Ruchard knew that his control of dreams was still much greater and more refined than Imraen's. Even so, she pushed him beyond the complacency he'd sunk into since he'd built his little world. He understood the fluidity of dreams, but her creativity and imagination inspired his own.

He had to be quick to keep up with her. Something in their contests made him remember a scrap of an old song - she became a star, he became a thundercloud... She was in the garden now, resting deceptively peaceably. He smiled to himself, thinking on the song's theme. "Bide, lady, bide..."