“It’s a good thing that we left Oren with mom.”“Yeah.” Rognvald stared.“What are you gonna do?”“I don’t know,” and he really didn’t know. All of the plans and schemes that he had tried, or wanted to try, seemed stupid now. He had always liked Indra and he thought that he could have loved her, now, standing over her body, he felt little in the way of feelings for her. That surprised him, he was shocked that she would take her own life, but his numbness now left him thinking about himself.“We have to tell Harden; I mean The People will need to know to.”He looked at his daughter, she was so young, but now he could see her mind working behind her eyes. “I’ll tell him. You go home and tell mom that Oren is not lying, this time anyways. I’ll wait here for the woman who keeps the fires burning, then I’ll go to tell Harden.”“Ok, I’ll go help mom.” She was feeling conflicted within herself, much like her father was.When Claudia left, Rognvald found a blanket to cover Indra’s body. The w

Kaya had this sassy little smile that spoke to her adventurous side, some of the young men took her smile as a challenge, thinking that they could make her happy. Callum knew that he could not make her happy, he saw the reluctance in her eyes, a fire burned there that only she could put out. Her soft lips and firm breasts were a precious gift that only she could give, the sacred space between her legs was a thought never too far away from the young men of Ondu. Callum and Kaya had been friends for a long time, the two of them, along with Marx, had known each other since they were eight winters old. Kaya and Marx had been friends for longer than that.Callum did miss Kaya, he had not spoken to her in over a month, he’s been a bit preoccupied with Marx. Marx had not known of her feelings for Callum until the two had a close encounter at the large boulders. Since then, Marx has made it her business to win over Callum. Marx would never wish for dreadful things to happen but when the Flist

Rognvald manipulated his way into the leadership role of the group leaving while Harden mourned for Indra. His impassioned speeches about how The People had suffered, about the benefits of a new village and farmlands, and about trade left all but a few of the council members questioning Rognvald’s motives. It was clear, to every member, that Rognvald thought he should be chief. Harden was propped up by his friends and supporters during his grief over losing Indra. Only a few people knew about what really happened, how Indra died, and those people had their own agenda.Kaya hadn’t been this far from her home since before her parents died. The farthest she strayed from her doorway was to collect wood for the hearth fire, that was only a few meters from the door. She had no reason to leave, even after the quarantine was lifted, she stayed home. She let the kiln fires go cold, there were still pieces inside that needed to be finished, she left them there. The rest of her home was empty, d

“I am finally going to be the leader The People deserve.” Rognvald announced.“Yes, here, here.” Oscar sounded off.“It is about time Rognvald, about time.” Hastiin Leffler raised a mug of beer to toast his new leader.“It will be worth it in the end.” Angeni Spier adds.The council meeting had broken up, most of the members had gone to their respective duties. Rognvald stayed back in the meeting house to celebrate his triumph, some of his supporters felt obligated to stay as well. Not all of them were happy about leaving.“It will be the time of our lives. We will cross the Domea and establish a village on the other side.” Rog finished to cheers.“It will go by fast.”“What will go bye fast, Hastiin?” Asked Oscar.“The two weeks. The two weeks until we leave, they will go bye fast, we should begin our preparations now. We should save the revelry for after we cross the river.”“Hastiin, why are you so worried about preparations?” Asked Rognvald after a big gulp of beer.“It is a long

After supper, Erek set out his bed roll, he lay it next to the fire and outside of the shelter they brought. Brie sat next to him, and they watched the sun set. After a while, the chill of the night crept closer to the fire.“I’m getting cold.”“Me too.” Said Erek.“The stars are so many; I don’t think I have ever looked at them like this before.”“It was just like this on my first trip to the forest, we slept out just like this,” he gestured to the ground. “The stars were just as impressive then as they are now.”“Erek? Do you know why my mother died?”That made Erek shudder, he did know what she did, but he had no idea why. “I really don’t, I wish I did though.”Brie knew that he was sincere but couldn’t put her finger on why it would bother him so much, she could see that he was sad too. She looked into the fire and seemed to mature in an instant.“The midwife told me that it was her heart,” she paused, “she said that it was broken, her heart, and that some mothers died from this c