Chapter Four
Neith
"H oly shit, the whole herd is here," I mutter in astonishment.
River bounces on the balls of his feet before throwing his hands up in the air dramatically, "That's what I was trying to tell you!"
His antics make my smile widen, and I ask, "How are they here?"
"I have no idea, but we can ask Sully about it when we get back," Doc suggests as he smiles at the surrounding kelpies.
Ransom looks at me questioningly, "Did you focus on your intent? Do you remember exactly what you were thinking?"
I frown slightly as I try to remember the intent that I put behind it, my eyes widen slightly with realization, "Now that you mention it, I think I was focusing on the kelpies as a whole and not specifically Mael."
Ransom nods, "So that could be the reason why they all came."
"Maybe, but surely Sully would have warned us if that was possible?" Raiden asks.
"Good point. I can't even remember if I told him that Mael was the leader though, so he may not have mentioned it because he didn't realize that it was something he needed to mention. Maybe the fact that Mael is the leader is why they all turned up?" I suggest.
"We'll ask him. That's the best way to get the answer," Reed says, and I nod in agreement.
"Our bonded are missing," Griff mutters, interrupting the conversation. He looks away from the guys and back to the herd, "Can you guys see any of yours?"
River shakes his head, "Reath isn't here."
"Mavros isn't either," Raiden says, frowning.
I continue to stroke Mael as I say, "Maybe it's because they're bonded to you, so only you can call them. Maybe I can call the whole herd because Mael is their leader?"
"Maybe," Raiden starts.
Mael stomps his front hoof and shakes his head.
My eyebrows raise, "I guess he doesn't agree with something that I said, but I'm not sure which thing." I look at Mael, "Am I wrong about being able to call the whole herd because you are the leader?"
Mael nods.
"Well, that's that then. I'll just ask Sully and see if he knows," I say with a shrug. "At least that means that you guys should be able to call your kelpies."
"I'll try first!" River announces and then immediately starts whistling.
The tune is entirely different from the one that I used to call Mael, or I suppose I accidentally called the whole herd, not just him. I wonder if the call that I use specifically for him is different again? I don't want to call the herd every time that I want to call Mael.
Sure enough, the kelpie bonded to River quickly appears, and they both seem to be as excited as each other that they are together. River immediately swings himself up onto Reath's back, and then they start galloping through the long grass that extends around the property.
I laugh, "I love that his kelpie is so similar to him."
"Me too," Raiden grins, "my turn."
One by one, they all call the kelpies that are bonded to them until they're all here.
I grin at how happy they all look, and their kelpies seem to match their personalities just like River's does. He's still not back, and I can see him in the distance encouraging his kelpie to jump over some of the crumbling garden walls. I'm not sure we're going to be able to convince him to come back and leave his kelpie.
"This is awesome," Griff says, one of his rare full smiles gracing his face.
It occurs to me that I don't know all of their bonded kelpies' names, "What's everyone’s bonded kelpies called? With everything that happened with the breach, we didn't get around to talking about that."
"Venor," Griff replies immediately, patting the neck of one that looks like it will eventually be closer in color to grass green with a darker mane and tail once it is no longer dulled.
“Mavros,” Raiden replies.
His kelpie is a lot darker than the others; in fact, it's black, but whereas it did look dulled and muted just like the others, its coat is starting to look a lot more vibrant, the black looking like the night sky, and as I study him closer I realize that he has tiny flecks of silver covering him as well. I honestly can't wait to see what he looks like when he is no longer dulled.
"Mines called, Kaelar," Evander says.
His one is dark midnight blue, with patches of royal blue on his chest and face. At least, I think he is. It's really difficult to tell what their true colors are going to be while they're still so muted.
Doc pats the neck of the caramel and dark green kelpie, standing next to him calmly, "This is Jago."
"Adikia," Ransom smiles.
The kelpie that is currently nuzzling his shoulder is going to be a very light blue, almost white or maybe even silver. I can't quite tell yet, but it is definitely going to be a light color.
Reed reintroduces his purply blue one, that has a lighter colored mane and tail, "Thoreah."
"Nice to meet you," I say to them. Glancing out to where River is still galloping. Originally when I first saw River’s kelpie he looked to be a murky kind of green, but now that his colors are beginning to brighten up, it’s clear that he actually has a dark teal body and burnt orange mane. I add with an amused smile, "Obviously, I know Reath."
