The Winter Born [COMPLETED]

Chapter 23 - Another Visit

I adjust the ratty old cloak on my shoulders as I walk along  the small cottages of the Outlands, relishing in the smell of freshly baked loaves of bread and cakes though there is still the stench of sweat and horse manure.

It's not always there but traders from the lands across the seas are coming and are slowly flowing into the Outlands. Summer is almost here and Spring is already half way so it's no wonder some traders are already here to avoid the rush.

I walk forward until a small girl with fiery hair comes out of the bakery and I watch as her blue eyes widen and a wide smile comes across her face at the sight of me.

" Cathellyn!" Nala shouts out, running to me, ignoring the looks that people give her and jumps to hug me tightly.

I bend down, letting her leap into my arms and laughing as I lift her up. She squeals and extends her arms like a bird extending its' wings to fly. I kiss her forehead with a loud smack and smile to her before setting Nala down, ruffling her red hair. I forgot how old she is now, nine? Ten? Probably eleven. Her head now is level with chest wheres before she only reaches my stomach.

Nala's father - a stocky man - walks out from the bakery, wiping his flour-covered hand with a cloth. He tosses the cloth onto a wooden stool without looking as he walks up to me and Nala, smiling at the sight of his only child.

I smile back. He gives Nala's hair a quick ruffle. " You did not finish your bread, Nala. Go inside and eat it all up, " he says with a soft voice.

Nala frowns. " I don't want to. The bread is stale already. I want to play with Cathellyn. " She squeaks out, tugging at my sleeves.

" We'll have time to play later, little one. " I say. I do want to spend time with Nala, to take a break from the forest but there's something in the baker's eyes - worry, perhaps. He wants to tell me something, I realize.

Nala's bright blue eyes look up to me, " Promise? "

I smile. " Yes, now go inside and finish your food. "

She didn't frown and rushes inside of her home. My eyes follow her, not leaving until she had gone inside and when she has disappear from my eyesight, I sigh.

She's always so happy and cheerful but she hasn't seen the world yet. The world where you could die in anytime and there is no real place for peace. I silently pray that she doesn't ever see it.

I turn to the baker who is rubbing his thin red beard. His hair is red too but is worn with age and dull unlike Nala's. " What is it? " I ask.

" There's a rumor goin' all around here. Drunken men keep shoutin' it at the tavern. They say they wanna' rebel against the Valarians. Sayin' they're tired of the unfairness," the baker says quietly, glancing to his left and right.

A rebellion?

" That's just drunk talk. " I assure him despite my heart pounding and the idea rattling in my head.

" Aye, for a while. But they're startin' to consider it. "

" No, " I shake my head. " That's impossible. "

" Why not? A rebellion, war isn't impossible. We're all tired of those damn Valarians. "

I scoff. " If there is a war, then everybody will die. Or almost everybody - Nala and your wife and Bronya and me and my family. I'm not playing with their lives no matter how much I hate the Valarians. " But I don't hate them.

" Everybody will die if we lose. They've been makin' plans, Cathellyn. A loose one might take more months until we actually do it but it's growin'. We'll win, I'm sure of it. "