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Louisa stopped in the middle of the Valedale stableyard to wipe sweat from her brow. This was the fifth stable that she’d visited today, and exhaustion was starting to set in. But she still had a lot of work to do, and manual labour was better than thinking about… it. She shook her head slightly to clear the thoughts, then picked up the wheelbarrow again and walked it over into the stable.
“Be careful with the hay that you use this time, the last lot had some thistles in it,” said the North Swedish mare who stood in the stall nearest the entrance. Louisa rolled her eyes as she set the wheelbarrow down.
“Ugh, you sound like an elder,” said Louisa, reaching in to put a bridle on the old mare before she clipped a lead rope to it and led her out of the box stall and into the stableyard. The mare snorted.
“I am not one of those fighting cats that young folk these days read about,” said the mare.
“Yeah, well, it’s a pity I can’t talk to cats, isn’t it?” said Louisa, and grabbed a handful of hay before she could sink too deep into loneliness. A thorn pierced her bare hand, making her yelp, but at least this pain was better than the emotional pain. Hissing, she picked the thorn out and tossed it a safe distance away.
“I told you there were thorns,” said the mare. Louisa ignored her.
Rebecca recognised the dun pinto Jorvik Warmblood standing outside the stables, his ears pricked as he listened to his rider work.
“Oh, hey, Goldie. Is your rider around?” asked Rebecca. The horse was unable to speak to her, so he simply tossed his head in the direction of the stable. Rebecca smiled and walked inside, where she found her friend hard at work cleaning out a box stall. “Well, you look busy.” Louisa turned at the sound of her voice and grinned at her friend.
“Oh, hey, Rebecca,” said Louisa. “What brings you here?”
“Oh, I was just in the area, you know,” said Rebecca, shrugging. “Getting some more allergy stuff.”
“Yeah, I guess destiny doesn’t care if you’ve got allergies,” said Louisa, putting down the shovel that she’d been using to clean up the box.
“Don’t I know it,” said Rebecca. “Anyway, you look hard at work. Harder than usual, I mean.” She raised an eyebrow. Louisa sighed, looking down at her shoes.
“I guess it is noticeable, huh?” said Louisa, looking back up at Rebecca. Rebecca nodded.
“I haven’t seen you so alone since Lisa disappeared for a year,” said Rebecca. Louisa’s lower lip trembled, but she managed to stop it. “Do you wanna talk about it? Or not, not talking is fine too.”
“Hey, you told me about the whole torture thing, me telling you about a massive friendship blowup is nothing in comparison,” said Louisa, rubbing the back of her neck.
“Ah,” said Rebecca. “Yeah, friendships are… painful when they end.” Louisa blinked away tears, and Rebecca guided her over to the ever-present haybale inside the stable to sit. “Go on, tell me all about it. Unless it’s too painful-“
“When you hang out with people, you naturally assume that they know you’re gay and that they’re fine with your sexuality, right? I mean surely, they’d say something. But I overheard something and… I’m not even religious, but when someone’s beliefs state that you should burn in eternal damnation just for being well, you, it hurts. A lot.” Rebecca rubbed her back as Louisa rubbed her face, smearing the tears into her skin.
“I know,” said Rebecca. “Is that why, then?”
“But they all took her side!” said Louisa, and Rebecca tried not to be too surprised by the outburst coming from the usually-quiet girl. “I knew they would, I don’t belong there, not one single person reached out to me.” She trembled, sucking in a hitching breath. “Eventually some did, but I thought they were all my friends. And even the ones who I thought would understand, they abandoned me too.”
“So there was a fight,” Rebecca summed up. “And you left. Maybe they’re just giving you some space?”
“I don’t need space, though,” said Louisa. “I need comfort.”
“I know,” said Rebecca, patting her back. “I know.” And she hugged Louisa, wrapping her arms around her trembling friend tightly. Louisa sobbed into her arms, not caring about what other people might be thinking, clutching the back of Rebecca’s shirt. All of the pent-up pain and anger came out, and Louisa didn’t need to tell Rebecca about the rest of it, because Rebecca knew. She knew about the vote, about the ads, about all of it, and how it had done more to crush her friend’s spirit than anything else. She knew how important Louisa’s sexuality was to her, about the horse shopping spree that she’d gone on just to feel a brief moment of happiness. Heck, she’d been the first one that Louisa had texted with the news about the yes vote, even if her returning text had just been to tell Louisa to go to sleep now.
And at last, the tears stopped, and Louisa calmed down enough to wipe the tears from her face.
“Sorry,” said Louisa, looking at the sorry state of Rebecca’s long-sleeved top.
“It’s okay, it’s good to vent. Healthy,” said Rebecca. “Do you feel better now?”
“Yeah,” said Louisa, sniffling, and nodded. Rebecca handed her a handkerchief, which she still carried on her despite no longer being affected by allergies. “Thanks.”
“Well, I needed to wash this anyway,” said Rebecca. “And I have another shirt to put on.”
“Distracting myself with work is good, but I just feel so lonely,” said Louisa. “But the Soul Riders are busy, and I don’t know who else I could hang out with. Maybe I need to hang out with people my own age.”
“Well, I was planning on inviting you here anyway,” said Rebecca. “How would you like to join a rebel cult?”
“A what?” asked Louisa, staring blankly at her.
“It’s a secret little club with a grand total of two members,” said Rebecca. “Three if you join. And the horses.”
“Really?” asked Louisa, blinking in confusion. Hope warmed her chest. “You really want me to join?”
