Drumwe Isles

chapter four

Amra wakes up shivering. A dull morning light creeps up the foot of her bed, tickling her nose. Upon pulling herself out of the land of dreams, she realises two things. One, she forgot to draw her window shut last night and the cool of fall has flushed inside. Two, Fallburne is in great danger.

Amra pushes herself up from the bed and snatches her garments up from the bedside table. The room is more occupied with empty space than with objects. The girl wasn't exactly known for her interior decorating skills. When she's decently dressed, she shoots down the ladder in a frenzy. Her brown hair flicks and turns in the wind as she bounds along, until she pauses outside the door of another tree house in the general vicinity of hers.

Her fists pound the entryway pillars to announce her arrival before she dips inside. The house is lively with noise despite it being an early morning. She enters the feeding room to find her companion quite busy. Three small Druid boys dash about him as he turns on his heel to stop one from hitting the other.

"Niall! Ulrick! Stop that, sit on your mats."

The older boy orders and the two begrudgingly do as they're told.

"Valian, make sure you take your coat to the market, it's chilly out. "

"Wren, stop kicking your cousin."

Amra smiled playfully as she leaned in the doorway. Two of the boys notice her standing there and stop their bickering with a quickness.

The eldest boy notices their newfound obedience and his head shoots in her direction. "Oh, Amra."

"Morning, Acoris. Trouble with the boys?"

Acoris chuckled painfully as he scooped the toddler into his arms and sat on his own mat. Wren spots Amra finally and a light blush coats his cheeks before he sits and begins eating his breakfast as he's told. Wren was the second youngest and had developed quite the crush on his older brother's pretty Elven friend.

"Now boys, are you giving my Acoris trouble?"

Amra jokes lightly, pointing a stern finger at the three of them.

Niall and Wren shake their heads while Ulrick smirks devilishly. He was the instigator of the group and liked to produce havoc wherever he was able.

Amra moves to sit beside Acoris on the floor of the feeding room and opens her arms. Acoris' face fills with relief as he hands the toddler over to her and returns his attention to the three older troublemakers. She watched as he placed his hands on his hips to begin chastising his brothers and cousin. It was sort of like watching a mother scorn their young.

"If you don't finish your meals, I'll have you doing chores until Avalor gets back."

The boys cringe at the threat and continue eating with zero tomfoolery.

"When is Avalor coming back?" Niall asks innocently enough.

"He's on his way back now." Amra pipes in when Acoris' lips fall into a line.

Contented, the boy returns to his meal.

The Emrys family was generally easy to make in a crowd. They all bore the same coffee dark skin and sharp hazel eyes. It wasn't uncommon for them to be clad in cuts from their particular brand of witchcraft either. Blood magic was one of the more feared in the Druid community for its delicate nature, but it wasn't as though it was considered wrong either. Now the little ones didn't dabble in much more than the prick of a finger until they were thirteen. Nonetheless, the Emrys family was much beloved.

When the three boys thinned out to their respective areas, Amra watched Acoris collect the empty bowls and place them into the washing bin. He'd have to walk to the well later to get more water. The toddler in her arms was fast asleep by the time Acoris remembered she had been feeding him. He scooped the small boy from her arms and moved through the treehouse to the youngling's cot. With all the boys fed and halfway groomed, Acoris allowed his exhausted body to find its spot beside Amra.