The Pivert castle had become a fortress.
Before protected by mere wall and moat, it now saw sisters circling it with incense that swirled at their passage. Guards escorted them and Joan could not tell if their spears had been blessed, but they wore helmets and gambesons.
Once those were past she approached the moat, only to feel weaker the closer she got. Still the dog plunged and swam across, only to shake on the other side.
In this state climbing the wall proved impossible.
Even she had to return quickly, lest no strength would be left to swim across. She made it just in time before the next procession. The incense dispersed quickly in the air but the barrier remained equal, strengthened each time they circled the wall.
It took time for her to tell they had lit candles on the towers as well.
Closer to the gate the village had not changed. People had come back from the fair, roads still heavy with carts departing for other domains while the villagers picked up food and chores alike. Joy had died down, back to the slow routine of labor.
Still, a few still sang and many talked of the day, still drunk.
Hidden in the grass she saw a horseman yell for all to give way. His lordship was back, he announced, and made sure the path was clear for him and his troop.
They arrived soon after, a dozen of them dragging oxes, cows and horses along. The horsemen themselves looked tired, worn down by days of cavalcade in their chainmail.
Joan watched them cross the drawbridge into the castle where lord Mercier unmounted, met by the twins at the stables.
All she could do was hear the rumors from outside.
"They have nothing!" The lord exclaimed. "Nothing! We could pillage to our heart's content!"
One twin answered but he talked too low for his words to be audible. Probably some greeting, given the father's reaction.
"Abelard! A feast! This calls for celebrations! Corentin! Handle the spoil!"
He took a pause, just long enough to get an answer before his tone soured. The lord's booming voice rose once more.
"What are all those priests doing around?! It reeks! Three days and my castle is a covent!"
"They believe we have been cursed." On twin answered.
"Cursed with luck! To the keep now! I can't stand this pestilence!"
This was all she would catch. With the sun's decline they closed the gate. The drawbridge remained down, both so guards outside could still return, so priests inside could leave and because it was too much effort without a threat.
At the gate was also where the barrier was the thickest.
She stayed there a bit longer, hidden from all, until the village's bell announced the night. By then the sun had fully set, the last lights died but for torches on the wall. Darkness engulfed the land while stars by the thousands filled the sky.
Nothing more would happen, so Joan ran back upstream and toward the woods.
She had a full night ahead of her.
Yet before she could get even close to the woods' edge she stopped. There, hidden behind the first trees, hid two beastly eyes fixed on her.
She froze in fear. This was a wolf, of that no doubt, and some three meters away it was just a few leaps from her, able to strike in seconds. It might as well have had its maw on her neck.
Her legs trembled as she stepped back.
The creature would not move. It mocked her from afar, dared her to approach. So the woods were forbidden, she thought.
It would make sense for her pack to ban her, to consider she had demeaned herself enough by joining humans and to just left her rot with them. But to enforce it, for any wolf to bother doing that was baffling her.
Why would one be there if not to hunt?
Still, she knew herself too weak to defy a wolf. Joan turned around and fled, crossed the stream and pushed forth across the fields.
There was more than one place for her to go; the realm was vast. Some cattle awoke at the farms from her passage, but around her a silent night carried her steps.
More woods lined up ahead, on the other side of the road to Cormoran.
She approached and froze once more.
The same wolf had preceded her there. Shadow walk! She knew the creature able to move far faster than she ever could, but for it to bother again was unbelievable.
And once more it dared her to approach. To join it in the woods. That made her recognize those eyes burning in the darkness.
Carmine.
"Piss off!" She barked, but her whole body was still shivering. "I'm not going back!"
The wolf answered nothing. Eyes still on her, as with a prey. She was only squirming against an invisible hold.
With that she realized no forest would be open to her anymore. That left her with only one place to look.
She ran downstream, along the bank until not even the castle was visible. She kept running while the fields faltered into meadows and groves. And still she could feel those eyes on her.
Before her appeared the pond.
Ponds were sacred places to humans and wolves alike. Humans would not build nor fish there, but only approach briefly for prayers. Wolves were more daring but would not fight in such a place.
But ponds were just water. They held no magic nor spell. It was truly but faith that made all souls venerate them.
She reached its shore, hardly hesitated but for a moment to look around before plunging and swimming in its depth.
As a dog she needed air. How long she could hold, a minute or two maybe, soon enough her body ordered to return to the surface. She broke through, breathed in then plunged again.
She was looking for gems.
The land carried rocks and ore to its surface; water amplified this, such that ore abunded in its depth. That included gemstones born from burning earth deep within. Humans had to wait for the current to carry it downstream; she was not so patient.
Again she plunged, but so far she had found nothing.
Rather she was too proud to stop at just gold and silver.
Around her fishes watched that dog peddle in cold water. The floor was filled with algae in which a flurry of small fry hid, disturbed when she reached them.
It was exhausting, but in her mind it was nothing, not even an inconvenience in her quest for love. Compared to all the humans had made her go through, she almost enjoyed the chore. If finding love was as easy as fetching gemstones, the realm would be a lovely place.
She came back on the shore for just a minute to catch her breath. Still nothing but she knew she was getting closer.
As she lay there, panting, she realized the eyes that had followed her this whole time were gone.