A Court of Ashes and Daybreak

Cassian

It was a beautiful morning. Nesta ran slowly but uncomplainingly, and there were less resentful glares cast my way than normal. We were just about to turn back for the last stretch through the city when I heard my name. "Cassian," Nesta called. I turned to see her standing, peering down into the ditch that ran beside the path. "Look at this." I walked to her side, to see a still black form curled in the ditch beside her. Nesta knelt. "It's a little dog," she said, her voice full of awe.

"Is it.." I broke off before I could say it.

"It's alive," Nesta reached out and touched the dog's furry chest, feeling for a heartbeat.

"It looks like a stray," I said, "It doesn't have a collar on."

Nesta reached out and scooped the dog into her arms. It was a bit too big and it's legs dangled awkwardly, but she rose defiantly. It woke slightly, snuffling at her, but was too weak to lift its head. "Well, it's mine now."

I looked at her, surprised. Nesta was the last person I had expected to befriend a smelly old stray dog and take it home. I loved dogs, but Nesta? I would've thought she would simply saw "eeew" and it would be up to me to take it to the nearest dog shelter, but here she was, saying she wanted to take it home with her.

"She's called Becca."

I looked at her. "It might be a male."

"Say what you like, I've checked." She had her disparaging face on. I changed tack.

"It needs food and warmth soon. My flat's close and the fire's lit, we can go there. My friend stayed there last month with his hunting dogs and there's some dog food left over in the cellar," Nesta nodded. I motioned forwards, "I'll take the dog if you like."

I expected her to hand it over, but she shook her head. "I've got her."

She ran faster than she ever had before, adjusting the dog in her arms occasionally, but showing no signs of needing help. I felt like a bit of a third wheel in this woman/dog team. Becca. It was a nice name. I was still suspicious of her extremely quick deduction of her gender, but when Nesta was in this mood I reckoned it was best to roll with it.

I showed her into my apartment, searching quickly for an old blanket for Becca. Nesta carefully wrapped up the dog, settling her down beside the big wood-powered cooking stove that I kept on all winter. It was both heating for the apartment and for cooking. I heaved out the bag of dog kibble, setting a kettle of water on the stove to heat. Nesta took the kibble from me, reading the instructions before adding the now warm water. She left it until it was lukewarm, before sitting down beside the dogs head with the bowl in her hand. "Why don't you try just dribbling warm water into her mouth first? She'll need to be awake to swallow the food." Nesta nodded and poured some water into a bowl to cool. When it was lukewarm, she dipped in a small cloth and drizzled the warm water into the dog's lips. The animal lifted its head a minute amount from where it lay in Nesta's lap and opened its mouth to lick her fingers weakly. A smile of pure happiness broke her face, and she settled back to letting it lap water from her bowl.

I pulled a large round stone from the oven stove, wrapping it in a towel so it was the perfect temperature, and tucked it into the dog's blanket. Nesta had started feeding it the kibble, it's long pink tongue rasping against her fingers. I set about making some breakfast for us, cooking up porridge and digging out some apples from last autumn. Nesta accepted a bowl gratefully, and I sat down on the wooden floor beside her to eat it, Becca having gone to sleep on her lap. I had barely started when I heard the scrape of a spoon on the bottom of a bowl, and saw Nesta eyeing the porridge pot longingly. "Help yourself, miss I-don't-like-breakfast," I said with a smirk. Nesta pouted and indicated her dog, "I can't get up - I'll wake Becca."

I mock groaned and stood to re-fill her bowl from the massive pot on the stove-top. She smirked, and Becca opened her eyes to return what I swear was the doggy version of a victory grin. They high-fived and I flipped them both off. "You've only had the dog for five minutes and already you're both ganging up on me?" Nesta gave her I'm-planning-something-evil-and-I'm-not-going-to-tell-you look and I slumped down, muttering. One Nesta was bad enough, now I had two to deal with.