We all enjoy watching the kelpies as the rest of the herd start to chase Reath and River, and they all look like they are having the best time.
"Is it me, or do the rest of the herd look like they are also changing color?" Reed asks after a moment.
I look closer at the herd and then nod, "Yeah, actually it does. That's weird and something else that Sully didn't mention."
"We'll add it to the list of things that we need to ask him about the kelpies," Doc grins.
"I hate to say it, but we should really head to Naimh's place so that we can get home," Evander says.
I sigh, "Yeah, we really should."
Evander calls River to come back, and while he's on the way, the rest of the kelpies follow behind him, Raiden looks back at Griff.
"Did you see anything about sending them back in your research?" he asks curiously.
"Actually, yeah," Griff replies, "we've just got to thank them and tell them that we no longer need their assistance, and they will go back home."
"That's pretty fucking cool," Doc replies as he turns to his kelpie.
I do the same, pulling a face because he's only just got here, "Well, I guess you should go back. We're heading home now anyway, so we will see you there," I say to Mael, he snorts softly and then rests his giant head against mine and I stroke the side of his face.
"Neith, you should probably focus on sending all of them, not just Mael," Ransom reminds me.
I nod, "Good point. I'll wait until they're all back from chasing River around."
Within moments, River arrives with the rest of the herd.
He frowns, "We've got to go, haven't we?"
Evander nods, "Yeah, but don't forget that they live at our house, and that's where we're going, so we can see them again soon."
River's expression clears, "Oh yeah, I forgot that for a moment. How do we send them back?"
Griff explains what we have to do, and River nods before he stands up on Reath's back and does a front flip off of it just because he can.
The guys all turn to the kelpies and begin to thank them, sending them home.
Stroking Mael's nose, I mutter quietly, "I really hope that I get this right and manage to send you all home." He nudges me gently, and I get the feeling that he has a lot more confidence in me than I do. "Thanks, Buddy. Alright, here goes." I call on that place of magic and then raise my voice so I can ensure that the entire herd hears me, just in case they need to hear the words to be released or something. "Thank you for coming when I called. I won't ever take this amazing gift for granted. You may go home."
To my utter amazement, they all disappear, and the guys and I are once again left alone in the vast grounds of House.
"That was so fucking cool," Raiden grins.
"It was," Doc agrees, looking just as excited as River. "And now we know that it doesn't matter if we're in a different country they will come."
"Yeah, I am glad that we confirmed that while we had the chance," Griff agrees.
"Alright, let's get back in the van and head to Naimh's place finally," Evander says.
"You guys go ahead. I just need to head back inside and say goodbye again. Ethel made me promise," I say with a smile.
"No problem," Van says with a smile.
I quickly make my way across the now trampled grass and jog up the steps. The door opens for me as I approach, and I smile.
"Thank you, House," I say as I walk through and then head back to the kitchen. As soon as I walk, I say happily, "It worked, Ethel! Well, it kind of worked. I ended up calling all of the kelpies instead of just Mael, but it was so cool."
Ethel's voice is full of warmth as she says, "Ah, you focused on the kelpies as a whole when you called them, didn't you?"
I balk slightly, her knowledge throwing me off, but I really shouldn't be surprised, so instead, I nod, "Yeah. But I didn't realize that it was possible to do otherwise. I would have been more careful with my intent."
She chuckles, "It's a common mistake to make, not all supernaturals are capable of calling the herd Dear. I might even venture that it has become a forgotten gift."
"What do you mean?" I ask curiously.
"Oh, don't mind me, the ramblings of an old skull," she replies. Changing the subject, she asks, "Are you off then?"
I sigh. I know from previous experience that if I push her and start asking her more questions that, she will just end up going on some far-fetched rant that makes absolutely no sense and will completely distract me from what I was wanting to know in the first place. It's usually not until hours later that I remember that I was asking her something.
"Yeah, we're off. You know, one of these days, you're going to tell me how you came to be here and how you know the things that you do," I say, somewhat optimistically.
She hums in a non-comital kind of way, "Bye, Dear. I hope that you come back sooner than last time. I think House is planning to get the last rooms done for your men."
"They aren't mine, Ethel," I remind her.
"Uh-huh," she replies, and then repeats, "bye Dear."
