1st Fall 515
It was a new season, a new day ready to be seized. There was no work that day, Rals declaring that it was time that they all took a day off, and Alija felt that it was time to spend with Kial. Ever after the adoption, the two had been busy, or rather, Alija had been busy, and Kial had spent too much time alone. He didn't mind it, as he had the dogs to look after him and the other children on his street to play with, but Alija wasn't happy with it. Today, she would change that.
To start, she made him a breakfast that would have been fit for a king if she hadn't burnt it, the pancakes black and charred. They tasted strange too, as if the recipe she had borrowed had been wrong. Her hard work and limited rations had to been thrown to the dogs, and they instead ate the stale bread in silence, Alija embarrassed from her mishap.
Then, she had tried to treat him to a present, but it seemed like no shop stocked toys anymore, nothing for a young boy like him to play with. That walk around Zeltiva had ended badly, with a short burst of rain at the very end, and they returned back to their cottage soaked through their skin.
And the cottage was too small for them and the two dogs. They had been struggling to fit them all in, Kial and Alija taking turns on an old bedroll she had borrowed, but the ground was hard and cold, and neither like it. There was no privacy either, and if either wanted some time alone, they would have to wait for the other to leave. They needed a new place to stay, and soon, or the two would become sick of each other.
But Alija was still determined to make this a good day. One final walk down to the beach, she decided, would do both of them good, and hopefully this wouldn't be ruined too.
She had finally managed to drag Kial away from where he sulked in the corner when a knock sounded on the door. Strange, as she rarely had visitors. It came again, and Alija left Kial where he was, quickly opening it. Trump bounded over, sniffing curiously at the new man who arrived, who bent over and scratched her lightly behind the ear. Rosco growled lightly at him, warning him not to harm his friend in any way, but the man had no intention to, quickly backing off to show his respect.
It was a man in his mid- to late-thirties, with a large pair of spectacles resting on his crooked nose and a friendly smile. He entered without asking, stamping off his boots before taking a seat beside the table. He slipped the large briefcase he carried with him on the table, pulling out papers and quills until he stopped on one neatly rolled one, placing it on the table.
He gestured for Alija to come beside him and she did, asking Kial to quietly sit on the bed or take the dogs out for the walk. He stayed, obviously curious about what was happening. So was she, and she was about to find out.
It was a new season, a new day ready to be seized. There was no work that day, Rals declaring that it was time that they all took a day off, and Alija felt that it was time to spend with Kial. Ever after the adoption, the two had been busy, or rather, Alija had been busy, and Kial had spent too much time alone. He didn't mind it, as he had the dogs to look after him and the other children on his street to play with, but Alija wasn't happy with it. Today, she would change that.
To start, she made him a breakfast that would have been fit for a king if she hadn't burnt it, the pancakes black and charred. They tasted strange too, as if the recipe she had borrowed had been wrong. Her hard work and limited rations had to been thrown to the dogs, and they instead ate the stale bread in silence, Alija embarrassed from her mishap.
Then, she had tried to treat him to a present, but it seemed like no shop stocked toys anymore, nothing for a young boy like him to play with. That walk around Zeltiva had ended badly, with a short burst of rain at the very end, and they returned back to their cottage soaked through their skin.
And the cottage was too small for them and the two dogs. They had been struggling to fit them all in, Kial and Alija taking turns on an old bedroll she had borrowed, but the ground was hard and cold, and neither like it. There was no privacy either, and if either wanted some time alone, they would have to wait for the other to leave. They needed a new place to stay, and soon, or the two would become sick of each other.
But Alija was still determined to make this a good day. One final walk down to the beach, she decided, would do both of them good, and hopefully this wouldn't be ruined too.
She had finally managed to drag Kial away from where he sulked in the corner when a knock sounded on the door. Strange, as she rarely had visitors. It came again, and Alija left Kial where he was, quickly opening it. Trump bounded over, sniffing curiously at the new man who arrived, who bent over and scratched her lightly behind the ear. Rosco growled lightly at him, warning him not to harm his friend in any way, but the man had no intention to, quickly backing off to show his respect.
It was a man in his mid- to late-thirties, with a large pair of spectacles resting on his crooked nose and a friendly smile. He entered without asking, stamping off his boots before taking a seat beside the table. He slipped the large briefcase he carried with him on the table, pulling out papers and quills until he stopped on one neatly rolled one, placing it on the table.
He gestured for Alija to come beside him and she did, asking Kial to quietly sit on the bed or take the dogs out for the walk. He stayed, obviously curious about what was happening. So was she, and she was about to find out.