Chapter 31 : two in a hut

"Kokoriko~~Kokoriko~~Kokoriko~~"

"Shut your trap!"

Swearing out loud, I stifled my cries in my pillows. It was barely five, and I still wanted to sleep, but that damn hull didn't want to stop screaming, waking up the whole village.

Having no choice, I had to get up-sitting at the edge of my bed. I was thinking of all the different ways to roast a chicken…

Deeply engrossed in my dark revenge plans, I didn't hear the knocks at my door until a few minutes later. I stood up and went opening my door.

"Yes?"

Before me stood a fully clothed, clean, and ready Sylvester.

His black hair, unlike his usual style, was put up in a ponytail, dangling from side to side when he moved. And just like yesterday afternoon, he was dressed simply, minimally, and commoner-like.

He was wearing a loose white shirt with a brown linen jacket and the same pants in the same color as the jacket.

But while his clothes weren't accentuated, like the noble's custom wanted, it didn't diminish his sophisticated demeanor for all that.

"I will wait for you downstairs; you can take your time."

"Alright."

I closed the door and went to take a shower, quickly preparing myself. I dressed warmly, more than habitually, and took my bag of food.

I cleaned my bedroom a bit to not give it back dirty. And, finally, I went downstairs to the reception lady, gave my pair of keys, and went outside to join Sylvester.

As I stepped outside, I took a big, deep breath—breathing the cold and unpolluted hair of the morning dew. My hair flew a bit as a breeze went past me, making me shiver.

"It's colder than yesterday." I said out loud as I looked into the distance.

The snow, which was still quite thin yesterday, was now reaching the beginning of my ankle.

The snow had piled up to create mini mountains all around the village.

Far ahead, I could see children laughing and running, throwing snow between themselves. And in the middle of the little circus stood a young man of long dark hair and deep eyes, of the appearance of a wise and ancient person.

He was faintly smiling, seeming at ease.

The children surrounded him, making attention to not hurl their projectile at him, as they ran and screamed.

"Yahhhh! No! Don't touch me...Kyaaa~"

"I got you!"

"Hey, right here! Right here!"

When I approached, arriving close to them, the children looked at me—stopping their play—with their big childish eyes. I smiled sweetly, taking attention to not scare them, and they blushed before laughing.

"Sister, you are also a visitor?" Asked one of the children.

"Yes, yes, I never saw you around!" Replied another one.

Another one advanced toward me, looked up at me, and then back at Sylvester.

"Are you his wife?" She innocently asked, puzzled.

I laughed, amused by the innocence of children her age. I stooped as I caressed her head, looking at her lovely little head.

"No, silly, we are too young to be husband and wife."

"Then why are you traveling together, staying in the same inn?"

"Because we are friends. Friends can travel together."

"Really? Then I will travel with my best friend, Lucas, when I grow up. We will always be together!" She said with stars in her eyes, thinking about her limitless future.

"That's great! And what's your name, pretty young lady?"

"My name is Isadora!" She said, confidently.

"Isadora, what a beautiful name you have, young lady."

"Thank you!"

I stood up, giving them a last smile, before advancing toward Sylvester, who was still at the same spot, observing us.

I greet him with a smile.

"Should we depart?"

"Very well. Our horses are waiting for us at the entrance of the village. A black and white horse."

"They're yours?"

"Yes, I had servants bring them before our arrival. I hope you don't mind."

'Ah, the riches... So extravagant.'

"No, I don't mind, but you could have just borrowed some horses from the villagers."

"Well, I wanted to have horses in which I had my trust, to make nothing happen to you. I have to ensure your security."

"That's...thank you."

As we talked, we moved toward the entrance.

The horses, as per said, were waiting for us, tied to the enclosure of the village. They were beautiful white and black horses with beautiful manes. They were big, tall, and majestic.

Two calm and easy-going male horses.

"They are breathtaking."

"They are. Which one do you want to ride? They are both good horses. And they are not afraid of strangers."

"The white one, I think. It's my second favorite color, after green."

"Green is your favorite color? That's why you wear so much green then. No wonder."

"Why, it doesn't suit me?" I asked jokingly as I approached the white horse, slowly caressing his shinny mane.

"No, it does. You look beautiful in green."

I stilled at his words, embarrassed. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't respond, remaining back to him while hiding my flushed cheeks.

'What the hell, Georgia! You are not a preteen. Pull yourself together!"

The horse, wanting me to keep petting him, hushed me to give my hand back, neighing slowly.

"Hahaha, you like it, right? You are so cute!"

"His name is Rodeo. And the black one is Feliz."

"Oh! Pleased to meet you, Rodeo and Feliz! Take care of me, friends."

The horses neighed to reply back, sniffing by the end.

Finishing our little "introductions," I pulled myself in a bound on Rodeo's back and positioned myself in a correct and straight posture.

"You're coming?" I said as I made a small side movement with my head, hinting him to get on his horse.

"Yes, right away!"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

We rode for nearly two hours straight, barely stopping to drink before we had no choice but to stop in the face of a sudden, not forecast, snowstorm.

But knowing the reputation of this territory, it wasn't surprising. In fact, we were already lucky if we didn't meet any vile creatures, ready to attack us on the way.

'It's okay, it's only this much snow. We won't be too disturbed by it.' was what I thought two hours ago when we climbed the mountains, not knowing what waited ahead.

I wish I had shut up.

Now, seeing the blurred horizon and the blocked path, I had to admit that I had been stupid to think that because I was a mage I could stop natural disasters.

If a mage couldn't use magic in water, it went without saying that he couldn't manipulate the weather either.

In fact, nobody but the almighty could do that.

I sighed at my idiocy, before turning to my companion, who seemed more perplexed than I was.

Surely he didn't anticipate this, and that must have made him dissatisfied.

Well, even magic powers had their limits. And guessing the weather was one of them. Or we were just unlucky.

"What should we do?"

"We should go search for a refuge before the snow burys us. We will stay until it quiets down."

"Okay, where should we head then?"

"How about the forest? Maybe there is some kind of hut somewhere?"

"Yeah, we can do that. Let's move!"

I tapped gently Feliz on his side to signal him to move forward. We went into the serene and quiet snowy forest, obligated to gallop at a slow rate because of the strong wind.

We were kind of blind guessing, moving without knowing where to go and hardly seeing anything.

"Georgia, let's stop there. Over there, do you see?"

I looked toward the place Sylvester pointed, squinting my eyes to fight back the rough wind, and saw a small, crooked wooden hut, slumped under a huge pile of snow. It looked like an abandoned house. If that could be called a house.

"Yes, I see. Should we stay the night there?"

"We have no other choice. Must do with. I hope you won't feel too uncomfortable."

"Why?"

"Well, it doesn't look wide nor warm... And there's only the two of us."

"It's only now that you think about us not being enough? Didn't we do that all this way alone?"

"You...don't mind it. Just forget."

'Okay?…' I thought in my head, not getting what he hinted at. Didn't I already say to him that going up in the mountains alone was practically suicide.

Moreover, we were two meager teenagers (or at least one of us was) who didn't have much power... Kinda.

"Okay, should we go?"