New Beginnings...

Part One...A Dream

The full moon, complete with a luminous aura surrounding it, had just risen in a sky of midnight blue. The entire sky overhead was randomly strewn with a myriad of bright stars. Up over the hill, at least three dozen ghostly white horses were emerging, then cascading as they thundered down the hill, leaving behind faint afterimages of themselves as they traveled. The Heralds of Valdemar were the riders, the famed and the elite, dressed in their distinctive white uniforms. As they moved on, they gave the impression of a power and an intelligence rarely matched in this realm. As the horses and their riders drew near, they slowed their pace. One white stallion, exhaling clouds of mist, and it's rider, emerged as the leader of this spectacular cavalry, forming a silhouette against the bright light of the rising moon. The horse and it's rider gradually came into close view. The horse stared straight ahead with slightly luminous blue eyes as the Herald dismounted, then paused. It was hard to tell if this Herald was male or female. The Herald walked slowly forward, looming large in the foreground, knelt down and stared straight ahead. Yet, whoever it was looked vaguely familiar...The Herald reached forward as if to grasp the hand of a fallen man. Then--

Aine awoke with a start and rubbed her eyes. She felt a little weak and dizzy. She did not recognize at all where she was. There was a faint smell as of herbs in the air. Nothing in the room looked familiar. That dream...she quickly recalled some of it before it faded away. The Herald had come up really close to her in her 'field of vision' and yet, in her dream, she could not quite see a face, or it wasn't one she recognized. The Herald in this dream was reaching out for someone, and at first she thought it might be her. She felt an odd compulsion, and a kind of thrilling sensation. Before she could be sure the Herald's reach was intended for her, she woke up, and found herself here.

She looked at her surroundings, trying to place where she was. There were pastel green walls, the small bed she was on, a nightstand, and what appeared to be a closet for clothing. She hadn't wanted to go back home, as she wasn't planning on doing so for some time; she could not face her parents. She had tried to figure out somewhere to stay, and was even considering going to the orphanage, for supper if nothing else. She remembered riding on Obsidian and it was getting dark as she rode east through the woods. After a while she had given up on the orphanage idea, figuring it was getting too late, not to mention the fact she didn't want to impose, to appear as if she was begging for food and lodging.

She also remembered thinking about her parents which caused her to feel more emotionally low. Along with the increasing weakness and thirst, which had been going on for at least eighteen candlemarks or so by then, she felt as if she could hardly go on anymore. She didn't remember very much after that...

She wondered again about that surreal dream. It was kind of spooky too...haunting. Did it mean something? It was quite vivid.

There was a knock on the oaken door which made Aine's heart skip a beat, startling her out of her revelry. "You may come in...whoever you are." She figured this was a friendly place at least. The door opened and in walked a woman, probably approaching middle age, wearing the green robes of the Healers. She was a brunette, with only a slight greying, and she seemed to have quite the cheery disposition.

"My name is Lorette Ealusaid, at your service." She bowed her head slightly, looking at her a little warily. "I am your Healer for the time being. It appears, perhaps, that you passed out somewhere in Tanglewood Forest, not far from here. You have been here at least one full day now. You mustn't have ate or drank at all when you were on your journey? You also show signs of great physical stress. What is your name?"

"Aine Myst," she wondered with a slight sense of alarm where her beloved Obsidian was. I seem to be in Haven, perhaps at the Hall of the Healers, she thought. She became more wide eyed as she realized where she was.

"The Guard also discovered what appeared to be your horse-"

"My horse? Obsidian!" Aine interrupted. Her attention was also sharply aroused at the mention of the word 'Guard' . She thought about the boys she had given the business to. Hopefully they didn't know about that...

"Well yes, perhaps it is," Lorette offered, "it is a coal black stallion, very well behaved..."

Aine sat up quite quickly in the bed. "That's it! That's him, oh thank the Gods of Valdemar he's safe! I want to go out and see him!" Aine felt a love like no other for her horse. She rarely felt for humans this way; she couldn't seem to let herself yield for people as she found it difficult to connect with them in a truly loving way. Aine had often wondered why it was so much easier to love and care for animals. It's because they love you unconditionally, without question, and they don't play quirky emotional games with you. They keep it simple... Aine had thought on more than one occasion.

"You my dear, need rest and some food and water. The horse is being well taken care of at the stables. The stablehands there are very apt and professional. No need to worry. So lay yourself down please." Lorette placed some aromatic herbs in a small dish and set them aflame; they burned slowly, giving off a pleasant, relaxing odor. "I also want you to drink this remedial potion which shall help restore your vitality. Then we will bring you in some food. It is around dinnertime now."

"I am in Haven, aren't I? And I'm on the Collegium and Palace grounds, am I not?" Aine asked excitedly.

"Yes to both questions, but first you must relax and have a meal so you can become well," the Healer said smiling. "Then one of the Herald Guards wishes to speak to you; you must either be important, in trouble or...something," she said with a casual air, laughing a little. "I will see you later in the day to see how you are doing." With that she turned away and left leaving Aine to her thoughts.

Aine felt a heavy weight descend upon her and a little anxiety as well. She pulled the bedcovers up over her head. She thought about how her mother had always warned her about sleeping completely under the covers. "You could suffocate," she had said this a few times. So far, it hadn't happened. A Herald Guard wanted to talk to her. It either had to be about those boys she had taught a lesson to or perhaps her Mom and Dad sent out an alert, wondering and worrying about where she was. Knowing Father though, he probably wouldn't go quite that far. He would figure it was about time she ventured out on her own. Then she would discover the error of her ways and come back home to work in the family business.

I have this feeling I may never go back home. Somehow though, we need to 'clear' the air between us...she thought.