Cand Chronicles

1: Market

1: Market

She had finally left us. Left to go to the other side of the mountain, where the paranormals live. My older sister, Lily Cand, had left.

I should have seen it coming.

My hand curled into a first against the November chill. The leaves had been changing colors around our small family cottage, and yet the first nip of winter hadn't hit until today. The day that I planned a trip into town to head for the market.

With my chin nestled under a ratted cloak, I beaded the chill, knowing that nobody else in the family would brave the cold for food, and knowing that our supplies were running low. Especially with a toddler running amuck within the walls. Seraph was a handful, and since our mother died giving birth to her, my father completely checked out of our family. Working in the apple orchards when it was the season, and then blowing all the coppers on ale. It was up to me to raise Seraph, while Lily sold her able hands cleaning noble's homes and store fronts. She always had a gift for keeping things orderly. Because of her help, we were able to live. Barely live, but still.

My gaze lifted up to the gray sky. Now it is up to me, I thought. Raising a toddler while scraping together sellable wares was very hard. Especially when Father would raid my bedroll for the coppers I'd earned. In the meantime, the house was getting more dilapidated, as I couldn't keep up with everything by myself. Seraph was like a human storm anyways—nothing I cleaned kept for more than a few hours.

I kept walking even as the wind blew through my cloak and bit into my skin.

Lily had left us, choosing to brave the world of the supernaturals. There was no telling if she even braved the witches who lurked among the mountain pass, their campfires sometimes visible at night.

A shiver shuddered through me. Witches were the least of Lily's concern if she got passed them somehow. The witches loved women, and loved teaching them their devilish tricks and magic. Lily might have survived becoming one of them. Maybe.

The thought wasn't very convincing.

For a while, my sister had snuck out at night to the rooftop, so she could view the mountains that kept us safe from the monsters. She would stare, mindlessly playing with her straw colored hair that we shared.

"I know you're out there. Don't you know I'm right here?" She would whisper to the wind.

To her her mate.

That was something I wasn't supposed to know. The nights when she would quietly talk to him, hoping that he could hear her words from the wind. Having ties like mates or bonds to the people who lived on the other side was something that the townsfolk ostracized others for.

My family couldn't afford to be shunned. We couldn't afford to move, and I needed all the help the townspeople could give. Especially with Seraph to look after.

But I would worry about Lily on the roof, and would check on her sometimes. Because of that, I knew why she would sneak around at night, and I knew she had felt the mate pull.

I didn't think she would actually leave. Looking back, I should have been prepared for that. I could see the longing in her eyes when the mate bond tugged. It was obvious that she needed to find him.

Would the witches let her live if she had a mate? The thought sliced through my mind. It was a possibility, even if it was rather slim. Witches weren't known to be kind to anyone, mate or not, human or not.

I tugged the small cart of belongings behind me, careful not to wake the sleeping toddler that took up most of the cart's space. It was full of things that used to be important but were not any longer. The two extra chairs at the dinner table we stacked in the back, the extra porcelain that was beautiful but not a necessity was there too, along with random other things I found around the small cottage. Seraph was wrapped in as many blankets I could find. Anyone looking in the cart might not see the strands of hair that poked through the fabric, and assume that it was just a pile of blankets.