Davina enjoyed Christmas. Never before did she know holidays to be fun occasions. Normally holidays at the shrine were all dedicated to Soldeus, days of reflection that involved prayer, fasting, and (you guessed it) silence. Her first Christmas in Redwell was anything but.
She woke up to Robert singing loudly and off-key to songs he claimed were traditional, and her favorite breakfast foods, pancakes. Assuming Finn was still asleep, she asked what the schedule for the day looked like, and what to expect, so she didn’t look too confused.
“Welp, nothing too crazy. Figured you’d get a kick out of buildin’ a gingerbread house, so we can do that if you want. There's exchangin’ gifts, drinkin’ eggnog, but that shits gross, so you can have mine.”
“Now don’t strain yourself tryin’ to oversell it to her, old man,” yawned Finn as he rubbed a hand down his face and grabbed the plate of food on the counter they had set aside for him.
Robert shot him a dirty look, then winked at Davina before saying “and there's the parade of Finn’s ugly sweaters, of course.” They both grinned as he objected with a muffled hey with a mouthful of pancakes.
Making a gingerbread house turned out to be a more complex task than she had anticipated. Had she known math was involved she would have run in the opposite direction, but Robert made it fun. The task of cutting out windows, doors, and walls so they all matched was quickly given up. When all of their pieces came out of the oven and cooled off, they were left with a mishmash of crooked windows, some too-high walls, and one patch of roof that was burnt at the corner. Davina ate more icing than she’d ever had in her whole life as they started construction. One good gust of wind would surely knock over the house...if you could even call something that was slowly crumbling apart, and whose roof was longer than its walls, a house. She was oddly...proud of their little creation as it sagged sadly at the center of the dining room table.
To her delight, and Finn’s annoyance, small groups of people would knock on the door to sing more songs. She recognized most of the carolers as either clients of Roberts or sellers from the square. They shielded the flames of their candles with cupped hands from the biting winds, and sang in harmony. Their songs were nothing like choir with the locals in the prayer hall, these songs were happy, repetitive, and almost childish. She wished she knew the words.
After dinner, it was time for the gift exchange. They had sat in front of the fireplace sipping on eggnog, which turned out to be a creamy, and sickly sweet drink that she didn’t mind.
“Alright old man,” Finn said as he clapped his hands together, “prepare to have your socks knocked off. Come on Raine.” Finn had helped her cover up their gift for Robert and lug it downstairs the day before. The bulky bed-sheet-covered-lump looked out of place next to the colorfully decorated tree, and the neatly wrapped, smaller packages underneath it. She stood anxiously beside their gift, hoping he would like it.
“Ah, come on you two, I thought I said not to waste your money.” Even under the playful tone in his voice there was no missing the bashful tinge that his posture held. That telltale hand rubbing the back of his neck, and the bit of color in his cheeks giving him away.
Finn waved him away, “aw hush, we didn’t spend that much, now come ope-er, come unveil our masterpiece.” He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement as Robert stood and walked over to them.
Tugging back the sheet she enjoyed the mix of timid happiness as he stared at the chest. “It's a cabinet with pull out drawers, so you can organize all of the jars you have in the house.” Her mind chanted pleaselikeitpleaselikeitpleaselikeit during the moment of silence that followed as he stared at it.
Robert barked out a laugh that trailed off into a chuckle as he opened and closed the drawers, “well I’ll be damned,” he mumbled under his breath. He shuffled towards the kitchen to grab a handful of jars which he gleefully slid into the drawers.
“Do you like it?”
“Like it?” He turned towards her, “I love it!” He rambled on about his plans for which jars would go in which shelf, and how they would be organized inside of it.
Finn had gotten him a new skillet so he could “make more of those delicious steaks” and jokingly said that it "could also be used as a weapon, so hey dual gift” when he saw the look Robert shot at him. Davina had attempted to wrap his gift but it was really just a ball of tape and crumpled paper. Her and Finn both ignored how Robert quickly brushed a tear away when he saw that she had sewn more flowers onto his shirt collars, and sleeves. She’d noticed how much he seemed to like the other flower shirt she had given him, so why not add a few more.
Robert retrieved a bowl with an actual gray and orange striped guppy darting around inside it. Davina all but shoved Finn aside so she could stare at the fish, which she named Tree, to everyone's confusion. When Finn unboxed her gift, it took everything in her not to smirk and sit back in triumph.
He stared over at her, his old hat in his hands. “How the fu-”
“Watch it,” Robert grumbled.
“How…” He switched from staring at the hat he had lost on the night of the explosion to her, “how did you find it?”
“I have my ways,” she said coyly. In reality, she now had to put in a good word for Eori Qia with Lorisia the next time she came to visit Robert. Who took a moment to give her a you better not have any ways, missy look, as Finn continued to stare at the hat in shock. After Eori slipped it to her during his last visit, it took awhile to patch up the singed holes and scrub off the dirt, ash, and suspicious red stains from the yarn.
