The Choosing (13 page)

Gone now were the rocky hills surrounding Stone haven, replaced by gently rolling fields of tall weeds and wild flowers still struggling to bloom in the oncoming chill of fall.  bees and other flying insects buzzed around the fields and from time to time a flock of birds would rise up from some undisclosed location in the distance just to float lazily on the wind a while before settling back down in the fields. 

Sara did in fact do much better their second day of travel.  She tried her best to keep pace with the boys, who only had to slow a little for her today.  Also they only stopped a hand full of times to let her rest, each time she assured them she was ready to continue.  About mid day, during one of their rest stops, Sara removed her boots and asked Ashton to heal the blisters that formed again on her feet.  They were not nearly as bad this day as they had been the previous day.  Her boots were finally starting to break in.  The end of the day came quickly with all four of them talking and telling stories.  Sara spoke the least, not having much to tell, and wanting to learn all she could about Seth.  As the sun began to set, they foraged around for a good place to make camp.  Sara was the first to notice a small stand of young trees a short way off the trail, and pointing it out, the group changed direction angling towards the trees.  It was a small stand of birches, in a rough circle with a decent opening at their heart.  In the opening, at the very center there lay a ring of stones encompassing a pile of charred wood and ash, marking this as a place someone else had made camp recently.  The rest of the night went much the same as the last, with Seth declining Sara’s silent invitation and instead covering her with the remainder of the blanket.

This night the air was much colder, and Seth found himself waking at regular intervals to stretch his cold muscles, and calm his chattering teeth.  Each time he woke, Seth checked on Sara, being sure that she slept peacefully, and often he carefully pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders, tucking it around her small body to be sure she stayed warm.  Each time he awoke, after checking on Sara he quickly lie back down to try and salvage what was left of the night.

Seth was again the first to wake as the sky began to lighten.  He looked around, verifying everyone was still sleeping restfully, and rolled to check again on Sara.  He liked watching her sleep.  She was so peaceful, so beautiful.  But he decided this morning to wake her, not wanting to disturb her rest, but hoping that they could perhaps share a few moments together, alone, without the eyes of the others upon them.  Like the morning before, he knelt down beside her and whispered in her ear.

“Wake up angel.”  So soft, so quietly he said the words, watching her face.

Again as before her eyes came slowly open, and registering his face she again smiled at him.  Like the morning before Seth leaned down to kiss her forehead.  Sara shifted her body, tilting her head back.  She saw Seth leaning nearer to kiss her head, his eyes closed, and quickly replaced it with her mouth.  His lips found hers, and she kissed him back softly.  Their kiss lasted only a moment, and Seth’s eyes had opened in surprise.  He had not expected this change, though he wanted it.  Leaning again close to her, he brushed his lips against hers once more and pulled back slowly reveling in the feeling it sent through him.  He lightly stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers as he had the day before, and Sara seemed to snuggle against his hand, pushing her face more firmly against it.

Sara enjoyed the kisses, more so than anything she had ever enjoyed before in her life.  The sensation sent tingles down her spine, and made her breathing come in short gasps.  She pressed her face into his hand when he presented the opportunity, and his hand was like ice.  This was why he had awoken so early, because he was freezing.  She could not believe he would suffer like this, knowing that he could simply share a blanket with her. But she also knew he would not lay with her under the blanket, not yet he had said.  He still waited for something, something from her.  She wished to give it to him whatever it was if it would end his suffering.  But she knew not what he wanted.  Sara hastily made a plan.  She rose from her blanket and motioned for Seth to join her across the small clearing.  He began to cautiously walk across the short distance, careful not to step on anything that might make a noise.  Sara reached down, snatching up the blanket and followed him.  They walked together to the edge of the trees, and Seth turned to see what it was that she intended.  Sara quickly asked Seth to sit, and he did eager to make her happy.  He plopped down on the ground, his knees in the air, and his back against one of the small trees that made the grove.  Sara ran her fingers through his hair and pulled his head close to her, as if to hug him there against her waist.  Holding his head to her with one hand, she draped the blanket across his shoulders with the other.  She released him then, and realizing her ploy Seth looked at her accusingly.  She smiled, her angelic smile at him then, smoothing the troubled lines of his face.  Seth spread the blanket wide across his arms behind him, inviting her to sit beside him.  Sara, watching Seth’s face for any looks of disapproval ignored the empty space beside him, and instead climbed carefully into his lap, curling up like a child; she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her entire body against his chest.  Seth was caught off guard.  First a kiss and now she was curled up in his lap.  He hurriedly wrapped his arms, and the blanket around her pulling her close, feeling her warmth.  She just sat there, in his lap, her face nuzzled up against his neck, her head resting on his shoulder.  He hugged her tightly to him, and she responded by kissing his neck lightly.  Seth sat there for what seemed like a long time, feeling her small body pressed against his, listening to her breathing.  Finally warm, and more relaxed and comfortable than Seth could ever remember feeling, he fell asleep.  Seth had not meant to fall asleep, he wanted to relish in that moment forever if he could, but his body, overwhelmed and exhausted, finally relaxed, had other plans.

