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They all have nightmares, for wounds of the soul are slow to heal despite the balm of a contented, peaceful life.
Cottia dreams of Marcus and Esca never returning from their search for the Eagle, of stone cages from which she cannot escape, of never seeing the sky again.
Esca dreams of the set expression on his mother’s face and the reddish-black of her blood, of the way his father’s hand had only trembled after he’d slit her throat, of how his father and brothers had fallen, one by one, in battle.
Marcus dreams of his father and what his last moments must have been like, of Caradoc and the expression on his face as Marcus pulled him from his chariot and to his death.
They all handle their nightmares differently.
Cottia sleeps outside, beneath the stars, no matter the weather or season, sometimes just for the rest of the night, sometimes for a handful of days. She sleeps outside until she no longer feels that trapped, terrible feeling. If it is winter, she allows Cub and sometimes Marcus and Esca to join her, to share the warmth, but most nights Marcus and Esca must sleep a few feet away and allow her space.
Esca follows Cottia and Marcus around like a ghost the day following his nightmare, as though he worries they will disappear if he allows them out of his sight. On those days, Marcus does not speak to him, his Roman-accented Celt painful to Esca’s ears. Cottia speaks enough for the both of them on those days, sings songs her mother taught her to Esca until he smiles and the shadows pass slowly from his face.
Marcus’s nightmares pass, not more easily, but more swiftly than either Esca or Cottia’s. He is fine by the morning, if a little weary, so long as he can clutch Esca and Cottia to him, entangle himself in their limbs so that they blanket him. He sleeps, grounded by Esca’s head resting against his back, Cottia’s head tucked under his chin, Cub curled at his feet.
The nightmares lessen in frequency, over time, though they never vanish entirely.
Some days Cottia demands they sleep outside simply because of how brightly the stars shine that night, or because the weather is particularly fine.
Esca follows Cottia and sings in a rough voice one of the songs he remembers his brother singing to the girl he wanted to marry, just to see her smile.
Marcus, for his part, would be content if they could sleep curled up together every night, even if Cottia sometimes kicks in her sleep and Esca has a tendency to snore in Marcus’s ear during the spring when the air is thick with pollen.