Night Watch I: Eliza, Ward of Andrew

*Eliza’s POV*

As we walked down the path, things began to look awfully familiar. “Andy, I’d swear you were taking me to the Walls-“

Andy grinned at me. “That’s because I am. Well, sort of. An area of it.”

I stifled real disappointment. “How invigorating! You bring me to the Watch on our Night off. That’s your idea of a fantastic surprise? Somehow, that’s not actually terribly shocking-“

Andy shot me a challenging look. “There’s more there that you haven’t seen, Eliza. Just wait.” Andy just strutted along, confident and cocky as you please. Despite my irritation, his attitude made me want to undress him, run my hands all over his firm, wiry body. In a way, Andy was such a fucking spitfire, so naturally defiant. I eyed his strong, wide shoulders, his long legs... Gods, he was so lean and taut, just look- “Are you coming?”

I snickered. “Not yet! I’d love some help, if you’re willing-“

Andy grinned and rolled his eyes. “-Later, absolutely. But first, I’m going to get your quota filled for the evening.”

Eh? “Quota for what?”

Andy looked terribly pleased with himself. “You just seem to really love animals-“

Animals? “Oooh! What animals? Tell me!” I was chock full of excitement, and tugged at Andy’s hand, full of anticipation and now freshly eager.

Andy just shook his head. Despite my protests, he wouldn’t cave! After a while, I found we were skirting the main stations of the Watch. Andy leaned towards me. “Don’t worry, all the Watchmen will know we are off-duty because we aren’t armed.”

How cute, Andy thought the Watch at Merry Willows was so backwater, we had been devoid of all rules and regulations. “Yes, I figured as much-“

“-Uh, not that, I mean… I just don’t know what is different between-“ Andy stuttered awkwardly, visibly reddening in the moonlight.

“-Don’t worry about it.” I spoke softly. “You can make it up to me later with sexual bravado.” I tittered.

“Bravado, eh?” Andy shook his head while we walked between groups of Watchmen.“ I’ll have to think up something impressive, then, I suppose.”

We walked along a curved path, around a line of trees, and a grouping of several stables came into view! A very short distance later, and the smell met my nostrils. Not at all unpleasant, it reminded me of the few times I had ridden on horseback. I loved horses. “Horses!”

Andy nodded, grinning. “The Watches have a collective Cavalry, which includes horses.”

“What else?” I could hardly wait!

Andy was milking this for all it was worth. “Well, a few draft donkeys and mules, mostly for labor-“

Wow! I loved donkeys! “-They’re so cute, Andy! Let’s go! I want to see their adorable, little faces, and their long ears!”

“-But most of the Cavalry is comprised of unicorns-“ I cut Andy off with an uncharacteristic, girlish squeal, attracting a couple amused glances. “-there are also a few other things…”

I tugged on Andy’s arm, impatient, as we approached the nearest stable. “Like what?”

Andy stopped walking for a bit, looking pleased with himself, and just raised an eyebrow at me. I couldn’t take the excitement! I lifted Andy in the air and held him over my head. “Like what? Like what? Tell me! Tell me, Andy!”

Andy wasn’t fazed, he just smirked down at me, lifting that ridiculously perfect eyebrow even higher. Pouting, I set him down gently. “Please?” I fussed with the fine, long fingers on his left hand, feeling stupid for having behaved like a child. I had just been excited, that was all. Andy would surely leave me if I kept acting like a toddler, when he needed a woman. A real Fae woman.

Andy’s low voice broke through my dark thoughts, and I felt him catch up some of my stubby fingers with his graceful ones .“Like koq-nindji, for one.”

Huh? “Cock-what?”

Andy’s eyes widened, glittering under the light of the Night sky. “Mountain tigers.”

“Wow! I thought they were a myth-“ Andy shook his head.

