He watched her closely, incredibly impatient with the time it took her to come to a decision. â€œCustoms?â€ He uttered a reflexive laugh again, and said nothing else to her, but urged the puppy to follow. The boy patted the dog on the side of his neck and whispered something into his ear. Then they were off at a breathtaking speed, the beastâ€™s legs stretching out to their fullest, paws hardly seeming to touch the ground.<br/><br/>But more than that, there was no way to get off. Even falling wasnâ€™t an option. Just as riding any fae mount, humans found themselves stuck until the beast decided to let them off or killed them in their games.<br/><br/>Somehow the pup trailed along easily, loping along the path and joining the larger hound in a barking chorus. The boy laughed, driving the dog on to faster and faster speeds, following the path until it diverged at a fork.<br/><br/>Instead of taking either way, he pressed the dog over the hedge and into the woods. They barreled through the old growth, past ancient sentinels, and showed no signs of stopping or even slowing down. Other hounds barked in the distance, accompaniment to the cry of hunting horns.<br/><br/>The stop they did make was sudden, in a clearing ringed by the oldest seeming trees. A well laid table sat in the middle, the only ones at it skeletons that looked as if they might crumble into dust at the slightest breath. Some melody, played on a flute maybe, or maybe something older, made the calm of the place far more pervading. And someone sang, words the perfect complement, but impossible to remember just after theyâ€™d been sung.<br/><br/>The boy smiled at her as he climbed down, bending to pick up the exhausted little pup. â€œThere,â€ he waved a hand at the table and set the puppy on it, so she could eat from the food laid out as well. â€œPriests. Are these the ones you wanted?â€