Then it was her turn. She had way too much fun tearing into the paper covering the box Finn gave her, which had a sweater with a needle and thread on top of it. “Ya know, as a thanks for stichin’ me up” he had explained as she held up the thread questioningly. The sweater was a soft blue, and far too big for her. “Now you have a sweater of your own and can stop stealin’ mine,” he joked. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrJVjn99DL
Jokes on him, she thought, there was no way she would stop wearing his shirts.
Robert gifted her another pair of shoes, which she fell in love with instantly. The boots would reach past her ankles, and were the same color as the old ones he wore almost everyday. While Finn brought the guppy upstairs, who he refused to call Tree, Robert handed her his last gift. It was a small black box whose edges were worn and no longer black in some spots. As she opened it there was no stopping the pool of tears that ran down her full face. Nestled inside the box was a silver oval locket, similar to the one currently around his neck. As her finger opened the clasp, she hurriedly wiped her blurry eyes to see the pictures inside.
On the left was a photo of Sister Zinnia. The warm eyes she loved stared up at her, and the smile she hadn’t seen in what felt like years, was there. On the left was a photo she had never seen before. A moment of her and Robert, heads bent over the page of the same book, as they sat in the dining room. She looked up at the man who was studying her carefully, “How did-? When was this one even taken?” Surely she would have noticed someone taking her picture.
“Finn. He found an old camera of mine and showed it to me the other day.” Ah, she should have guessed. “I asked if he had any good photos of us and that one fit inside the locket. If you don-”
She cut him off, knowing exactly what he was going to say. “Its perfect!” she beamed up at him. Staring down at the locket that would keep her little family close to her heart, she snapped it’s lid shut and dropped it over her head. “Thank you,” when he started to wave her off she ignored him. “No, I mean it. Thank you. You’ve done more for me in the past three months than anyone has done for me in my whole life”, the cold metal of the locket on her skin emphasizing her words. Davina hugged him, and this time he wasn’t shocked or taken aback.
“The honor is all mine, kid.”
Yeah, Davina really liked Christmas.
⟴
The new year brought with it change, truth, and death.
X252. Davina had been looking forward to this year for quite some time, but now that it was here she didn’t quite know what to do. In a few months she would be twenty one the age where sisters became eligible to complete the ceremony of sun and further their ties to the community. She had been counting down the months until this very year once upon a time, but now the thought of it felt hollow and meaningless.
The new year also meant that Finn would likely be leaving them soon. He only rented out a room at Robert’s for a few weeks in between fishing seasons, and he had already been with them for two months. So how much longer would he stay? She was too afraid to ask.
As she watched him sip on a cup of coffee from over the top of her book, she couldn’t help but wonder what normal was without him around. The house would be so quiet without him bickering with Robert, his lame jokes, or his occasional snores that came through their shared wall during the night. She was working up the nerve to ask him about how long he would stay when a knock came at the front door.
“I’ve got it,” Robert called as he came down the stairs. She forced her eyes back onto the page she had read four times without actually reading, and listened for the familiar creak of the door and the small talk that followed as Robert greeted a client. That sound never came. Instead, she heard a booming voice carry from the front door and before she could ask who it was, Finn quietly stood up, pushed his mug towards her with a finger over his lips, and slipped out of the room towards the kitchen. What the sun?
“-you Robert Stokes?” came the voice. They didn’t sound like any client she’d heard before, nor for they ever speak to Robert as though he was beneath him.
“I am.” She wasn’t sure how he spoke so calmly to the man, she had half a mind to kick the guy in the shin.
“And is there a Lorraine Stokes here?” The breath caught in her throat. Were these Collectors? Had they finally come for her? “We need to see paperwork for both of you.”
Hearing Robert move towards the mantle where a small box held their id, she tried to coax her lungs into inhaling again. They ignored her.
“Is there a problem? I didn’t think Royal Guards left estate grounds to do census counts.” Royal Guards? Why would they be here? The guards said nothing in response to Robert’s lighthearted joke, but she could hear the lid click shut on the box and the rustling of paper over her pounding heart. “Here.”
“And where is your daughter?” Oh fuck.
“In the kitchen, I can get her if you’d li-”
“Yes.” They were quick to cut him off. Robert’s footsteps echoing on the wooden floors thumped in time with her galloping heart, and when he entered the room she saw his eyes search frantically for a moment.
Where’s Finn, he mouthed and pointed to his now vacant chair. She shook her head. He nodded as if trying to piece together a plan, then gestured for her to follow him. It felt like she was wading through water as she walked towards the sitting room, her hyperactive mind very aware that her body was numb.
There were two men standing in the doorway, their bright red jackets fluttering lightly as cold air wafted in behind them. They glanced at her and down at the id in their hands, once they were satisfied that the picture matched her face they handed them back to Robert.
“Are there any other people in the house?” Finn.
“No.” He lied so calmly. Thankfully they couldn’t see the sweat dripping down her back. “Now what’s this all about?”
The men looked at one another before the taller of the two spoke again. “We’re looking for suspected deserters.”