“Well, yeah,” said Rebecca. “Your trust the, uh… organisation about as far as you can throw them, right?” She glanced towards Elizabeth’s cottage, and Louisa understood.
“Well, after the way they handled the princess, yeah,” said Louisa. Rebecca grinned.
“Then you’ll be just the right fit for us,” said Rebecca. “Join me, Louisa, and together, we shall be the rebel organisation.”
“Who’s the third person?” asked Louisa.
“Anna Bravewood,” said Rebecca as she walked out of the stable towards Midnightwarrior, who was grazing beside Goldmist at the edge of the Hollow Woods. “You remember her, right? From the Connie mission.”
“Oh! Yeah, I remember her, she was here when we went to Pandoria,” said Louisa. “The first time, I mean.”
“Oh good, then you at least know of each other,” said Rebecca. “That saves the introductions. Now, let’s go.”
Louisa followed behind Rebecca on Goldmist after telling Claire that she couldn’t finish the stable job. Claire, noticing Louisa’s bloodshot eyes and puffy face and general disarray, agreed to finish the job, letting Louisa leave her stable chores for today.
“Anna does all those cool theories, right?” asked Louisa as they rode up the hill through the edge of Hollow Woods.
“Mmhmm,” Rebecca hummed, nodding. “We talk about them a lot, though our main theory is that the organisation is corrupt.”
“Just like in a book or a movie,” said Louisa. Rebecca nodded.
“Just like that,” said Rebecca. “Only this is very real and we could be in very real danger if we get caught.”
“I’d rather fear for my life than fear people saying bad things about me,” said Louisa. Rebecca gave her a sympathetic smile.
Louisa was surprised when Rebecca rode along the spiral path towards the Secret Stone Circle at a canter, and even more surprised still when Rebecca left Midnightwarrior in the Stone Circle to continue through the portal into Fripp’s room.
But there, sitting at the table, was a blonde-haired girl clad in her maroon druid outfit. Evergray sat beside her, though he had his head bent over a rather thick book and appeared to be deep in thought, his brow furrowed.
“I have brought fresh meat,” said Rebecca. “But I need to change my shirt.”
“Yes, you’d better change into your uniform,” said Anna. She waved at Louisa. “Hi, you’re Louisa, right?”
“Yeah,” said Louisa, nodding. She wasn’t sure if she should shake Anna’s hand or what. “Do I need to change into the uniform too?”
“Do you have it?” asked Anna. “We just use the red druid outfit that Farrah sold a few months ago. Red is a good colour, and it seems fitting.”
“Though purple would probably be more fitting, given our name,” said Rebecca, pulling her maroon tunic on over a black long-sleeved shirt. Louisa would call it a skivvy, though it would inevitably mean something different to the American in the room.
“We are Evergray’s Followers,” said Anna, smiling. “We follow the teachings and example of Evergray in going against the druids in order to get stuff done.”
“Hmm, did you want something?” asked Evergray, looking up from his book.
“No, we were just talking about you, don’t worry,” said Anna. “You can go back to your studies.”
“Ah, good,” said Evergray. “This book is very interesting, I wish I’d been able to get my hands on it before.”
“Is that the Pandorian Codex?” asked Louisa, looking properly at the book now.
“It sure is,” said Rebecca. “If Evergray is going to get anything done, he needs to have the right resources at his disposal.”
“And what’s the aim of this group?” asked Louisa. “Is it just like a friend group-slash-cult or…”
“A bit of both,” said Rebecca, shrugging as she walked over to the table and deposited a small bag of various crystals. “I grabbed some more empty Kallstones for you, by the way.”
“Ah, wonderful!” said Evergray, taking some blue crystals from the bag and marvelling at them. “I’m very interested in discovering more about these, the Valley of the Hidden Dinosaur, or Dino Valley as you young people call it, was frozen over and closed off for me while I was here before. But no longer.” He grinned up at Rebecca, and Louisa wondered how Rebecca could stand the bright pink beam coming out of his eye. “Thank you for these, Rebecca.”
“You’re welcome,” said Rebecca. “Anything to piss the druids off is okay in my book.”
“Mine too,” said Anna. “So, Louisa, are you willing to join a group of rebels in the name of justice and friendship?”
“Join us, we have cookies,” said Rebecca. “Well, not really.”
“I can make some cookies,” said Louisa. Rebecca clapped her hands together.
“Excellent! Now I can say that and mean it,” said Rebecca. “And don’t worry, this cult isn’t going to try to, say, overthrow the druids, we’ve got more important things to worry about.”
“It’s mostly just a place to talk theories without worrying about getting silenced by the druids for talking about the wrong things or sticking our noses where they aren’t wanted,” said Anna. “Exhibit A.” She gestured to Evergray, who was still studying the Kallstone intently.
“But after we’ve got the whole ‘end of the world’ stuff figured out, we’re going to overthrow the druids,” said Rebecca.
“Oh, definitely,” said Anna, nodding. Evergray had no input, still too busy studying the crystals.
The first meeting of Evergray’s Followers, if it could even be called a meeting, was a very laidback, relaxed affair. Louisa felt herself relaxing and calming down more and more as they chatted about theories. In times of crisis, it was good to have friends that she could rely on. Especially when her other so-called ‘friends’ had abandoned her. Even if she ever returned to her other friends, she’d always have a safe space here. And if the druids ever did anything to threaten her or her loved ones, well…
Maybe Evergray’s Followers would do something about that.