Ponderosa checked on Nathaniel then Mȧthair when she woke the next morning. Mȧthair’s gaze look nowhere in particular as she lay with her back to the entrance of the hollow. Ponderosa hopped up to her and rubbed her head against Mȧthair’s cheek. The pressure brought Mȧthair back to the present and she sat up. Ponderosa then snuggled into her fur for a little more warmth as she gnawed on the Jet in Mȧthair’s chest. She wore her teeth on the stone longer than she had the night before.
‘How are you feeling, Ponderosa?’ Mȧthair asked.
‘Still very unsettled, Mȧthair,’ Ponderosa replied.
‘And?’
‘And wishing I had fought harder to stop from being… mated.’
‘You fought as well as you could considering the situation you found yourself in.’
Ponderosa dug and bit at the Jet with a bit more fervor. ‘But to still be pregnant after all these years?! I….’
Mȧthair lowered her head to hold her a little more securely. ‘Trauma holds everything in suspension until it can be resolved. You are in a safe place to resolve it now. You have a better understanding of your magic, as well as a control you did not have then.’
Ponderosa bit the skin above the Jet and thumped her back foot against Iredy’s chin.
‘I know your reality is hard for you right now, Ponderosa,’ Mȧthair said gently. ‘From what I know of the situation, and what I know about you, dealing with this then may have only caused deeper wounds.’
Ponderosa curled up into a ball and cried.
Mȧthair licked her head and nuzzled her. Then she spoke in an attempt to comfort her a little more.
‘Hamnet is on his way to us.’
Ponderosa pressed her ears against her head as she continued to weep.
‘You don’t need to tell him anything until you are ready to.’
‘Okay,’ she whispered.
Mȧthair grabbed the warm cloth from the stones and wrapped it around Ponderosa. Her crying softened with the added warmth before she rested. She only knew that Mȧthair had tended to Nathaniel when she felt her body shift to the side and another warm body lay beside her.
‘Turn NorthEast, Sir Hamnet,’ Mȧthair said after a time.
‘He’s on his way then?’ Ponderosa asked, resting her chin on Mȧthair’s leg.
‘Yes. He was able to grab the rest of the ground wheat and other supplies without catching anyone’s eye. He should be here in an hour or so.’
Ponderosa nodded.
‘You need not worry, Hamnet,’ Mȧthair said. ‘They will not be found. …Mȧthair, Hamnet. Your Princess is dead.”
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Mȧthair then nuzzled and licked Ponderosa to provide a little more comfort to her. She fell into a semi-restless sleep until she heard Mȧthair speak again.
‘…Keep coming. There is a hollow a few miles ahead of you. …You will see.’
Ponderosa nuzzled Mȧthair a little then hopped out from between her legs to move around the hollow for a bit. While she did her own thing, Mȧthair folded the cloth that had been wrapped around her and placed it back on the stones to warm up again, then she made sure that everything had been packed back into the bags. Ponderosa burrowed into the cloth resting on the warm stones to warm up a little more just as the sound of horse hooves shook the walls of the hollow.
“Prin…Mȧthair?” Hamnet whispered loudly. “Ponderosa?”
He climbed off the horse and crouched beside the hollow’s entrance.
‘We are here, Hamnet,’ Mȧthair replied.
He entered the hollow and saw the stones that Ponderosa and Nathaniel were laying on. “Are they...?”
Ponderosa shifted and looked up at him. ‘Just fine,’ she replied.
“I’m glad.” He stroked one of her ears then turned to Mȧthair. “How are you and the Young Prince doing, Prin… Mȧthair?”
‘We are both doing well, all things considered.’
He nodded. “We should get moving while we have daylight.”
Mȧthair nodded.
She then used her magic to adjust the slings that had held Ponderosa and Nathaniel so they were loose enough for Hamnet to be able to carry the two of them securely. Then she tucked the stones into one of the bags Hamnet had brought with him. Hamnet took the two bags she had been able to grab and tied them to the horse’s saddle. He carefully shouldered the slings holding Prince Nathaniel and Ponderosa before he climbed onto his horse. Mȧthair headed North, and Hamnet followed.
“Ghrot Town is North, Mȧthair,” Hamnet said when she started to turn Eastward.
‘We will not make it to Ghrot Town by nightfall and we need shelter.’
“As you command, …Mȧthair.”
Hamnet turned the horse to follow after her. The sky was starting to dim when an abandoned station house came into view. The stone walls still stood steady, but the roof didn’t look entirely intact. Still, it was more than they would have had being under the stars. He stopped just outside the door and dismounted. He asked Mȧthair to wait by the horse while he checked it out. He opened the door with caution, but nothing moved. Mȧthair yipped once Hamnet had stepped inside and the horse stepped forward. He entered the building, followed by Mȧthair.
Hamnet removed the bags and saddle from the horse while Mȧthair used her magic to lay out the small stones and warmed them for Ponderosa and Nathaniel. He lay the two of them on the stones once they were warm.
‘Thank you, Mȧthair,’ Ponderosa said.
‘You are welcome, Ponderosa. I will have dinner ready in a little while.’
‘Okay.’
Mȧthair opened the other bag for three glasses and filled them with snow.
“I’ll go gather some wood,” Hamnet said.
‘No need,’ Mȧthair said. ‘Just gather the loose stones. That will be enough.’
He frowned a little, but did as Mȧthair requested. He gathered the stones that were scattered about the station house—large stones that had come out of the wall where the roof was missing. Once they were gathered into the center of the room, the stones started to give off heat nearly as warm as a large fire.
“How…?”
‘I do not quite understand myself, but something… inside the rocks… is shifting… allowing them to give off heat like that.’
He nodded then pulled some dried goods out of one the pouches he had swiped while Mȧthair fed Ponderosa and took care of Nathaniel. She passed Hamnet a glass of melted snow then accepted a few pieces of jerky from him. Ponderosa rolled over to rest against Mȧthair’s side.
“...How is she holding up?” Ponderosa heard Hamnet ask, as she teetered on the edge of sleep.
‘Very well, all things considered,’ Mȧthair replied.
“Any idea now how long she will remain like that?”
‘A while yet, Hamnet. She will let you know more when she is ready to.’
He nodded.
‘Thank you for coming to aid us,’ she said.
“It is my duty,” Hamnet replied. “...And something I owe to Kelton.”