Sorceress of the Void

Chapter Four - The Knight

Chapter Four

The Knight

     Mindarie and Collan sat lazily around the fire that they must have built in her absence. The young sorcerers were playing with the flames, unfazed by how close the flames licked at the air. Orange tendrils sprung up and down into various shapes much too complicated for the fire to produce naturally that just as soon vanished into smoke. 

"Entertaining yourself I see," Eira attempted to keep her chattering teeth to a minimum, but to no avail. 

"Eira! You look like death itself!" Mindarie gaped at her.

"Feel like it too," she couldn't stop herself from complaining a bit, feeling that she was entitled to it after the twins got a nice warm bath. 

Collan raised his eyebrow in a way that made him seem so much older than he was. "Were you not the one who never fails to warn us in being careful not to get a cold?"

In response, Eira rolled her eyes. "Not all of us can heat water on command. Just dry my clothes and I'll keep quiet the next time you want to go out in the snow without a coat."

When she stood back up, he held out his hand and hovered over the fabric. Eira reveled in the cloth that began to warm and brushed against her skin. Collan's hands continued  moving up and down over the dress, pausing only to shake his hands out every once and awhile.

"There's a lot a fabric here," he muttered. Eira could hardly care, she was so relieved. Her teeth had finally stopped clacking together and she felt as if she almost got some semblance of dignity back after the whole river escapade. Almost ten minutes later he declared that he would do no more drying before plopping back down beside his sister in favor of playing with the fire. 

Leaning her back onto a tree, Eira closed her eyes and let her mind wander, listening to the soft cracking of the fire. It was a few long minutes later when Heavy footsteps neared and she peeked open an eye to find a huge, muscular man staring back down at her.

"May I help you?" She asked, letting it appear like she was only mildly curious of why he decided to be friendly, or otherwise yet to be determined, to the woman with two kids.

"I--uh," he cleared his throat, "I happened to have found a patch of Sweetberries behind the tree of your's there and was wondering..."

"If I could move?" She laughed, suddenly realizing that her feet were in the way of an opening in the thick brush, and it was most likely the only way to said berry patch. 

"Sorry?" He asked it as a question, giving an uncomfortable smile in return. 

She took a moment to look him over. Short blond hair, and shy blue eyes. Much younger than he first seemed to be, maybe thirty at most. And with all the muscles that seemed to almost cast their own stark shadows, the idea that someone could be so ridiculously polite and uncomfortable was an entertaining thought. Lifting her legs, she brought them under her to get upright. The man gingerly held out a hand and she gratefully placed one of her own in it, jumping up from the floor. 

"Mind if I join you? The twins are probably starving by now." Eira glanced over to them. Neither had moved, keeping themselves busy with magic tricks. They were almost too quiet, and she hoped that she wasn't the worst caretaker ever by letting them go to bed hungry last night, and then off again in the morning. There had been little she could do, but the growing pit of guilt in her stomach told her otherwise. 

"Not at all." Finally he gave a real, less forced smile. "The name's Rowin."

"Eira. I don't suppose you have a bag?"