhere as he is twisting it between the long fingers of his other hand. He smiles faintly at Hannah, raising his heavy eyelids to treat her to an enigmatic stare.

"I trust you passed a ... ah ... peaceful night," he says politely.

Hannah looks surprised, and glances between the two of them. Her smile grows. "It was peaceful, thank you," she returns.

Ossian stifles a chuckle. "Lucas and I share an interest of...appearances."

She turns back to Ossian. "You paint, and you're good at it. I'm impressed."

Ossian nods "Thanks. I do look forward to painting your portrait sometime in the future.

"Now how shall we do this spirit walk?"

"Not," murmurs Lucas in tones of faint horror, "without coffee first."

He rises gracefully and makes his way towards a corner of the studio where there is a small box standing on a table. He lifts the lid ... and a cafetiere is revealed, tightly packed in a hay box, and thus beautifully insulated.

"It's relatively fresh," he informs Hannah as he withdraws it carefully. "I had Gaston bring it earlier this morning. Solace passed a peaceful night, you will be delighted to hear, and is breakfasting on weak China tea and a little buttered toast. But perhaps you have visited her already?

"I haven't, actually. I thought I'd wait to see how this goes," Hannah informs him.

"Milk? Cream? Sugar?" he continues, as he pours the coffee into large plain cups - perhaps also provided courtesy of Gaston.

"I'll take it as it is, thank you," Hannah says.

"Ossian ... one lump or two for you? I never can remember. Or perhaps just a squirt of hot milk?"

Ossian frowns. "Make that two. And the milk." Maybe Ossian does not like coffee.

Lucas smiles - perhaps there is just the faintest suggestion of a smirk quivering in the curl of his upper lip.

Hannah bites down hard on her bottom lip and starts fiddling with things in her basket.

"Nervous?" Ossian asks.

"A little, I suppose," Hannah says, and looks back up at him to grin. "I have no idea if I can do this here, of course. I might shortly be feeling real silly. I've got a lot of things on my mind that I'd like to try, if we can get to the spirit realm. And I'm... used to doing this outside, but I don't feel safe about that here, so we'll try it here." The grin fades.

"I just don't know," she says more quietly. She sips at her coffee.

"We could move inot the garden, if you want." Ossian suggests. "And it's not your fault if it doesn't work here. A lot of things doesn't."

That wins Ossian a beaming, grateful smile from Hannah.

Lucas listens, his dark eyes watchful over the rim of the thick cup.

"Are there any precautions I could take," he asks, "if it does go wrong?"

Ossian waits for Hannah to answer.

Hannah licks her lips and thinks about it. She sets her coffee down. It doesn't look like she's going to take more than that sip. "I wouldn't feel safe in the garden, and if I don't feel safe my spirit isn't going to agree to leave my body.

"I've never... the only people I've ever had not be able to get back are very ill people, close to death. On the other hand, I've never had anything go wrong with a body while I took someone with me - and that's the main reason I wanted you here to watch, Lucas. Just to make sure we're... undisturbed."

Ossian glances at Lucas, with eyes that say //Don't even think about it//

Lucas' expression is positively saintly.

"I think, if we don't come back out within an hour or two, you can try to shake us awake. I've seen that work. If it doesn't, I don't know how long to tell you to let it go before looking for someone who might know something I don't about this. There seem to be some people here who understand magic, so they might understand this." Hannah shrugs again.

"I can't see that this should be more dangerous than any other time you have done it. No need to worry, I think."

"You're so reassuring. It's nice," Hannah tells Ossian with another smile. "Well, then," she says, and gets up to start setting things up to her liking.

From the basket she pulls out four rocks, and uses them to mark compass points once she's made a clear space for her and Ossian to sit on the floor. "I'm trying to do this as simply as possible. There are a lot of fancy things that can be done in preparation, but... they feel like complications right now."

"Simple is very fine, if it is stylish." Ossian says.

"Minimalist," murmurs Lucas, with a note of approval. "Fascinating."

