The Fates
Chapter 19

Celia woke up by Rhale shaking her gently, she opened her eyes only to realize that it was still dark.

"Is it morning?"

"No but it looks like a snowstorm is coming and if we stay here there is a big chance that we will get stuck."

Celia groggily sat up and saw that the fire was already out. Rhale was readying Taurus and the only thing left to pack was her sleeping bag.

Rhale was beside her the moment she stood up and he took the sleeping bag from her.

"It is getting worse by the second, I think it would be best if we could replace shelter." Rhale said and Celia looked up at the sky, wondering what he saw, the wind was only a little worse than what it had been when she had fallen asleep.

"Is there any shelter around here?" She asked worriedly and Rhale stopped to look around them, clearly thinking.

"If I am not mistaken there is supposed to be a hunting cabin not too far away from here." He wasted no more time and hoisted Celia up on Taurus.

Rhale had been right, the weather worsened quickly and heavy snow started to fall, the wind was whipping it into their faces and even Taurus was not able to move as fast as he normally would.

Poor Taurus worked hard to get them all forward but as the snow kept on falling the ground became covered with layers and layers of snow and soon his gallop turned into a walk.

"I will lead Taurus the rest of the way, you stay on and hold on tight!" Rhale yelled to her before he jumped off. She could barely see through the white in front of her but she could feel Taurus moving again. As she looked down she could see that the better part of Taurus legs was under the thick blanket of snow and she wondered how Rhale was managing to walk forward.

They continued for what felt like forever and Celia's cheeks were stinging badly from the icy wind.

Finally she could see a small light up ahead and thought that it must be the cabin. She prayed, this time to her own grandmother, that they would make it there safely.

Celia could hear wolves howling with the wind and she tried to look around but it was to no use, there was no way she could see anything through the wall of white snow that was blowing around them. She closed her eyes and hunched her shoulders to try and protect herself from the cold.

The wind came to an abrupt stop and Celia opened her eyes. It was too dark for her to see anything but she let out a sigh of relief when she realized that they must be inside somewhere.

"Come, feel for my hands." Rhale's calm voice said and she reached out in the dark, as soon as her hands were in his he pulled her down to him.

"I know that you can not see anything but I can, so trust me." Rhale moved her forward and Celia blindly followed his lead.

They walked a couple of steps before Rhale lifted her up and sat her down on what she guessed from the fresh smell was hay.

"Where are we?" Celia asked, keeping her voice low, feeling the soft texture of the hay with her hands.

"We are in a small stable, the cabin is right next to us but it's being used. I am going to see who is there, I will be right back." She quickly grabbed Rhale’s hand and held on tight, she did not want to be left alone in the dark.

"Do you trust me?" She felt him stroke her cheek and she leaned in to his touch.

"At this moment or in general?" Celia asked.

"In general" She could hear that Rhale was amused by her question.

"Oh well in that case, yes, leave me alone in the dark. I do trust you, in general."

"I swear to you that I would never leave you." Celia felt his lips press against her own before she felt a gust of wind as he opened the door.

Celia sat alone in the darkness, listening to the horses as they moved around. She tried to guess how many there were but the game was no fun when she could not get the answer.

It did not take too long before she heard the door open again.

"How good of you to join me." She said sarcastically.

"You are hilarious, " he no longer sounded amused, "there are two hunters in there, I know one of them. Come, it should be safe."

Rhale lifted her up in his arms and soon she felt the blizzard around them again. It felt like years before they reached the cabin door but once inside Celia exhaled in relief as she felt the warm air surround her.

Celia could now see again and she blinked her eyes, trying to adjust to the difference in light. A fire was burning strongly in the fireplace and half burned candles lit up the room around them.

"Rhale! What are you doing out in this storm? Come in and warm yourselves by the fire!" A man stood up from his spot, he looked too old to be a hunter, his hair was gray and his face was filled with wrinkles.

"Thank you Edgar" Rhale said as he walked further in, putting Celia down on one of the soft chairs close to the fire. She instantly brought her cold hands forward to warm them and they tingled uncomfortably as they warmed up.

"So what are you doing out here?" The man, Edgar, said as he shook Rhale's hand.

"We, Celia and I" