Dool
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– It’s beautiful here. Atmospheric. At such a table, it’s not about chewing sandwiches, but about stuffing meat.
“Bring the meat, student,” the master ordered. – Just open the window first. “That’s it,” he waved his hand to where a dark horse’s muzzle loomed behind the cloudy glass. – And don’t even think about giving him a carrot!
– And what?
– Yes, the same as for us. Just put it on a tray so that it’s convenient to eat with a horse’s muzzle.
I had to put aside curiosity and do what students are supposed to do under the master – that is, “cook, bring, serve” (and thank you that mentor Turvon did without the final “get out”!). Smoked venison, fresh village bread (just yesterday I ran to the baker for it!), foamy beer in a keg – a real feast. Although not exactly the kind of treat that should be served to a noble maiden. But the guest ate and drank with visible pleasure – and with the same visible lack of manners. It was probably a good thing that the real Virita was somewhere out there, fainting in her own head. Otherwise I would have fainted again, for real.
“So, our dear and so far nameless guest…” Master Turvon began when Marius set out the treats and sat down opposite the girl.
– Why is it nameless?! – without listening to the end, she became indignant. – My name is Natalya. Yes, Natasha.
– This is the name of your world, your former body. And you, let me tell you, are just a soul. Before a new incarnation, souls forget their previous life.
– I don’t know anything, I remember everything. And in general, some kind of “new incarnation”?! You, as I understand it, pulled me out here, stuck me in someone else’s body, which, by the way, is an adult and quite occupied. Not ready for a new life! This is not to mention the fact that I somehow missed the ending of the old one! Your job?
– Not mine. Personally, I didn’t pull you out of anything or shove you anywhere,” Turvon objected grumpily. The horse neighed mockingly. Marius would also have neighed if he had been watching this bazaar from the sidelines! It just seemed like it was not the mentor, but him, who would have to deal with the consequences. Because why else are students needed? That’s right, push the most unpleasant things onto them!
“It’s better to ask Virita why she interfered in the ritual,” Marius couldn’t resist. – She got into the circle at full gallop and screaming, and we are to blame.
“So it’s not her you need to ask,” the guest shrugged. – There’s a face looking in the window. The horse is shameful. Your girl has already said goodbye to her life, but he has done things and is laughing.
“And he would probably be the one who could explain everything.” Is it possible to talk to him at all? – Marius asked hopelessly. It seems that instead of answers to his questions and clear explanations worthy of a master necromancer, he will receive an ugly market squabble. But two souls in one body – according to all canons, a complete disorder! And something needs to be done about it. And who should do it if this disgrace fell on their heads with their mentor? This Ancient One is also incomprehensible. The more Marius looked at him, the less he looked like the horror of legends. Although it is not for nothing that the mentor says that truly dangerous things do not look frightening…
“I called a soul that could become an invisible guardian for Virita degli Bornio,” the master spoke slowly, intertwining his fingers in a lock. “Her father insisted on constant protection and certainly demanded the spirit of the feminine principle in order to preserve the honor and modesty of his innocent daughter. And this spirit should not have occupied the body of its ward at all!
– And he also had to be able to do something in terms of defense? – Natalya asked mockingly. – Well, I’ll make you happy, something went wrong.
She finished her beer, slammed the mug down on the table, jumped up and walked over to the Ancient One. She grabbed the long ponytail.
– Stab, horse, it was you who arranged everything! And don’t make blank eyes at me here, you’re not the cat from “Shrek”!
The horse rolled his eyes and lay down, and a foggy male figure loomed in the window opening. It filled with color and life – and now on the windowsill sits the most ordinary robber-looking lout: in a forest-green suit, overgrown with a beard and long tufts, except perhaps clean and combed. There was no sign of transcendental strength, as befits an Ancient One, and nobility and authority, even less so; in short, if you show up like this in the house of any noble family, they won’t let you in further than the back yard.
“I’ll explain briefly, once,” he said quickly. – The girl Virita came to me with a request and promised payment. The payment will be my incarnation. I need a horse until I gain enough vitality. The man would have come up too, but there was no one nearby,” he grinned wickedly. “We don’t need anything from you, we got here by accident.” And you,” the blue eyes stared at Virita-Natalia point-blank, “hold your tongue.” Don't look for the guilty where there are none. Better find out why the girl needed a guardian.
– What did she ask you for? – no, where does this otherworldly soul come from so much impudence?! Marius, standing in such dangerous proximity to a being of divine strength and power, would have spoken to him more politely!
– This is her business, if you want, ask her.
– Clearly, the company guarantees confidentiality. Listen… so, wait, what's your name? Not a Horse, really.
– You can call him Ancient.
“When he incarnates, he will receive a new name, but now, in fact, he is little different from a nameless soul,” the mentor explained quietly.
“Memory and strength, this is not so little,” objected the Ancient One. – And I will return the name to its original one. I remember him, people have forgotten.
– OK. So, what do we have,” the girl turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. – I, that is, my soul, was called so that I would guard the timid violet with an invisible spirit. Violet turned out to be not so timid, she ran away into the night on horseback and without guards, asked the Ancient One for something and in return promised to help him become incarnate. As a result of this help, the Ancient One moved into a dead horse, and I into a violet, both of which were not provided for. Did I miss anything?
“Not yet,” for some reason it seemed to Marius that the Ancient One was openly amused. In any case, he looked at the girl with cheerful interest. Either he was waiting for her to do something ungodly, or he was plotting some kind of dirty trick himself.
“Then explain this to me, dear Ancient Horse.” Doesn't it matter to you that your temporary body has died a little?
– Yes, it didn’t have time to die. The horse spirit flew away, I stayed. You can't turn a living creature into an undead in a few moments.