She pulls a handkerchief out of the basket, and then fishes around until she finds the remains of a package of cigarettes. There is one left, which she fishes out and starts pulling apart, dropping the tobacco onto the handkerchief.

[Ossian]
"Anything you need, or do you have all in there?"

"I brought everything we should need," Hannah smiles.

Ossian follows her preparations with interest. "What is the tobacco for?" He seems to have forgotten about his coffee.

Lucas sits back in his chair, watching.

"It's for focus. This isn't as good as what I'd have at home, but I've made due before. My people believe tobacco is the food of the spirits. The spirits are addicted, and thus need tobacco to survive. We'll burn some to help us focus and connect us and you'll take some with you. I have some on me already." Hannah doesn't look up from what she's doing. She's being extremely careful - no paper in her tobacco.

"Sacred tobacco, what we grow at home, has more of the active drug in it. From a religious point of view, where I come from there is a ritual we often undertake which involves drinking blessed wine to represent the blood of the savior. This is much like that, in that it is meant to be a source of great power, and should only be used in small amounts."

Satisfied with her work, she sets the hankerchief down and gets a small pipe out. From the crinkled-nose look she gives it, it's obviously not to her standards.

Ossian nods. He seems to accept Hannah's explanation as some kind of ritual. He sits down on the floor in front of her and stretches out one hand as if to pick up some tobacco. Then he stops. His voice is soft and serious. "You want me to take some with me. How do I do that. Just put it in my pocket?"

"Perhaps light it?" suggests Lucas. "And inhale?"

Ossian frowns.

Hannah laughs. "We will smoke some, but the rest we'll just tie up in this hanky and we'll tie that around your neck." She starts packing the pipe. She gets comfortable in a cross-legged position, spreading her skirt out. The pipe is gently put aside, and she pulls a string from the basket. Hannah manipulates the hankerchief to move the tobacco into the center, folds it into a pouch and ties it off. She then leans to slip this over Ossian's head.

[presuming he lets her.]

Ossian smiles all the way.

Hannah sits back. "Just tuck it into your shirt, so it's against your skin. Are you ready?"

Ossian tucks the pouch inside his shirt. "I think so." He seems relaxed, but still very alert. His eyes are calm and somewhat sad, and fixed upon Hannah.

Lucas leans back slightly, continuing to watch.

Hannah reaches out again and lays her hand against Ossain's chest, pressing the pouch against him. Her eyes are serious now, but warm. "We will be known forever by the tracks we leave. All dreams spin out from the same web. Ask questions from your heart and you will be answered by the heart. _Wakan Tankan Nici Un._ May the Great Spirit walk with you, Ossian."

With that, Hannah sits back and pulls matches from her basket. With practiced ease she lights one, grabs the pipe, and starts it smoldering. She turns her head and blows smoke toward the East, and says, "Spirit of the East, help us succeed in our endeavors."

She repeats this in her native tongue, and then says to Ossian, "You should call them too. However it seems right to you."

For a short moment, just a short moment, Ossian looks at Hannah with incomprehension, then he smiles. He takes the pipe (assuming Hannah lets him), and gently blows a smoke ring towards the east and says, in a somewhat sing-song sounding language: "Jag ber dig, Österns Ande, att bistå oss under vår vandring. Ge oss vind under vingarna." [I ask you, Spirit of the East, to aid us during our journey. Give us wind under our wings.]

Hannah's eyes sparkle with happiness as she seems to really relax. She takes the pipe back from him, and they proceed through a similar ritual for each of the directions. That done, Hannah sets the pipe aside, and takes each of Ossian's hands in hers. "Now just relax, and let yourself leave your body," she says quietly.

Hannah closes her eyes and focuses on the feeling of detachment. She enjoys a moment of floating inside her body, before she tries to float out.

The grip from Ossian's hands is very light, but firm. He closes his eyes and relaxes. He tries to send his consiousness in search after Hannah.

Hannah drifts out of her body and is ready to begin her journey. It is difficult to do here, and she thinks she would have to go a long way to talk to spirits she knows. She realizes that she really isn't well-grounded, either.

