The New World (The Mikaelson Brothers)

Chapter 2

In the morning, the six women were awoken by the sunbeams evading the leaves. A warm sensation upon Freya’s cheek caused her to raise her hand and touch the warm spot softly. Her eyes fluttered open and she was greeted by a smiling face.

“Good morning”, Isibel said and pulled her sister up by the hand. Isibel was truly the most spontaneous and outgoing sister of the five. She did not recoil for anything or anyone and was the bravest Marwick the family had ever known, outdoing her older sister Freya.

“Morning”, Freya said fully awake after she’d been pulled up onto her feet. She glanced around to find Grida stuffing her mouth, while Asta sophisticatedly popped one berry after another in her mouth. Isibel grinned and teasingly took some of Asta’a berries. Last night had done the girls extremely good and Asta couldn’t have been more thankful to her mother. Freya had recovered from dehydration and exhaustion, Isibel was her bubbly self again and Maria had not cried for the first night since they departed from  their home village.

“It is time to leave again girls”, Agnes said, already carrying one of the heavy sacks on her back. She started walking through the trees, closely followed by Grida, who was desperate to get out of this place. She was longing for some manly entertainment and could not stand spending any longer with her sisters.

“Yes mother”, the four remaining girls echoed. They giggled at the sync of their voices and continued the long journey, not knowing where exactly it would lead them.

Two days passed and the Marwick’s came across a small brook where a woman was washing her two year old son. They little boy was crying and resisted his mother’s attempt to clean the boy up, but the mother was persistent and continued splashing her son with water. The sisters could not help but notice how beautiful this wiman was, with a slightly tanned complexion that glowed when the sun hit her skin and dark curly hair that gracefully fell down her back. If women in the New World were this beautiful, the sisters would stand no chance to find a suitor anytime soon.

Freya glanced at Asta, who looked as surprised as she did. Were they nearing a village? Was it possible that they had already arrived in the New World? As the trees grew slightly less dim and the sun reached its highest point, a large hut became visible and Agnes confirmed Freya’s assumptions.

“Girls”, Agnes said halting at the forest edge, revealing a large village with crowded streets. “Welcome to the New World.”

Freya gasped at the sight of the people roaming around the streets, the chickens running freely and the children playing on the hard soil. As she and her sibling walked further into the mass of people, Freya’s fascination for her surroundings made her forget about her family. With a bright smile on her face and admiration in her eyes, she twirled around with her arms spread wide, making her lilac dress follow her twist gracefully. She dropped her arms and sighed contently.

“It is beautiful here, do you not agree Asta?”, Freya said and turned around expecting to see her sister. She scanned her surroundings and panicked when she noticed that her family was gone. In a quick pace she pushed herself through the mass and bumped into a tall broad chest, causing her to drop the heavy sack she was carrying.

“My apologies”, a deep male voice spoke, sparking Freya’s attention. She looked up into a pair of deep brown eyes, the same color as her own, and swallowed loudly. Never in her twenty years had she witnessed a man so handsome, not even in her dreams did she dare to imagine a man like him.

The man shot her a polite smile, making Freya’s cheeks go red. She tried to cover the rosy color that graced her pale complexion by looking down at the dark brown soil beneath her feet. She noticed how dirty the rim of her dress was and wondered if she reeked from days of having not washed herself. Mother had not given them any time to spend on their appearance, which had not sounded unfair during their journey, but standing in front of a man like this, Freya became extremely self-conscious and only hoped that she looked presentable.

Freya looked up at the man’s face one more time, this time letting her eyes follow his chiseled jaw and high cheekbones. Her eyes darted up to his lips and continued to find their way back to his eyes. Not knowing what to say, she simply nodded and pushed past the man, accidentally brushing his bare muscled arm with her shoulder. She continued blushing as she strode past two very good looking men, both staring at her with surprisingly amused expression written over their face, and let her head hang low. One of the two men had looked slightly familiar to her, but Freya convinced herself that it was impossible to come across anyone familiar in this village.

Freya glanced around eagerly, looking for her mother and her siblings and wondered if they hadn’t noticed that she wasn’t among them anymore. The third oldest Marwick daughter almost stumbled over a loose running chicken, but restored her balance swiftly, something she was not able to do very often. Freya was kind of clumsy and got into embarrassing situations often enough, like her encounter with the handsome man. She could not get her mind off him, though it would be better to focus on finding her family right now.

Freya gave up on her search and sat down on a bale of hey in front of a small hut. She leaned her elbows on her knees and stared at the feet of passing people. Was her family ever going to start looking for her?

A hand was placed upon Freya’s shoulder, causing her to jump up for the bale of hey. She turned around and was startled to see a stranger smiling at her. A woman of age with dark skin and deep black eyes tilted her head in observation. Her eyes darted all over the girl, as if trying to identify her.

“Tell me child. What is your name?”, she said, her voice warm and comforting.

“Freya.”

“Freya, it is a name we do not know around here. You must be a daughter of Agnes Marwick.” Freya nodded and pinched her eyes at the woman in front of her.

“I am curious about your knowledge regarding my name and mother”, Freya said, keeping a sharp eye at the woman.

“My name is Ayana”, the woman introduced herself. “Nature has told me about your arrival and it was nature that brought to me your names.”

“Then you must be a witch”, Freya concluded. Witches were the children of nature and were connected to the earth. When the Marwick family left their old village, Agnes must’ve spoken to the earth and sent a message to the New World. Ayanna must’ve been the one telling Freya’s mother about the New World.

“I am, as are you and your sisters.”

Freya frowned at the dark skinned witch. “I do not know what you are speaking of. My sisters and I do not posses any powers like my mother. She is the only witch in the family.”

“You are mistaken. Any child born to a witch harbors the same powers as their parent”, Ayana argued. She held out her hand and gestured with her eyes that Freya should take it. Hesitantly Freya reached out her arm and trusted her hand to the witch Ayana. “Now let me guide you back to your family.”