Light of Stars [2]

Chapter Forty-Nine

♕ Tales of Hope and Treason ♕

"I don't want to share my room anymore. I want to go home" Bryden said, his eyes fluttering shut. Vereena flinched. Placing the cover over his chin to make sure he would not be cold.

"We are home" Vee said. "Aren't you happy? You always wanted to have friends" she said, hope stuck in her chest that he might agree, that he would still think about living here as an adventure.

"No. I had friends, you are my friend, Bree too. Ash was too sometimes. I want to go back there, why do we have to keep hiding?"

Vereena forced a smile into her face. "Just a little longer Bry. I promise. Then we'll go okay?"

Bryden nodded, the small dot of black from where Deirdre had puncture his skin as she'd dragged him away flashing in her eyes. "Fine. But tell me the story again. Please"

"I've told you the story multiple times" Vereena said, touching his forehead. Bryden pouted, blinking repeatedly. "Fine." Vee said, sitting back down.

"There was once a beautiful boy, whose parents adored, and who loved his brother more than anything else in the world. The boy used to run towards the water in the summer, he wanted to pick up golden shells to pay for the food of the week. But he never found one.

One night, his mother and father grew very sick, they were sick for a long while, and he knew it was time for them to go. The boy and his brother were left alone. He took them to the beach, and they both sat and thought about their parents often. Soon enough they found a new home, with a big family that loved them as their own.

Still the boy went back to the beach as often as he could, and every time he went to swim after that day he found a golden shell on his way." Vereena smiled as Bryden eyes seemed to glow with excitement at the tale he'd heard plenty of times before.

"And what did he do with them?" He asked.

"He never used them" Vee shrugged.

"Why?"

"Because..." she said thinking in the easiest way she could explain it. "He knew they came from his parents, trying to look out for him. And he had a home, and a job, and a family, so he gave them away"

Bryden smiled "To who?"

"To those who needed it most" she said.

"Why would he do that if.."

"Because he knew keeping others safe, helping others was what made him the happiest. Giving the shells away was the right thing." She interrupted him.

"Even if he could've been rich?"

"Especially then"

Bryden nodded, yawning. "Thats a nice story"

"It is." She agreed, smiling as he closed his eyes. "Now go sleep"

"Yes Vee" he mumbled. "Goodnight"

"Night" she said, leaning in to kiss his forehead before stepping outside, careful to not wake up the rest of the children, already asleep.

They had made their best to try and make them as comfortable as they could, bringing them blankets and pillows, or coats when those had ran out. Food was the trickiest part. Her daily routes to Goldcrest had shifted from roaming for information to scatter for whatever she could bring, even if it was a simple piece of fruit. Every bit counted. Vereena made her way up the stairs where Taj waited for her sitting in the middle of the maze of bookshelf and piles of books. He rested his head on the old wood, his closed eyes fluttering open as she approached him, a piece of cold bread dived in half on her hand.