Ossian finds he can't get out of his body. The scent of the tobacco, the fullness of his stomach, and other sensual attractions, including the memory of recent pleasures, weigh him down. Hannah can tell that Ossian hasn't managed to escape the surly bonds of his physical body.

To Lucas, Hannah appears to have entered some sort of meditative trance, but Ossian simply isn't getting there. Ossian seems a bit fidgety.

Ossian's lips curl into a self-ironic smile. He opes his eyes and looks at Hannah. When he sees that she seems to have managed to do it, he shakes his head as if to clear it and takes a deep breath. He tries to relax and open himself up to any kind of mental contact. Maybe Hannah can find and guide him.

Lucas notes the fact that Ossian has opened his eyes, but makes no attempt to speak or otherwise interrupt the experiement.

Ossian closes his eyes again.

Hannah concentrates on settling back into herself, and as soon as she can, she squeezes Ossian's hands. "Ah, well," she sighs.

"We need a good deal more prepartion. I've never... done this with anyone who wasn't familiar with our tribal traditions and lore. We likely need to fast, and I'd feel better in a sweat lodge. But it can be done," Hannah says with a beaming, relieved smile. "It can be done here, so far from home."

Ossian looks somewhat disappointed. "Sorry that I botched it. I've got a lot of things on my mind at present. Maybe fasting helps." he says. "I do want to try again. When we have time. How long preparation do I need?"

"You didn't botch it," Hannah smiles gently, and squeezes his hands again before she lets go. "How long can you go without eating before you get lightheaded?" she asks.

Ossian shrugs "It depends on what I'm doing. If I do a lot of Shadow shifting I will get lightheaded pretty quick."

[GMs]
[Probably several days if he weren't doing anything much physical, but he'd eat like a pig afterwards.]

Lucas smiles faintly, but says nothing.

Hannah blinks. It takes her a minute to process what Ossian just said. "Is shadow shifting earth changing?" she asks intently.

"Well," Ossian says "I don't know what you mean by that. I meant the way our family walks between worlds.

"I do get lightheaded after a day or two of that without food."

Lucas refrains from comment.

Hannah nods. "You call it shadow shifting?" She gets a little grin and shakes her head.

Then Hannah turns her attention on the too quiet Lucas. "There was something yesterday you were going to tell me about Solace. What was it?"

"That the delicacy of her health forbids her to have any more children," Lucas says soberly. "We are careful - mon Dieu, how we are careful! - but ... at such a moment, one must always wonder ...

"I think that thought must have been uppermost in my cousins' minds too," he adds, glancing at Ossian. "In a way, my mind was eased on such a score because it has happened before. But for them, they must have wondered ... "

Ossian nods.

[Lucas] spreads his hands. "I have not been famed for my self-control in such matters before," he tells her with engaging frankness.

Ossian's smile widens, but he stays quiet.

Hannah does look concerned. "Which method are you using? I wouldn't normally ask in front of anyone else, but you and Ossian seem to be good enough friends," she says, expression unaltered.

"I think," said Lucas, with a certain hauteur, "that is a question more properly asked of Solace."

Hannah's eyebrows go up. "And here I thought you were the man in this relationship. Does that mean you do not have a method and she does, or does that mean you decline to discuss this with me? Pray, tell."

Ossian's eyes narrow for a moment. When Hannah starts talking he seems to supress a smile. He is now very alert. But quiet.

"Very well," says Lucas. "Solace drinks a particularly pungent and thoroughly unpleasant herbal tea that her midwife, a cunning woman with herbs, supplies. The details of that you will, as I have said, have to obtain from Solace herself, or the midwife - who doubtless prefers to cherish certain trade secrets. In addition, we practise what you might call abstinence from full congress during certain portions of the lunar month."

His dark eyebrows lift. "Does that answer your question sufficiently?"

Hannah's eyes look sad, suddenly, but she presses her lips together in what is clearly an angry manner. She nods though. "That answers it."