“-Not at all. Before we go in, there’s something you should know. Since we’re off duty, we’ll need an Officer’s permission to touch any of the animals.” Andy made an impish face. “I definitely give myself permission, but you, missy-“

I wrinkled my nose. “-Missy? Is that going to stick, because-“

Andy grinned crookedly. “-As your warden, I have to keep my eye on you, keep you out of trouble and whatnot. But seriously, for example, not all of the unicorns are broken, um, well, to the touch of, uh, carnally experienced persons, yet, if you see what I mean. So just don’t handle any of the animals without asking, ok?”

I nodded and followed after Andy, trying not to bubble over with excitement and holding my hands tightly together so I wouldn’t touch anything. We walked through a large, open, sliding door. Stalls full of fairly tall, black horses surrounded us.

Andy gestured at a few of them. “The Watches of the Wild Ones have always traditionally had Friesians in their Cavalry, for many, many millennia. The First Officers always ride a Friesian into battle, unless there is no time to mount.” Andy looked around him, a little sad. “The First Officers also draw heavy attacks from enemies. Their horses generally do not last very long. Some of us question the custom, think it’s barbaric, when other steeds might last longer.”

Unsure what I thought, I said nothing. Andy gestured around us. “All of these horses are for the First Officers only, with rare exception.” My eyes bugged out. I tried to roughly count, but Andy interrupted me. “There is a second stable for pregnant mares and juveniles. There are about two hundred and thirty horses.”

I realized then why Andy was so sad. Two hundred horses, kept ready and waiting to ride into battle to die as mounts for the four First Officers of the Watch? I frowned.

We walked a little longer, and I realized the horses around us had markedly changed. There were about ten that were covered with scars, aged, and one was even missing an eye. Andy smiled. “These guys made it to retirement.” I watched as he pointed them out one by one. “Dalton, LaFell, Maualuga, Kirkpatrick, Cousins, Garçon, Moses, and Reed.”

Andy walked up to one of them that still stood proud. “Dalton is my favorite of the retirees. He has some hoof problems that plague him. And he still has a slight limp from the slab fracture that ended his working days, during his last ride. But Alice was able to help him out a bit. He’s comfortable enough, so long as he’s not ridden.”

Dalton looked down at me, curious. I noticed he had small flecks of orangish-red in his coat that made him appear a warmer shade of black than the rest of his brethren. I watched Andy scratch his dusty shoulder. “He’s handsome.”

My eye wandered to the fellow across the way, Cousins, that was missing an eye. When he turned, I realized, to my horror, that he was actually missing both eyes! “Andy! Cousins has no eyes! Poor fucker! He’s my favorite, can I pet him?”

Andy chuckled and walked with me over to Cousins. “Sure, just talk to him, so he’ll know you’re coming. He gets along just fine, you know. He doesn’t run nearly so fast as he used to, but you’ll still see him getting up to mischief.”

“Hello, Cousins. My name is Eliza. I’m, eh, sorry you have no eyes.” Hesitantly, I rubbed at the big, dark horse’s shoulder. I was surprised when he didn’t jump as I touched him. Instead, he just turned his head towards me a bit, much as a sighted horse would. “You like that?! Do you like throat scratches, you big, handsome galoot?!” It was a little eerie to see the shadows of his empty sockets as he moved his head so I could get to his throatlatch better.

I turned to Andy as I patted Cousins on his chest. “What happened?”

“Moon blindness.” I raised an eyebrow at Andy; I didn’t know much about equine illness. “Some kind of eye disease of the horse. It’s painful, and it can’t really be treated, I guess. Eventually a horse will go blind, and it bothers them something fierce. So when Cousins started to become obviously pained, the Healers took his eyes. It’s a shame, you should have seen him run.”

I turned back to Cousins. “Don’t you listen to Andrew, Cousins! How fast you run, and whether or not you can see are not the only things that matter! You’re my favorite horse, Cousins! I’ll see you later, you big, handsome man!” I gave him one more pat for good measure.

Andy grinned at me. “You like our golden aged horses?”

I positively beamed back at him. “I love them, they’re beautiful!”

Andy tilted his head to the side, still grinning. “Indeed.”

Notes

You like that?!

#HTTR

#WhoDey

#LetsRoar

who else is going to be going nuts over the game in the UK? (if you have no idea what i'm talking about, don't worry about it...)