#bergen_county

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Connor looks for his Knight.

Dagmar is grooming Star, looking pensive.

"Dagmar?" He climbs up on the paddock fence, giving himself a bit more height to see his knight without craning his neck.

"Hey Short Stack." brush brush brood.

He sits on the top railing, legs dangling. "What does it mean when Vali talks to himself?" He asks.

"Vali? Probably a vision."

Kick kick, kick kick. "Is that important?"

"Yeah, usually. Beaumayn SEE stuff, portents of the uture..."

Pause. "What did he say?"

"He said.... to talk to you? Which is funny, because I talk to you all the time."

"Like, right now!" He fidgets, a rolled up piece of construction paper in his hands.

"Yeah..." A frown.

"Kiddo, you know I took an oath to you, right?"

"Me too! We both did."

"I swore to "hold you, to guard you, and to keep you"

"So - my job, in part, is keeping you safe."

"And mine was about.. tides, and the moon. But that doesn't make sense, so mine is the same for you." He nods.

"Yeah. So - I..." Frown.

"There's trouble happening at Silverwolf."

"Yup." He agrees. "Vali drew it. I drew it too."

"You... can I see?"

He offers the drawing to Dagmar! "I used crayons, not salt though. It's easier to clean up."

"I added the colors. Vali smoodged up the spooky bits away when he added the sun on his, but crayon doesn't erase good, so I just drew on top."

The drawing... something not unlike...

Dagmar frowns at it.

"I really prefer stuff I can hit."

"You don't like it? I can try marker next time, 'cept Hearth Kerri took my markers away when I drew on the 'fridgerator."

"It's not that."

"It... I am worried that the trouble at Silverwolf might hurt you."

He blinks, and looks at her, his gaze filled with trust. "Nothing can hurt me. I have Dagmar to keep me, an' hold me, an' guard me."

"Right. I have a duty."

"Right." He nods. "Do we have to go to Silverwolf? Vali said I should go. But then he said to talk to you. But he also spilled salt EVERYWHERE. So maybe he's not right. Maybe he's just messy."

She frowns.

Then he tilts his head, ears flopping. "How did YOU know? Did Vali spill the pepper for you?"

"I don't get magic. Not the way others do. I don't do omens or any of that."

"There's... bad stuff happening, magic gone bad, lots of danger. Maybe you might undo some of it, but nobody seems to know how. Or that you would not be hurt in the process."

Huff. "And Nadeen is being a noble idiot."

"Omens can't fill my belly." He agrees, in his own way.

"Nadeen?" He FROWNS. "Is she okay? I miss her."

"I miss her, too."

"If there's danger, she should come back. Then we can both protect her."

"She won't."

"She wants to die, for some angry chimera-ghost-thing."

"She's so stupid."

Connor looks shocked, and his chin wobbles. "No. NO! I won't LET HER."

"She needs to be talked into sense."

He slides off the fence rail, and straightens up tall. Well, as tall as he is able. "Then that's what we'll do. We'll go there and bring her back home. Where things make sense."

She bites on her lip.

"You have to listen to me, Connor. If I tell you to hide, you have to hide. If I tell you to get behind me, or to run away, if I give you an order to keep you safe... you have to listen, right?"

"You have an oath for her, too."