Hannah turns to Ossian. "It was a good try. We'll try again once I figure out what I'm doing." She smiles for him, and starts moving to clean up.

"Good" Ossian says "I will take you up on that. When we meet again.

"Lucas", he continues, "Shall we ask the cards about Solace? I have not asked them for a long time, but this time it might just be right."

"Presently," says Lucas, languidly. "I need another drink first, cos. Something to salute the morn .... "

Ossian will guess that beneath the insouciant surface, Lucas is waiting for Hannah to withdraw.

Which is exactly what Hannah does, an old hand at quick clean ups and escapes.

"What a ghastly woman," said Lucas with feeling, when she had retreated. "Coming in and bossing everyone around. And a new cousin to boot ...

"So," said Lucas thoughtfully. " A kinswoman. And one of somewhat ... forceful personality. Care to wager from whose loins she sprang? My money's on Deirdre. She certainly looked as though she'd start whirling a battle axe on the least provocation. How fortunate that her first encounter was with such placid souls as ourselves and not with some of the more ... ah ... volatile of our kin." He gives a slightly feline smile. "I'd like to see the response, for example, she'd get if she decided to ask Jovian the type of birth control he was practising with his current inamorata."

"You must forgive me, but I find it rather amusing that she managed to offend you." Ossian smiles "Other than that question, I think she has been rather nice, actually. Colourful. And not as polished as many of us. I think I like her, even if she needs a lesson in style."

"Now ... " He turns his attention to Ossian. "What do you propose to ask the cards? I must confess to a desire to ascertain the degree to which Solace is an Amberite."

"The easiest test of that is probably to try painting a sketch of her dear mother, as you suggested yesterday. Maybe Reid know how diluted the blood can be before it gets impossible to draw trumps of the person. I certainly do not." Ossian muses. "But I will not discuss Solace with him without your consent."

"For the moment, hold off," said Lucas. "Few people know of our experiment - I prefer to keep it that way."

Ossian grins and shakes his head "No respect for science! As soon as we find something interesting we get censored!" he says in a mock upset voice.

Lucas smiles. "Let's just look on it as caution until we have doubled checked our maths. Think of the scientists who've been humiliated by rushing into premature publication. And remember that Amber's peer group appraisal is likely to be pretty astringent."

"It is of course hard to get an exact answer from the cards. If there were 'yes' and 'no' cards things would have been easier. I thought of doing a general spread on the theme Solace, or maybe focus it more on her illness."

"Perhaps a spread on Solace as Amberite?" suggests Lucas. "That, I think, could be revealing ... "

"Solace as an Amberite..." Ossian muses "Not bad. Let's do it. Do you have any Trumps you want to add to the deck?"

Lucas shakes his head with faint regret - but he says, "What about adding the trump sketch of Solace herself into the pack?"

Ossain fetches his deck, and removes two Trumps from it (the school and the cabinet). He lets Reid, Brand and the beach stay in. Then he shuffles the deck, very elegantly and efficiently before laying a six card spread.

Lucas watches with interest.

The cards fall as follow:

Bottom row:

The Peasant reversed
Summer reversed
Law upright

Middle row
Fertility
The Phoenix reversed

Top row
Trickery

"Hm." Ossian says. "It is not as blurry as I feared it might be. Let's see what we can make of it. How familiar are you with this kind of spread, Lucas?

"This is my interpretation.

"Lack of Vision in the past." Ossian gestures at The Peasant. "I think this signifies that Solace's Amberite heritage was not known. We shall remember that she probably does not know about it yet either."

"She definitely doesn't know about it," says Lucas firmly. "It would upset her far too much - unless we could reassure her that her Amberite blood comes from some suitably distant great-great. The thought that she might have been born the other side of the blanket - well, she would be conscious more of the social disgrace than the singular honour that one of our family chose to so to her mother." He cannot help but a give a faint shudder at the thought.

Ossian nods. "That sounds right."

"Exhaustion in the present. This could be her weakened state; that's the obvious interpretation. A bolder and more interesting one is that her Amberite blood is too diluted for our Trump experiment to work.