Sara, curled in a ball, like a child, laid comfortably in Seth’s large arms.  His body was so comfortable around her; it was as if she was meant to be here.  It made her feel like she was made to fit in his arms.  She could feel Seth’s body finally warming to a reasonable level.  She heard his breathing slow, and she felt his chest beneath her moving in a steady rhythm.  Knowing Seth had fallen asleep with her in his arms, she too closed her eyes, and drifted into darkness, hoping to never leave his arms again.

Sara awoke some time later.  She did not know how long she had slept, but noted the sky was fairly bright now.  She listened to Seth’s breathing a moment, and found to her delight that he still slept.  She heard a rustling sound and slowly, carefully turned her head to see where the sound had come from.  Garret and Ashton stood a short distance away, staring at the unexpected sight of Sara in Seth’s arms.  Realizing they had been caught staring, Ashton’s face flushed and he quickly turned and walked away.  Garret on the other hand raised his hand to his mouth to stifle a laugh and shook his head jokingly at Sara.  She glared at him menacingly letting him know in no uncertain terms that if he woke his brother he was in trouble.  Garret’s smile disappeared, and he nodded in understanding and with a wink to her, he turned and strode across the small clearing to pack up his things.  Sara watched the two boys to make sure they would not disturb Seth, and feeling confident that they would not, she turned her head back to his shoulder, and pressed her face into his neck.  There she lay, curled against his chest, when he eventually awoke.

Seth woke, shifting his weight slightly to relieve his muscles, found Sara still curled up in his arms.  He pulled her tightly against him, hugging her body to his.  As he relaxed his grip on her, her small beautiful face slid into his view and she stretched her body up bringing them eye to eye.  Seth watched as Sara smiled at him, and he was ready for her this time as she leaned in to kiss him.  Sliding his arm from behind her small body, he cupped the back of her head lightly with one large hand.  Feeling their lips press together, Seth lost control of the situation.  He kissed her for long seconds.  He had kissed her passionately, more passionately than he had originally intended.  He hoped he hadn’t frightened her, and as he relaxed to withdraw himself from her, he had his answer.  Instead of letting him escape the kiss, she turned in his lap and used her body to follow his retreat, kissing him harder and more passionately.  She continued to kiss him until neither of them could breathe.  Sara, feeling light headed, finally relented, dizzy as she was, she smiled at him with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.  She opened her mouth slightly then as if to speak and Seth watched and listened, waiting intently for the words he had been waiting for.  The words did not come.  Instead Sara sighed and once again laid herself against him.  Seth turned his head, and kissed her cheek.  Adjusting his body, careful to keep Sara comfortably in his arms, Seth scooped her up and stood with her body curled against his chest, and strode across the clearing carrying her.

Seth, reaching the spot where they had slept the night before, laid out the blanket as best he could, and gently placed Sara upon it.  Sara noticed the looks that Garret and Ashton had on their faces, and her cheeks blushed a bright red before she could hide her face.  Seth picked up her boots, pack and crossbow and brought them to her, setting them at her side.  Sara then noticed that Garret and Ashton already wore their packs, eager to get back on the trail.  She hurriedly laced up her boots, hefted her pack into place, and hung her crossbow over her shoulder.  When she had finished, Seth picked up the blanket and hastily shoved it into his pack, and grabbing Sara’s hand, turned to his brother with a crooked grin, and the four of them began walking.