“Deserters?” The word slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
“Yes little lady.” She didn’t like the hungry look in the shorter man’s gaze. “Defectors of the crowns. There was an attack on the Devoe estate last night and we're looking for known members of their group.” She saw how the other man’s eyes quickly darted to his partner, almost as if he wasn’t meant to be sharing this news.
“Attack? What kind of attack?”
“It’ll be in the news tomorrow. For now,” the taller man turned and ushered out his partner, “stay vigilant. Long live the crowns.”
“Long live the crowns,” replied Robert. Davina was too stunned to say anything. They watched as the men walked down the cracked steps and knocked on the house next door.
Shutting the door, Robert rested his back against it and let out a long shaker breath before looking up at her. “Where’s Finn?” though the men were gone he still whispered, as if they had their ears pressed against the other side of the door and were listening.
“I don’t know,” she whispered back. “He walked towards the kitchen and then I didn’t see him.” He nodded and with one last look at the door, turned the lock and stalked towards the kitchen.
As they entered the kitchen quietly calling his name, there was a dull thump and then Finn spilled out of the cabinet drawer next to the sink. “Are they gone?” He asked, sprawled on the kitchen floor, dish towels scattered around him.
“What the-? Boy,” Robert let out a relieved breath, “what the hell are you doing?”
Propping himself up on his elbows he tried to joke about how he was keeping the towels company, but she could see worry lined in his face.
“You okay?” He brushed off her question with a brisk nod and asked one of his own.
Standing up he brushed specks of dust off his pants, his voice serious as he asked what the men wanted.
“You, from the looks of it.” Davina blinked, looking between the two men. What did he mean by “you”?
Finn swore quietly under his breath, running a hand through his spiky hair. “I can go, Bobby.” Wait what?! “You know I never wanted this to come back to you.”
“Yeah, I know, boy. But what happened? They said there was a direct attack on the crown. I thought your group wasn’t anywhere near that.”
“They’re not. Or at least they weren’t.” That hand was back in his hair, “I haven’t gone to the meetings since that night, maybe someone was pissed, I dunno. But last I knew the only thing they were planning was a garbage strike.”
She couldn’t take it anymore, “what are you two talking about?!” Meetings? Attack? They were talking like she wasn’t there and what they were saying was beginning to scare her.
“Kid,” Robert said softly, a tired look in his eyes. “Why don’t you-”
“No. No, I want to know. What the hell are you two talking about?” They were both looking at her like she was a child, like she couldn’t handle what they were about to say.
Seeing that she wasn’t going to let the subject go, Finn sighed and turned to her. “Go upstairs, Raine.” Before she could argue he talked over her, “I’ll tell you everythin’ alright? Just go upstairs.”
She stared cooly at his eyes before muttering a “fine” and trudging up the stairs.
⟴
When no one immediately came up the stairs for her, she decided on a shower. The sweat had dried on the back of her shirt and felt ice cold as the fabric rubbed against her skin. Maybe she could scrub away the dread that was sitting on her chest.
Emerging from a cloud of sweet-smelling steam some time later, her stressed-out heart almost came out of her throat when she spotted Finn’s dark outline sitting in the hallway outside her room.
“Gah! Make a noise next time would ya?”
“Sorry” he chuckled, “you didn’t exactly give me a ton of time to make myself known.”
Opening the door to her room, she turned on the light and nodded for him to come in. She had been alone in rooms with him before, her mind chose that moment to point out that in the closeness of her bedroom she didn’t really know him.
“So…” she stared at him, waiting for an explanation.
“Yeah, I’m ugh, I’m trying to figure out what to say.” She’d never seen him look so awkward before.
“Why not start with why you hid when those guards came? What was so bad that you crammed yourself into a cabinet?” Not that she hadn’t enjoyed the sight of him sprawled out on the floor amongst towels that Robert would make him fold later.
“They’re ugh, looking for me.”
“Why?”
“Because of my family.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“That…doesn’t make any sense. What about your family? How do they have anything to do with that attack?” How could they have anything to do with something that would keep two Royal Guards not only coming to their door, but would leave them with stern and almost haunted looks in their eyes.
“You heard me with Bobby, I don’t know anythin’ about those attacks. And I meant that.” Those green eyes finally met hers and the sincerity behind them made her relax. Shoulders she didn’t know were tense beginning to loosen.
“Okay, so then how were you involved beforehand?”
He sat on the bed beside her, letting the wall of lavender and mint cloud his mind. “My involvement was kinda inherited.”
“Huh?” There were definitely more graceful ways to express her confusion, but she didn’t really care at the moment.
“Do you know why Bobby does what he does?” Well that was a hard left.
“Does what?”
“Why he took it upon himself to be the town healer? Why he lets people pay in laundry, baked goods, or more product?”
She didn’t know that. Sure, Lorisia Bailisuir did their laundry for free whenever Robert helped her, and nosey Miriam Fowler would bring them bread, but she just thought they were being good neighbors. Not paying Robert. When she slowly shook her head he continued.
“Most people who can’t afford the doctor appointed by their county die. That's how you died.”
“Wha-”
“That’s how the real Lorraine Stokes died at least.”
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGI1hiIzPyC