I smile, "Bye, Ethel. Bye, House, see you soon!"
The doors open and close, and the lights flicker while music starts playing from somewhere, and I grin.
I love this crazy house.
Heading out of the door for the third time today, I pat the side of House before I go, silently promising that one day I will live here more than I will be away. I don't know if that's possible with working for SID and everything else that I have got going on in my life, but I hope that one day, maybe when I'm retired if I ever live that long, I hope that then I will be able to live here.
"Take two," I say with a smile as I climb back into the van and turn it around, heading back down the driveway.
"Let's hope we don't get distracted again, or we may never get home," Doc chuckles.
River grins, "To be honest, it makes a nice change from me getting distracted and ending up going off on random side quests. At least we all did it together this time."
"Usually, we all just end up chasing you, so you don't get in trouble," Reed points out with a smile.
River shrugs, "Well, yeah, that too."
After a moment of silence, Doc's words are still echoing through my mind, making my thoughts spin and prompting me to ask, "What would happen if we didn't go back for the Choosing?"
"Huh?" Van asks, looking confused.
I try to clarify my thoughts so that I can explain it better to them, "Obviously, I want to go to the Choosing now because I want to save Coen, and this is the best opportunity that I'm going to get to get close to the Draconian Team, but if it wasn't for that, what would happen if we just stayed here, and didn't go back?"
The guys are silent for a moment as they think over my words.
"I suppose we could find a different way to help Coen," Griff muses.
"What about the dragons? Could Draith help?" Reed asks, looking at me.
I shake my head, "He is really tied up with politics and their own laws. He wouldn't be able to do anything without solid proof, which we don't have. We only have the change in personality and circumstantial stuff, and that's not enough."
"Even though Draith knows Coen as well and will be able to tell the difference too?" Ransom asks.
"I was thinking about that. Coen told everyone that it was what he wanted and, even when questioned separately, said that he was happy with the Draconian Team, right?" I ask, and they nod, "Well then, however they made him do that, they probably did the same for whenever he spoke to Draith, made him behave normally or something, so Draith won't realize that there's anything wrong either," I explain my theory.
"I think you're probably right. It's the only thing that makes sense. Especially now that we know that Draith and Coen were friends, he would have noticed otherwise," Reed agrees.
"Exactly," I reply.
"Wait, we've forgotten about the original question and skipped straight to how we could help Coen if Neith didn't have to do the Choosing," River reminds us.
"Shit, you're right," Evander replies, running a hand through his hair.
"Do any of you know what would happen if we stayed here and just didn't go?" I ask when everyone stays silent.
Evander shakes his head, "I have absolutely no idea."
"Call Ty and find out," Doc suggests.
Ransom nods, "He's right, there's no harm in asking."
"I would have thought that he would have told us if it was possible since no one wants Neith to go through it," Raiden adds.
Van starts to go through the bag by his feet, and I'm assuming it's because he's trying to find his phone to call Ty.
Reed nods, "Unless it is one of those things that he can't tell us about, but if we ask, then he can answer the questions?"
"It's a possibility," Raiden replies, a frown on his face.
The sound of ringing fills the van.
"Evander, is everything okay?" Ty asks.
"Yeah, everything is fine. We're just getting ready to head back now. We had a question about the Choosing though," Van says.
"Oh, it couldn't wait until you got here?" Ty asks, sounding curious.
"Not really," Reed says.
"Okay. I'm intrigued, what's the question?"
"What would happen if we just didn't come back and didn't go to the Choosing?" Van asks.
Ty is silent for so long that I'm worried he's hung up on us.
Eventually, he sighs, and I get a sinking feeling, "I can see where you were going with that thought process, but unfortunately, it's not possible. For a start, you would no longer be able to work for SID because of a conflict of interest, since you couldn't stay a team because someone had challenged you."
Van shares a look with the others, and they all nod, "Done, consider us resigned."
The car swerves, and I exclaim, "Wait, what! No!"
"Nothing is more important than keeping you safe, Neith," Evander says firmly, and as my eyes run over the others, I realize that there is absolutely no doubt on any of their faces. They really would stop working at a place that they love for me.
For once in my life, I'm speechless.
Ty's voice is full of warmth, "I am incredibly happy to hear that you care about Neith that much. However, it's not that simple. That was just a hypothetical thing that you would have to do if you could get out of it."