The woman sat on the top stair, her back to the portals that no longer spun. She gazed out at the empty, beautiful room, remembering.

 

 "They say talking to yourself is a sign of madness, but there's no one else to talk to anymore," she muttered. "Where did they all go?"  She shook her head sadly,  "So many lost in that stupid war.  Dreamstruck, never to be seen in the City again.  Stupid, stupid, stupid!  So intent on their idiotic war they never noticed the Dream emptying around them."

 

She rocked back and forth on the stair, her voice rising, "So many gone.  Just gone.  Dreaming one day, then never again.  Where are you?  Why did you leave me?  Drenthan!  Xaria!  T'rassa!  All of you gone.

 

"The House closed.  I tried, but I couldn't keep it open alone.  Hunting, bringing in essences to strengthen the Prime.  Genning, even for things I can't use, but hoping that someone would Dream again and be glad of Seer Chaks and Will eles."

 

"And this Dream," her voice broke and she covered her face with her hands.

"This Dream," she continued, "the House portal from the Courtyard wouldn't let me in.  I came the long way.  Ran all the way up from Thresh.  I knew.  Long before I got here, I knew.  But I had to see for myself. My crest gone.  The one I swore to wear till the end of my Dreaming.  The portals still and dead."

 

A portal chimed and she looked up listlessly. A dark figure strode down the stairs from the far entrance, across the courtyard and partway up the stairs, "So your House is gone too," he said.

 

The woman looked down at him and said bitterly, "Aye, for all I could do, one member wasn't enough to keep it open forever.  I suppose you've come to gloat."

 

Slowly, he shook his head, "No.  When I saw you run through Thresh, I guessed what had happened.  At first I felt triumphant that the last Freesoul House had closed.  But it wasn't just the last Freesoul House; it was the last House in the Dream.

 

"They're all gone now.  No more Houses.  Scarcely any more Dreamers.

 

"My House had a legend, an ancient ruler who went mad.  He claimed we were all endangering souls by dreaming, wanted to rid the Dream of all the Dreamers.  He's so long dead that we're not even sure of his name anymore.  Whoever it was, no doubt his ghost is happy now."

 

"What happened, Malven?  Where did they all go?"  she asked.