Signy hesitated, listening for a moment as the confusion built outside.  This was it, then, it seemed, and sooner than she'd expected.  The runes could not tell her when, and though she'd guessed it must begin soon, she had held to some small hope that it would hold off, just a little longer.  But that was not to be.<br/><br/>She took a slow drink of the mead, savoring the taste, using it to help brace her for the events to come.  Then she set down the cup and moved back towards the door, stepping out as quietly and discreetly as she'd stepped in, her eyes following the tumult.  It wasn't quite a surprise to her to realize that she recognized things about the row of faded, exhausted horses -- there was a familiar carved saddle, there a tattered piece of banner that she knew.<br/><br/>One hand went to the bag of runes at her side, resting there, drawing out what comfort the bones could give her.  Without at first realizing she was doing it, she stepped over to a horse she knew, searching her memory for the beast's name.  Horses were often more comfortable companions to her than their owners, for the horses did not wonder uneasily as to what witchery she might be capable of.<br/><br/>"Goti?" she murmured, uncertainly, reaching out a careful hand well before she drew near to the animal.  It would not surprise her if even the best trained mount panicked at being approached, given what horrors must have happened to them, and startling them would do no good.  She was sure they had a tale to tell, to those who looked for it, and she knew it was a tale that had to be read.