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The nation Chapter 48
“I’ll freeze to death.” Kaya said while hugging herself dramatically.“No, you won’t. But, if you do, I promise to bring you inside and thaw you out. If I didn’t your mother would tan my hide. Oh, is that venison I smell?”“Dad, is that your stomach talking again?”“Maybe, but I have to leave you girls now. Leave you to investigate that smell.” Tombold slunk off to try and sneak up on Kathryn, he rarely succeeded.“So, Kaya, when was the last time you saw Callum?” Marx already knew the answer, she had seen Callum last, before he left for his hunting trip.“About five or six days ago, I hate going out in the cold if I can help it. He usually comes here to see me, but he must have been busy prepping for the trip.”Rognvald knew little about living off the land. His father and grandfather tried to teach him about such things, but he showed little interest, so they let him find his own path. Rognvald found his path indeed, it led him to seek positions of power so he could tell other peopl
The nation Chapter 49
“Kaya.” Her mother said weakly.“Yes, mom, what’s wrong?”“I think we are sick; your dad needs water and a healer. I am too weak to stand, that is why I was on the floor.” Kathryn shivered. “I had to crawl over there the last time, I barely made it.”“Rest momma, I’ll get help.” Kaya got a burst of adrenaline.“Your dad,” Kathryn coughed, “he said his heart was fluttering in his chest. Go and get a healer.”The healer came. Kaya was exhausted from her effort, she had to walk a four-kilometer round trip to fetch the healer. The healer put her to bed after a quick assessment, telling Kaya that she needed rest. The healer’s focus was on Kathryn and Tombold, they were weak from dehydration. The healer did what she could, which was to try to get fluids into the Flistedt’s and make them more comfortable, the healer didn’t know what the sickness was. Kaya was informed by the healer, that she would have to take care of her parents because she was not as sick as they were and there was no one
The nation Chapter 50
“Kaya Tasso?” The healer, Diana, always used Kaya’s full name. She said it was a powerful spirit name. “Kaya Tasso, are you there?”Kaya heard the voice, it was small in her head, like a mouse would sound from across the room. The faint voice continued.“It’s freezing out here, are you ok?”Kaya sat up, feeling no dizziness, she called back.“I’m ok.”Diana had learned where the bedrooms were in the Flistedt’s home, that way she could stand on the outside of the nearest wall and talk to Kaya. Otherwise, standing at the front door, she would have to yell over the blowing wind loud enough to be heard in the back of the home.“That’s good to hear, I was worried a bit when you didn’t answer right away. How are your parents?”“They are weak. Dad’s confused, he says some weird things and I think he is hallucinating.”“What about your mom?”“She is not as confused but her eyes are almost all black, I can hardly see the brown in them.”A moment passed before Diana answered back, she was think
The nation Chapter 51
“What? No. How did this become pick on Callum day?” Asked Callum over the icy wind that beat at his exposed skin with ferocity.“How else are we gonna distract ourselves from this cold?” Gorman shouted in reply.Lorne responded, “with Callum’s love life, lack of...”The five young men were painfully traveling through the bitter freezing morning air. The party was heading southwest, back to Ondu. They had been gone for fifteen days, one day longer than they were expected to be gone. Bastien had made them pack up and head for home, they all longed to be out here hunting. The hunt spoke to their souls as it did in most of the men from Ondu, as well as some of the women. Bastien was the closest thing to a leader that this group had, he was smart, strong, and confident. Whenever the five got into a scenario where someone needed to take charge, the default setting was Bastien. Something about his personality, his demeanor, just said leader; he had no doubt he would be chief one day. The pa
The nation Chapter 52
Callum always walked on eggshells around Marx, she could turn right around in the blink of an eye. One moment she would be your friend then, with an imperceptible quickness, she would change one hundred and eighty degrees. He liked her though, despite her all-knowing look that naturally graced her face. Marx was not the tallest or the prettiest, but she was authentic. She was always herself; confident, sassy, and genuine. Most people knew Marx, and liked her, but she rubbed some people the wrong way. Not on purpose mind you, she was a strong-willed woman, and she didn’t care whether she was liked or not. Callum wondered if she had a softer side.“How do you guys keep warm?”“The same way we do here, we built a fire, made temporary shelter and kept out of the wind.” Callum took a bite of bread after he finished his explanation.“You make it sound so simple.”“It is, I mean, we just have everything here already set up. Someone at some time had to establish Ondu, it didn’t just spring up
The nation Chapter 53
They had been completely naked twice in the kiln room. The last time, Kaya was on top of him, her skin was a light with the kiln fire. Her breast perfectly symmetrical in the dim light of the room. Her long-braided hair draped over one shoulder, gently brushed his chest. She had straddled him, when he looked down at his swollen cock, Kaya had it in her hand and the hair on her lower belly was inches from him. It was hard for him to clear his mind of those thoughts, he wanted to be with Kaya, but he wasn’t sure of his feelings for her. He said the same to Kaya while she held him in her hand, they did not have sex that day although one part of Callum was sure of its feelings.It was still bitter cold, and Callum knew he would be outside while he talked to Kaya, so he dressed like he was going hunting again. When he was ready to go, he made his way to the front door of his home. His mother spotted him before he left.“Where are you going on this wintry morning? Hunting again?”“No mom, I
The nation Chapter 54
Kaya sat on her parents’ bed, on the side where her mother lay. The sound of the winter winds blowing and the distant crackle of the hearth fire, were the only sounds as her conscious mind processed what her sub-conscious mind already understood. Her mother was gone. A panic gripped her after the realization. She jumped up, pushing on her mother’s side, shaking her, and screaming. She was in shock. She shook her mother intensely praying that she would wake up. Kathryn did not wake up, Kaya screamed again. No one heard her wails; they were instead carried away with the wind.When her mother didn’t wake up, Kaya raced around to the side of the bed that her father lay on. She touched his hand after she uncovered it, she was too afraid to pull the blanket back too far, his hand was frozen too. Her eye’s burned, her throat went dry as a pit formed in her gut. Her heart thumped heavily in her chest; tears fell freely.“Dad?” She called out.She continued to shake her father’s body, she lost
The nation Chapter 55
Callum was sitting on a hay bale in the stables where his father kept their horses. Marx was brushing a mare as Callum watched. Callum was not the best horsemen, sure he could ride, but it often was at his own peril. His father told him that the animals were smart and intuitive, they could pick up on the emotions of their rider. Callum wasn’t afraid of the horses, per say, but they did unnerve him most of the time. Callum rarely rode because of this and that was why Marx was brushing the horse now. Both Callum, and the horses of Ondu, had an unspoken agreement; they only shared company if they had too.Marx was brushing the flank of Callum’s father’s horse. Everyone in Ondu knew that Callum and the horses had a tenuous relationship at best. She was only there to be with Callum, the horses were only slightly annoyed. She also knew that standing out in the cold talking to Kaya through the wall of her room was something she wouldn’t do. Marx and the cold had a hate, hate, relationship. S