Chapter 2

"Kruscha, you're late again. You don't want to be late today."

She went to the door and removed the small wedge of wood that acted as a lock. It helped her feel safe although it offered no real protection.

The door opened with a creak revealing a woman old enough to be her mother in ragged clothes same as hers.

"Kruscha! Look at you? You're hardly ready! You know what would happen if we're late today, don't you? " Celia exclaimed, full of concern.

Kruscha made no comment. She simply walked to the corner and gathered her tools. She put them all on a piece of old cloth and tied them all together to make a pack.

She took the torn pair of socks from the top of the table and wore them and then she slipped on her wooden sandals. The sandals of a crafter.

She hipped her tools and stepped out of her room, pulling the door  behind her, shutting it close.

Kruscha stared at Celia with a blank expression. It was genuine worry that was painted all over her face. Celia wanted to care for Kruscha. After all, she was her sister's daughter.

"Let us go. We're already late. " Celia said turning away from Kruscha and starting to walk up the road, silent, knowing very well that she wouldn't hear anything else from her niece.

This has been the way, ever since the day Kruscha's parents have died. Celia tried to get closer to her. Try to warm Kruscha's stiffening heart. Try to make up for the loss she had to bear. But no matter how much she tried, Kruscha wouldn't let Celia in. But Celia never gave up. She always tried.

Silent the trees were. Silent was Kruscha. Cold was the winter. So was Kruscha's heart. That is who she was to everyone. That's how people knew her. 

Kruscha followed Celia's steps up the path covered with snow. The thin, worn off socks were already damp and neither of them could feel any sensation through the skin of their feet.

"Lord Truchard  arrived this morning. I heard the horns. " Celia said while hurrying her feet through the snow covering the path leading up the hill.

" The Gorgon pass is open. Countrymen have been passing through the village the whole night. "

Kruscha made no attempt to respond. Her mind had wandered far away. She was staring at the direction of the pass. As they headed further up the hill the pass came in to view. The grand decors and the lines of carts and people on foot passing through looked out of the ordinary for Kruscha. It was nothing ordinary for the rest of the village either. After all, the Clausehall had been closed for the last century or so.

"There are so many. " Kruscha's silent lips let out an exclamation.

Celia looked at the people passing down in the alley while coming to a halt.

" Lord Truchard had ordered Serojin the presence of all men of the kingdom. The villagers are not so happy with all these people coming in." Celia said turning towards Kruscha.

"Herman says there are spies among the Countrymen. And most would settle down in these parts. It would take decades to build any hope of trust again. " she went on to say.

Herman was the headman of Milenis, the village Kruscha lived in. Herman was a pawn of Serojin and most people knew better than to say no to him.

" what difference would it make? " Kruscha wasn't expecting an answer to her question.

Celia couldn't understand half the things Kruscha said most of the time. But she feared that Kruscha's way of thinking would not do her any good.

Celia didn't know what to say. But she understood Kruscha's concerns. Herman himself was not a person anyone could trust.

They walked down the hill now, the path spiraling. The terrain was rough and unpredictable. But the villagers were well acquainted with the nature around them. Celia and Kruscha walked down the path with ease, reaching the foot of the hill. The guards were at the worker's gates, letting the craftsmen and other workers in.

They blended with the crowd and moved towards the open gates.