The leaves on the trees had already begun their change, creating in the air a chill that was unlike any other. The summer had long since past and the feeling of winter loomed in the minds of those that wondered. Nearly all of the leaves had fallen from the trees, littering the ground with vivid reds, oranges, and yellows. It was a magnificent world for the young. Especially the particular child known as Catherine. There were always mysteries in the world when you looked for them, or perhaps when you didn’t know better than to look for them. As the wind blew in chill drafts about Sundril, Cat eagerly bounded down the hallways of the palace in search of her sister. Although she’d been told to remain standing where she was by the old scary lady, Cat had decided better than that. Besides, if anyone could find Elizabeth, it was her. ”Ma?” she asked, poking her head into various rooms. But, there was either no one in the said rooms or there were people that looked at the dirt-covered young child with a mixture of sympathy and disgust. She was, after all, rather dirty.
She would, after making sure Elizabeth was not in those rooms, turn around and leave the rooms. The women and men that she had seen would then, she guessed, continue about their business. It was to her great astonishment when she came across a large courtyard outside the palace. She wasn’t quite sure how she’d gotten there, but she was sure that it was a mystery. Somewhere she hadn’t been before full of leaves and prettiness. She stepped into the courtyard, her bare feet realizing just how chilly it was by sending a shiver through her. She moved her tiny fingers over the stone of the wall before she called out again. ”Ma?!” There was no answer. She huffed out all the air her tiny lungs could muster before she plopped down on the ground, glaring at the grass with her muddy brown eyes.
How could she have gotten lost? Especially now. She had tried so hard to find Elizabeth and now she was lost. The child wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t. There was just no way that she could cry, because it was strangely chilly here in the cold outside. But, for Cat, who was a winter child, the chilly air didn’t bother her. What did was the fact that she’d failed. She’d looked so hard and yet she couldn’t find her sister. Anger and every other emotion a child was able to feel flashed into her tiny form. She wanted to kick and scream and find Robert. It was just imperative that she found her brothers and sisters. Especially now that she was lost. So, in an attempt to find her sister again she shouted, ”Ma!!” but, again, there was no answer.
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He was wrapped in a wool cloak, even in his own palace. Whenever he found himself drifting away from the various fireplaces stationed throughout Seraphin Palace, Aldrin found himself holding the cloak around his shoulders and disposing of it when it grew warmer and he himself grew nearer to a fire. Even his feet felt a bit chilly in the depths of his fur lined boots, specifically tailored for his own needs. He didn't even want to imagine what the common folk where feeling as they huddled in their hovels and under their straw thatched roofs. Perhaps he could do something special this year.....He could order masons to make every house out of marble or coat the outside with marble and dedicate the action to God so that the church would want to pay for it themselves. Or he could take up the Cross and go hunt down more witches than ever before in an effort to cleanse Sundaril of the pagan practices and heretical leanings. The church would practically pay HIM for that.
Aldrin was utterly distracted from the decision making in his head upon hearing a young girl's voice ring throughout one part of the palace where there were multiple windows looking out over the courtyard. Someone had left one open, which Aldrin had set forth to remedy immediately, but he was allured at the prospect of looking outside to the chilling earth by the sound reaching him in obvious distress. It took only a quick look, after all, to determine what was going on to make any child sound so distressed like that and so Aldrin peered out, his beard and mustachio fending of the bite of the wind on the lower part of his face.
There, sitting on grass, dirty limbs and all, was a peasant child, possibly feeling the bite that Aldrin was easily protected from with his cloak and so on. Despite the fact that she displayed no clue of being frigid or sick, Aldrin decided, in his heart of hearts, that he must go and rescue her from the weather before some servant man came by and stole her for some vile purpose. Seeing it as his newly sworn duty, Aldrin strode down corridors and stairs before entering the courtyard. His eyes saw not the beauty of the autumnal season, just the girl in the grass and so when he came upon her, he held out a hand and asked, "Are you looking for your mother, child? We can find her together. But, first, let us go inside into the warmth and get you a bowl of stew. Would you like that?"
He eyed her skin. Hmm..she looked well fed, but then...he had known some children, too proud to show their true lives, to puff out their stomachs and pad their clothing to hide starvation. Still, she didn't actually hold the hue of hunger in her eyes or anything. She was just dirty....and smelled a bit too. Perhaps he could arrange for a bath as well. That would be his good work for the day and the Lord would smile upon him for that. "Perhaps even a nice, warm bath for you as well so that when we find your mother, you'll be all nice and clean for her, yes?" He smiled kindly at her, hand still in the air for her to take and help herself up with. "What's your name, child?"