"Now, the future brings something really interesting." Ossian says, touching the Law card "Order. To me this is very much connected to Amber, or maybe rather our family and the Pattern. I'd say she has a possible role to play as a family member in the future. Not only as your wife, that is."

Lucas nods his agreement.

"This combination of virtue and fault is very strange." Ossian looks somewhat puzzled. "Growth and destruction at the same time. Of course, Fertility speaks well of her as a mother of a new generation of Amberites; Destruction suggests she has a self-destructive tendency. Maybe she sacrifices her own well-being for the children. Hannah's question is not without significance here."

"It could also be that her strength as a mother is the thing that is also the root of her weakness," Lucas points out. "While she is an excellent mother, it has weakened her health bearing the children. And we cannot have any more."

He says it calmly and factually.

"Your way with words, cousin, is much more on the spot than mine." Ossian smiles.

"In the off-chance doomsday interpretation she is something more - the destruction is aimed at other things. In that storyline Solace is the Trickster..." he continues, picking up the Trickery card.

"It all balances on Trickery." Ossian looks somewhat amused. "This could be us keeping her heritage secret, but it could also be may other things. You might have a guess as good as mine to the central question here, Lucas. Who is the Trickster?"

Lucas glares at the card. "One interpretation would be me," he says shortly. "Presumably because I've been at some pains to avoid people realising what we've been doing lest it upset Solace. Or perhaps it is because I'm not telling Solace about her lineage. So much for good intentions.

"But, more generally, it could be anyone who has attempted to discover the truth about Solace. It could be ... well, anyone who might have access to a trump of her - or the means of making a trump. In a way, I would prefer it to be me. At least I know my trickery is benign ...

"If it's not me ... or us ... then the Destruction - and its position - becomes rather more alarming."

"The spread does not say if the trickery is good or bad." Ossian says. "But I think it confirms that her role as an Amberite is not over. And that you'd better not have more children.

"I think you are the trickster. You and me and whoever else is in on this secret? But that is a guess at best.

"How much does your mother know?"

"She suspects Solace's lineage," says Lucas slowly. "It was some pointed remarks of hers that first made Solace concerned - long, long before the attacks. And Mother is a great one for tying up loose ends before they start to fray and interfere with the set of the garment. But she's absorbed in this Paris project ... would she have had time? I doubt it. Besides, her method is to stir up other people and get them to sort things out - as I suppose we have done albeit in a slightly blundering fashion."

He frowns. "I do hate being manipulated by Mama," he says almost pettishly. "And she seems to have done it again. One would think, with a couple of centuries under one's belt, one would learn ... but no."

He is silent for a moment, considering. Then he says quietly, "What price the King?"

Ossian shakes his head. "I think the King is unlikely." he continues more bluntly: "I think it is you."

Lucas shrugs. "It is probable," he agrees.

"Unless, of course, the card represents a person rather than trickery in itself." Ossian ponders this for a split second "It could very well be so. Maybe our 'King' is more a trickster. It fits very well.

"In that case he is the key to Solace's future. You should at least consider telling him about her."

"Perhaps," says Lucas, "when we are more comfortably established in Xanadu."

Ossian nods. "You are the only one who knows how many are in on the secret. He'll learn about it sooner or later even if you don't tell him, I believe."

Lucas simply nods his agreement.

"I was asking about your mother, not because I think she is the Trickster, but I just realised she might know how to make Trumps. I mean, couldn't she have tried the same experiment as we did? If she knows the Art, of course."

"Not to my knowledge," says Lucas slowly. "But one of her great strengths of course is that like the iceberg, so much is submerged beneath the bright glittery surface that floats so splendidly above the water. And what is hidden is, bien sur, more than capable of holing the most unsinkable of liners."

"I can't really suspect one of the known Trump artists. So an unknown artist seems rather probable. Like your mother." Ossian says with a shrug.

"And that," says Lucas, clearly still appalled by the vision of his mother, paintbrush in hand, "is a truly appalling thought."

