Broken Doll {ManxMan}

CHAPTER 16

In the few months I'd been a tortured captive of the Con Rồng, as well as the additional handful of months where I'd been catatonic and recovering there with the Phoniks Vidroh, I'd missed several snowfalls. Stepping onto the back porch with Tobias at my side, I was blessed with the sight of delicate white flakes drifting towards the ground, where inches of snow were already sitting in piles.

Children, both incredibly young and some in their teens, were trampling through the snow, throwing balls of it at each other and building forts and snowmen, shrieking and laughing as if the world was still so normal and beautiful. Some of these children were young, but old enough that they probably remembered the start of the war, the bombs that fell and the fear. Some of them had likely lost... so much, and so many people, and my heart ached, because they were still smiling.

The Con Rồng wasn't like this at all. In the settlement surrounding the base, while there were some children, they were never permitted to leave the confines of their homes. No one was, really, unless they were soldiers going on patrol or heading to the base for a meeting or a briefing with Bay and the others. I couldn't tell you why I suddenly felt the need to compare Bay's government to Kailas' rebellion, but that's what I was doing.

There was no contest in my mind. The rebellion was better in every way.

"I'd somehow forgotten that it was still winter," Tobias said from beside me, and I turned to watch as he tugged the suit coat from his shoulders, draping it around me with a rather serious look in his eyes, "You're finally feeling better, love, I don't want you catching a cold so soon after recovering."

"I'm fine," I tried to reassure Tobias, but a sneeze followed soon after and he arched an eyebrow at me, pulling the edges of his coat together and turning me to face him.

"Did you happen to bring along a coat or a jacket, a sweater at least, in that duffel bag of yours?"

I sniffled a little and shook my head, murmuring while staring down, "Bay never let me leave the base when it was this cold out. He knew I got sick easy and wanted to avoid that, so I never needed one..."

"I see."

"I like the cold, though," I admitted, "So it always annoyed me," my eyes moved to the white expanse of snow blanketing the rebellion's settlement, the little pond towards the center frozen over so securely that people were slipping and sliding across the glassy surface, "Days like this remind me of home. It was always cold in Wales where I lived, but I liked it."

"We'll have to find you a warm coat then," Tobias decided with a smile, one hand on my cheek, "You're already turning to ice. We'll head back inside for now."

I wanted to protest, but figured that wouldn't get me far. Tobias had good reason to want me inside where it was warm, my immune system was already weaker than most people's, and considering I was still technically recovering, that just meant I was even more susceptible to illness. Whenever I got sick, whenever I had a fever, it made me delusional, made me see things, hallucinate. Tobias didn't want to risk it, and neither did I.

Still, before Tobias could turn me towards the door, I reached out to where the snow was falling, holding my palm up so the flakes could drift into it, hitting my skin like tiny bites, melting from the heat of my body. Tobias reached over to take my hand in his, lacing his fingers between mine and pulling it against his chest, his smile soft when I turned my eyes to him.

We were stopped almost immediately when we stepped back into the house, by Bryn, who was holding a folder with a rather bored look on his face, "Sorry to interrupt," he started, glancing at me before looking down at the papers, "Adalwolf just needs your confirmation on some things before he sends the first jet. He faxed a list of supplies as well as names of soldiers he'll be sending over with those supplies, as well as a possible route they'll be taking to reach us."