The day went by swiftly, without interruption.  They talked of the Choosing again, this time Seth not mentioning what his hopes had been for the ceremony.  Often they walked in silence, Both Seth and Sara reliving the morning’s events in their heads.  Ashton again related what he knew of the different god’s to Sara who had asked about them, and it turned out she was already better informed about many of them than the twins had been.  Sara had told them that she hadn’t thought about The Choosing ceremony much, as it was relatively out of her hands.  She just hoped now that it would not keep her away from her Seth.  Seth was thinking much the same.  Garret and Seth talked for a while taking turns relating to Sara details about their previous years living in Vineleaf.  These stories she took particular interest too and asked many questions, committing their answers to memory.  Sara walked, her hand in Seth’s, staring at the ground at her feet trying to commit yet another detail of Seth’s life to memory when she noticed a strange print on the trail.  It was unlike any other she had seen since leaving Stone Haven, and it spiked her curiosity enough that she found herself looking for another like it as they continued to walk.  The day passed quickly, comfortably, as they walked.  Sara’s feet barely blistered, and she was able to keep pace with the boys most of the time.  She had spotted the odd track in the dirt, a couple of times as they had walked, and each time it appeared to be in the direction of crossing the wide path they followed, not following it as most did.  She assumed that it was just a large animal that had left the track, but curiously decided to keep her eyes open for more.  They had only stopped to eat once this day, trying to conserve their food, and Sara found that she was hungry, and hoped they planned to eat when the stopped to make camp.

The sun had begun to set, the sky slowly turning orange, then crimson.  The wind had picked up over the last couple of hours, and the temperature had dropped substantially.  They continued to walk, hoping to find some sort of shelter before all the light was gone from the sky.  The plains here offered very little in the terms of protection.  The rare stand of trees like the one they had found the night before was becoming more and more scarce.  Instead all that seemed to survive in this area of the plains was dense underbrush, rocks, and very rarely a short twisted sickly looking tree.  From horizon to horizon the four companions could see nothing but a vast field of yellow and gray.  It was a dismal place in the fading light of late evening.  One moment they were walking along the wide trail, and the next moment Garret had stopped, as if frozen in his tracks.

Garret stood on the trail, his companions all looking at him, and he peered, squinting his eyes to the east trying to see something clearer, that the fading light was hiding from him.  He told his companions to wait where they were, and he headed off the trail wading through the ocean of waist deep brush.  Seth, Ashton, and Sara watched him go.  Garret had walked several hundred yards off the trail, and came to stand at a large outcropping of stone.  It looked unnatural here, one huge stone lying diagonally across another, creating a large cave like opening beneath the large stone slab.  The opening wasn’t tall, barely high enough to sit in, but it was wide enough for the four of them to lie in comfortably.  Garret eyed the hole, looking for signs of any animal that might inhabit it.  Not seeing any, he called back to his companions, telling them to join him.  It did not take long for them to reach him as he had already plowed them a path.  They decided it was unsafe to start a fire here, despite the cold.  There was too much brush around to try and contain a fire with the wind blowing harder and harder as the night progressed.  They quickly made camp, and ate a quick meal of dried meat and cheese, if it could be called that, and sat for a while talking.  The sun disappeared beyond the horizon and shortly thereafter so too did any trace of light.  Clouds had blown in throughout the day, and they now obscured any sign of the moons or stars.  The small group stumbled over one another and struggled to lay out their blankets in the darkness.  Seth dug the blanket out of his pack with one hand, keeping the other entwined within Sara’s.  Instead of spreading it out for her as was his custom, he dragged her through the darkness to the huge stone that their roof rested upon.  The ceiling was the highest here and would be the most comfortable.  Releasing Sara’s hand for a moment, Seth pulled the blanket behind him across his shoulders, and sat down, his back against the stone.  He reached out to her, searching the darkness with his fingers.  He brushed against her arm and followed it down to grasp her hand.  Seth gently pulled at her hand leading her to him.  The ceiling was so low even Sara had to crouch to maneuver around safely, she tried to see Seth through the darkness, but ended up tripping over his foot and fell right into his waiting lap.  Seth successfully stifled a laugh, hoping she hadn’t hurt herself in the fall.  He had no way to check her for injuries in the darkness unsure of where his hands may lay upon her body.  Sara sat stunned for a moment in Seth’s lap.  Realizing where she was, she also realized Seth’s intentions.  He wanted to hold her again in his arms as they slept.  She was giddy at the thought, and turned her body to face him in the darkness.  She reached up, placing a hand on either side of his face and kissed him, trying to convey her happiness at his decision.  She let their lips linger for a few moments, and then settled into his arms, her head on his shoulder, her face to his neck just as before.