As usual, Dakra was the first one in
the house to awaken. She had always
liked to greet her family in the morning with a hot breakfast. Today it was even more important to her for
this would be the last hot meal Flindra would have for many days. It was also the last meal the family would
share together for Leudh and his family would be coming over for breakfast to
see Flindra on her way.
The little cottage soon was filled with
the rich aromas of fried ham and eggs, bread warming by the fire, and hot
spiced cider. Dakra wanted Flindra to
have a filling meal so she cooked half again as much as she usually did. It would be much easier for her to spend a
long day in the saddle if she started off with a full belly.
Flindra awoke with the delicious aromas
seeping up from below. She got up and
splashed cold water on her face to finish the process of waking up. After drying off, she started the mundane job
of getting dressed. Her movements were
slow and unenthusiastic for she wanted to delay the moment of her departure for
as long as she could.
After she was dressed, she sat on her
bed for a while and watched the morning stars slowly fade as the sun neared the
horizon. It would be a cool day but the
chill would help her stay alert. Her
journeys into the crystal made her feel uneasy and she knew that there was
danger approaching her. She would have
to keep her wits intact if she wanted to reach Kewero safely. That meant she couldn't allow herself to dull
her focus with grief. She would have to
watch herself closely.
She left the bed when she heard Brehwan
arrive downstairs and looked once more around the room. The things she was taking were packed and
ready to be stowed behind her saddle.
There was nothing to bring her back here once she went below. She turned around slowly and tried to
memorize every feature of the room so she would never forget her life
here. It was important to her to
remember. Her memories were her anchors,
which would always stabilize her in the storms of her future.
When she was finished, she walked
through her brother's old room and down the narrow staircase.
"Good morning," she said in
greeting, trying to keep as much cheerfulness in her tone as she could manage.
"Morning Flindra," Brehwan
answered with a forced smile of her own.
"Leudh and the boys are in the barn."
Flindra nodded in understanding as she
went to give her mother a hand with the cooking. "Morning, Momma."
"Morning, dear. Did you sleep well?"
She smiled, this time with genuine
feeling. Her mother's question spoke
volumes of concern and love. "I
did. The sprig of lavender you put next
to my pillow made me sleep well and brought me pleasant dreams."
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