“You are welcome,” Alberich replied awkwardly, pulse hammering in his throat, feeling as if he was the one being granted the favor. This was strange. This was very strange. Perhaps the strangest thing that had happened to him since he had arrived here. That odd thing that they called his Gift fluttered in the back of his soul with something that was not—quite—warning.

:I think—I hope—that what I have to show you will make many things clearer for you,: Taver said, with infinite gentleness. :Please, come and place one hand upon my neck and look into my eyes.:

Puzzled, Alberich did as he was told. He touched the electric softness of Taver’s neck—looked into living blue—and paradise engulfed him, as the heavens opened up and spilled out glory.

* * *

And when he came to himself again, he was lying on the grass, staring at the hooves of the two Companions—silver hooves, why didn’t I notice that before?—with a mind so full it felt as if it couldn’t possibly fit in the narrow confines of his head.

Mortal men should not look into heaven. If they do, they should not be surprised when all they can remember is that they were there, for one brief, radiant moment. He certainly was not.

But that moment had given him something he had needed, and had not known he needed, until the need was not there anymore.

He sat up slowly and felt the back of his skull gingerly. But the lump he expected to encounter, and the headache he anticipated, were not there.

:I took your body, and caused you to lie down, rather than fall down, Alberich,: Taver said, as Kantor whuffed at his ear. :I knew what would happen, and it was no thought of mine that you take hurt from it.:

Alberich stared at the Companion—who was more, so much more than he appeared that it made him dizzy even to nibble at the edges of the thought. “You’ve never done this to Talamir?”

:Talamir never required it. He is of Valdemar, blood and bone. You—were floundering, drowning, without a foundation. I think you were not even aware of it, except that you sought for it desperately, without knowing what you sought for. Have I given you what you needed?:

He had been looking, and yes, desperately—Taver was right. He thought that he’d been thinking, but he’d really been cluttering up his head with the minutiae of his new life here so that he didn’t have to think about anything deeper. But if it came to that, he’d been looking for that foundation all his life. He’d tried to make his honor into a place to stand, but honor needed something to be based in.

:Ah.: There was contentment in that thought. :Good.: