Chapter 146 Duty and Snow

Chapter 146 Duty and Snow
MYSTAL -

Something in her wanted to take a step back, but she refused to recoil from the past.
"Alex kept it for ya. He knew ya'd be back someday." Gina said.
She lifted it around Mystal's head, and the weight of it settled heavily between her breasts.
Mystal lifted it.
It looked just as it had when she was a child. Only smaller. The oval labradorite shimmered in the light with blues and greens. The gold filigree that surrounded it highlighted the deep brown and gold flecks that shimmered beside the other colors.
It was her mother's, and she thought it had been lost in the snow all those years ago.
Gina's soft hand came back up to her face, and Mystal's stomach fell hard when she lifted her eyes to Gina's.
"I'm so glad ya lived. Alex would be so happy."
He kept it, even though I never came back?
Mystal couldn't stop her eyes from widening or the pain of regret as it sliced through her.
"Here," Gina said, before lifting a hand to the side of her cloak, "Please come in! Get comfortable." She turned to Kaol and said, "Why don't ya bring her to the kitchen? I'll get the tea."
She hurried away before Mystal could stop her.
Instead, she let her hand drop away from the pendant and wrap once more around the hilt of her sword.
Immediately, strength and control slid into her body.
Kaol's shoulders dropped, and the movement brought her eyes back to him. She could tell that he had more questions for her, and she was glad for his mother's interruption.
"Well, Mysty." Her childhood name fell heavy between them, and her shoulders pulled up tight. "The kitchen is this way."
He turned to leave, but she stopped him. "It's Mystal now."
His eyes met hers, and something in them told her that it would never go back to just Mystal.
"And I'm here on duty. Luna Eysa requests that you return to the city."
A smile she couldn't quite read lifted his lips, and he turned back toward the kitchen.
With a scoff, she followed. "I'm serious. The matter is urgent."
When she turned the corner into the kitchen, more memories came tumbling back of that night.
Blood stained the bricks at her feet, as hurried movements moved around the room and wet rags pressed into her wound.
She shook her head and followed Kaol over to the table where he sat down.
"This isn't a visit to catch up, and I don't have time for pleasantries. I'd rather just get back to the Capitol."
"Not in the weather that be hittin tonight." Gina said as she moved up to the table with a teakettle.
There was already a teacup on the table waiting for her, and Gina set the kettle beside it.
"Sit yourself down now. Warm up a bit. Roads’ll still be there in a few days."
"Mother," Kaol said, his voice coming out as a warning.
"Ya saw the sky as well as I." She tsked before continuing. "And I told ya, I'm not leavin the village. Your Pa built this house, and I’ll not be leavin it."
"You can't stay here alone, and my place is with the Alpha."
Mystal could hear the exhaustion in his tone. It sounded like an argument they'd had more than once.
"Aye. Your place is there. Not mine." Her words were tinted with something Mystal couldn't place. "Now, share some tea. Then take Mysty round the village. I'm sure much’s changed since ya were last here."
Gina turned and smiled up at Mystal, and the attention sat wrong in her chest.
She walked up to her and said, "I’ll be goin to rest my eyes, but it’d make an old woman right happy if ya stayed through the storm."
She kept her eyes on Mystal's for a moment before she reached up and patted the side of her arm, before she moved around her and through the kitchen door.
A heavy sigh filtered through Mystal.
She didn't want to stay and have tea. She didn't want to be surrounded by a place that reminded her of the life she worked so hard to beat back.
"She's right, you know?" Kaol's deep voice pulled her from her thoughts. "The storm won't be easy to pass through, and I'd rather not bring my mother through it."
The wind blew at the house, causing the wood to creak and press in, almost as if it was trying to convince her alongside Kaol.
Resigned, she sat at the small, round table. Adjusting her gear and rough leather so she could sit comfortably.
The smell of the tea lifted to her nose, and Mystal had to admit that it smelled better than most other drinks she'd had recently.
"We can have some tea, and I'll take you around town." His tone was more familiar now, and it rubbed at her senses. "You can tell me what's so important that Eysa felt the need to send her personal guard to come collect me."
At the sound of her Luna's name, some comfort came back into her body. She knew how to handle that topic, and more than anything, she wanted to slide back into her duties.
She didn't want to stay here longer than needed, but if they could keep things professional and away from the past, she could agree to it.
"If you're sure that the weather will turn bad, then I suppose I have no choice."
"Have some tea, relax. We've got time." Kaol lifted the kettle and poured her a cup of golden tea. "I'm sure you remember how things looked before a squall. It can't all be forgotten."
Yet, his words brought her back to dark, cold nights, huddled into her small frame with a barely there fire crackling in the old hut.
She used to be able to tell just by the fluff of the clouds whether it was going to be a chilly night or not.
She hadn't thought to look at them before she came in, but she knew that the village knew before most when things would go stormy. Their food and livelihood depended on it.
She'd not thought back to nights like that for years, and she didn't appreciate them being forced on her now.
She shook her head to dislodge the memory before taking a deep breath and bringing the cup to her lips.
Find Kaol. Bring him to the Capitol. She reminded herself. She was here on duty.
Mystal went to stand, but he placed his hand over hers on the table, and she stilled. Her fingers tightened instinctively beneath his hand before she forced them still.
"Enjoy the tea. We'll go once it's gone. I'll not waste the energy my mother put into it."
"I..." she started to tell him she didn't care about wasting some tea leaves, but the weight of the pendant reminded her that she owed this family, and while she had a duty, she wouldn't disrespect them.
She finished the tea without tasting it.
Then she stood and followed him out into the village.