Hannah wanders off to gather up her 'new' medical bag after the attempted spirit walk. First, she heads down to check on Solace, who if nothing else hopefully at least got a quiet night of rest. She very quietly and gently asks Solace many questions about how she is doing, what happened the last time, and very targeted questions to try to find out if the pain is localized in some section of her brain, or if her whole head hurts. She also redresses the stitches. After this [presuming no revelations that change things] Hannah will just come by and check in daily.

Solace has the symptoms of someone recovering from a migraine headache who whacked her head when she fell.

She tells Hannah about the first occasion, when Lucas said he had a surprise for her (and from the way Solace giggles, even if it is a weak giggle, Hannah can guess what she thought it would be). Then she thought she saw Lucas for a minute, and her head hurt, and her vision narrowed, and she collapsed.

Hannah talks this over with Gerard too, presuming he's heard it all already, but she has not a clue what to make of it. She's worried Solace is having a brain injury of some kind, and that perhaps the memory attached itself later. These migraines aren't normal - Hannah's seen very few people who had migraines come on as a sudden pain leading to quick unconsciousness. [On the other hand, she doesn't know what the heck an aneurysm is. They didn't start figuring those out until 1912.]

Gerard has heard of aneurysms, but he doesn't think that's what's happening. He mentions that Lucas suspected a magical attack at one point. He seems reasonably bewildered about the source of the problem. While he doesn't doubt Solace's reproductive delicacy, there's no record of her having had such incidents before, and he simply doesn't see why they would start now.

Great. Wait and see and hope. Hannah loves that.

Gerard doesn't like it either, but he doesn't have the diagnostic technology to do any better. His only other option is to get hold of Solange and possibly take Solace to her to have the medical facilities of whatever Shadow she's in look at the girl.

Second, she stops by the nursery on her way out to give Hope a little makeshift medical kit. There isn't much there - a bandage and a tiny bit of cream - but she'll teach Hope how to find a pulse, and how to look at someone's pupils to test their 'state of consciousness.' She orders Hope very firmly, "Please don't use your kit on your mama just yet. But when I come tomorrow, you can help me take care of your mama." And she'll do that.

Nanny Starch doesn't initially seem to think much of this, but she warms to Hannah's good intentions, especially when she speaks of returning to take care of Solace on the morrow.

Third, just popping her head in to check on Gerard. She's got it in her head to monitor his opium intake, and try to document what increases it or decreases it. That said, if he'll agree, she'll trust him to do that himself. She can understand if he doesn't want it down on paper. And also with Gerard, "What are all the available forms of pregnancy prevention here, and their effectiveness?"

Gerard agrees to monitor his opium intake and report it verbally.

On the matter of birth control, Gerard mentions pessaries and potions of various sorts, withdrawal (which he thinks little of), and french letters (which used to be more commonly available and are now difficult to import). Considerate men who can afford it often take a mistress when their wives are pregnant, too.

That's about what she expected.

He explains that among family, it's also possible to will oneself not to become pregnant, or to will one's partner not to be pregnant, and that the royal blood is relatively infertile anyway, there being only a score or so of cousins out of almost as many brothers and sisters in his generation with the youngest being 500 or so.

Now this is news that sends her off to think.

By Moonday, after the Anna thing has well and truly blown up, he suggests to Hannah that the Queen may need a medical visit, which he would like the two of them to make together.

Lastly, what free time Hannah isn't spending in the library she spends in the infirmary, trying to be helpful, learn how things work here, make her face known, and familiarize herself with the place so in an emergency she knows where everything is.

She has no trouble making friends with the staff and learning her way around the infirmary.

Oh, sorry, lastly lastly, going to visit Misae every day with a treat for any day she can't take her out of a ride.

After Freeday, the youth Garrett is no longer there taking care of her horse.

Well, as long as someone is. They know she's going to come check, so she's pretty confident it'll be alright.

The Horsemaster himself has taken over her care. This is a good thing, because they seem a bit short-handed.