She could still see the scene vividly in her head.
"Hey, are you still there?" Emeryl remarked with a faint smile, watching his little sister with arms wrapped behind his head. He knew he caught her daydreaming as they stood outside their home, discussing what chores remained for the day. Usually it was such a monotonous task to him that he rose with the sun and let her sleep in, but he did promise to help her around the house first before he set out to do what men do best, she felt. Fetching dinner for them was hardly a task meant for her.
It was in the middle of the day when she realised she was staring off into the distance for too long, thinking about things that would have made maids blush, especially her. "Oh, was it that obvious?" she squeaked meekly before her brother as she felt her cheeks glow red with embarrassment.
"Sometimes I wonder just how much sleep you get of late," Emeryl sighed, giving the hint of a yawn. Were she in a better mood she might have pulled him up on that, but the writing was on the wall as far as he was concerned. "By the way, you kept me awake last night, what with all the rummaging about I heard from your room. Didn't think those books you read made you
that
restless." he said.
She nearly lost it at those words. "Were you spying on me?!" she gasped, eyes wide.
Emeryl blinked like a startled deer at the thought. "I... what? I don't think-wait, what? Spying?"
She was quick enough to realise he really had no idea. "Oh, nevermind..." she whispered to herself with an unsaid prayer of thanks, nervously patting away at her skirt. "You know what the say, right? The early worm-"
"Can't set aside a good book if it's a feast for the eyes?" he shrugged, "Sometimes I wonder if you spend too much time with them. I mean, I don't think even mother was so concerned with them."
"That's because she-" Emilya paused, realising the near slip. "I... I just happen to like them, 'is all. Is that so bad?" she smiled innocently to him. Guilt crept into her mind at the thought that even after all these years her precious brother still had a pure perception of her, trying his best to be the warrior in shining armour she dreamed about when she was a little girl. Growing up with that image in her head made him more charming than he ever ought to be to any sibling, trying to be what she came to realise years ago was a silly delusion... at least in a world where they did not belong.
Still, he was indeed a fine warrior in her own mind. A little clueless at times, true, but-
"So... I suppose I'll head off then?" he asked, as if he needed her approval.
"Do bring back something scrumptious," she said, her smile lingering.
"Right, no fish, then..." he said dejectedly. For all the years they spent together it was his favourite meat to hunt. Only problem was they ate it almost every day and she developed a certain loathing for having to cook it, no matter how many different recipes she used to try and spice the flavour with, usually with something favourably exotic. "Hmm... in that case, I'll fetch the axe and-"
"Oh, no you don't!" she insisted, waving her hands at him. "You leave the chickens alone!"
"Hey, I like their eggs as much as you do but-"
"Then go shoot something in the forest!" she said with a glare that did little to hide the amusement bubbling in her voice. "Go, on, off with you!" she giggled, "You could use the practice anyway."
"Yeah, yeah..." he rolled his eyes at her, fetching his spear where he laid it next to a tree earlier. Emilya imagined his bow and quiver were nearby, but they were hardly what rarely left his side. With eyes like his, she did not doubt he could pluck a hawk from the air with an instrument that was designed to catch fish, but he was smarter than that. He really did have an answer for everything.
"Don't suppose you could catch us some rabbit?" Emilya asked with hope in her eyes.
Emeryl frowned at that as he checked the old hunting dagger at his belt. "Emilya..."
"I know... I know..." she pouted, "Too fluffy and cute for my dear brother to hunt..."
"It's not that." he insisted gravely, "Weren't you listening the other night? I haven't seen any near the homestead in ages... or anywhere really. Something must have them spooked."
"Foxes, perhaps?" she asked timidly, feeling the weight of her brother's words trouble her.
"No. Can't you feel it?" Emeryl replied, putting his hand out between them., as if he were trying to read the wind. "I don't know what it is exactly but something's amiss. I think I'll scout around and, don't worry, I'll be back by nightfall. Stay close to the house and... you know the rest."
She nodded with reluctance. "Be careful."
The night was young yet Emilya could not help but fret. After remembering her brother's words earlier that day she paced within their home, looking for things to do. There was no sign of him, nothing to ease her mind. She did what he always told her and fastened the windows and doors, sealing herself within a bastion of commonplace. By Emeryl's own admission it was not exactly the most defensible position yet it was still the safest place in all Havenwood. No common beast could enter where she stood and she had everything she needed at her side to deter the lowliest of swine.
Not that she ever imagined herself splitting heads with a lumbering axe, it was there just in case.
Still, she could not help but fret. "Where are you, Ryl..." she whispered to herself, doing one last round about the house, making sure all the windows were shut tight. She had gathered plenty of wood by the fireplace, too, but dared not to light it. Though the evening had brought with it a chill she knew what it's real use was for in troubled times. Its warmth would have to wait.
She stood before it for what felt like an eternity, cupping her hands together, head bowed. "Please..." she whispered, eyes closed for the Creator. "Bring my brother back home safe."
That was when a revelation made her hairs stand on end to a nip in the air, an unfamiliar breeze mocking everything she worked towards that night. She gasped as she raced toward her bedroom, pushing aside her door to reveal her foolishness wide open before her, catching the cotton drapes that framed the only window in the house she forgot to check. Fear crept up her spine as she searched around for any intruder, desperate to end the horrible thoughts assaulting her mind.
She climbed onto her bed to reach the window and closed it with a resounding thud, sighing at her own stupidity as she put her back to it, hand on heart as it continued to race. The breeze she felt was gone now but her fears had only begun as it dawned on her that although nothing was in her room she let out a squeak, seeing her door wide open. What if an intruder sneaked past her?
She scrambled off her bed and hurried over to close it, fetching a simple bronze key from her dresser with the kind of franticness that made her fumble it more than once. By the time she found the lock and twisted the key within she worked up a nervous flush before putting it aside, biting her lip softly in fear of who could be listening now, now inside her home. Now where she could no longer go.
Like it or not she knew she was trapped. The situation, however, was not entirely unpleasant.
Her eyes widened at the thought. With a timid hand she wanted to confirm her strangest of fears, her guiltiest of pleasures. She was all too familiar with the excitement that greeted her in the pit of her stomach as she clutched at her evening dress around her taut belly and held back a murmur that to any onlooker would have raised an eyebrow. A murmur she would want to scold herself for.
"Creator's Breath, why now?!"