The Last Red Year

NINETEEN: Snow In Penncradle

CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains graphic depictions of an injury.

♡ ♡ ♡

 A fat snowflake lands on Kas's forehead, and they stare indignantly up at the sky, cursing the weather for changing so quickly. They suppose Penncradle is a ways north from Tenacitas, and they really should have expected this, but the weather has been so mild during their stay here. The leaves haven't even fallen from most of the trees. They don't like that it actually feels like winter now.

"It's getting colder every year," Lilinore says, sitting beside them on the bench overlooking the river. "My par says at the University of Serifoss, they once drilled into a big glacier and took out its core. They used magic to see the little bubbles of air inside it, and from that they can tell how cold it's been every year for thousands and thousands of years. Before humans or monsters even existed. There are cold stretches and warm stretches." They really do talk a lot, but it's only become more endearing to Kas the more time they've spent with them. They love listening to Lilinore talk. "I saw snow for the first time ever last year. It was only for one day, and none of it stuck, though."

"I don't like snow." Kas sticks out their tongue anyway, catching a snowflake on it. "It always got so cold back home, and my clothes were never warm enough. And it got in my boots and made my socks all soggy." They manage just a bit of a laugh at that, but it's still hard to talk about Callocast without a weight settling across their shoulders. It's been nearly a month since they came to Penncradle, now, and New Years has come and gone. It's 2106, now, and soon enough they'll start classes at a school in Penncradle, and they're certain they'll keep messing up the year when they date their papers for a good month. It's odd, looking at the prospect of being a normal kid again. Going to school without the pressure of the Magescourt. They're lucky enough to get to stay in accommodations near the palace--Tori has taken pity on them, likely because of what they knew about Ashira's death, and she's made sure that they're taken care of. There are no parents or guardians in sight, but they'd honestly rather never get close to someone like that again. They still dream of Hadling's death. They don't know if they'll ever stop.

They wonder how Kizlane is doing. They wonder if they're even still alive.

"Did you even hear anything I said?" Lilinore's voice startles them back to reality, and they look up, watching the road that snakes along the side of the river. "Kas, are you all right?"

"Yeah. Just daydreaming," they say, picking themself up. "I think...I think I need a minute. I'll be right back."

Lilinore has been so nice to them, in the short time they've been friends. They aren't the same person they were when they came to the Magescourt--it's harder, now, for them to hold conversations, to keep their attention on anything, to stand still in a room without wanting to crawl out of their skin. They see fire when they close their eyes, and a current of anger has started to build deep inside them. It isn't unusual for this to happen--for them to zone out and need to remove themself from whatever company they're in for a little while. It's hard to keep a conversation going when they're constantly being pulled back into the past.

They wander along the riverbank, listening to the water singing as it rushes onwards to the distant sea, and try their best to pretend they're someone else. That they grew up here, in a perfect world, with a perfect family. They wouldn't have to worry about the happenings at the Magescourt. Maybe Hadling would still be alive, too, if they hadn't been involved. If they hadn't tried to intervene.

They look up at the sound of distant hoofbeats--far off in the distance, a horse and a rider are charging towards Penncradle. As they draw closer, they can tell the rider is hunched over, only one hand on the reins as they clutch at their ribs with the other. They're dressed in yellow robes, and while Kas can't make out the style of them from this far away, they swear they can see the glint of the four-pointed star of the Magescourt pinned to the stranger's chest. Kas tilts their head, just watching for a moment--they don't know if they should run for help or wait to see what they're really dealing with.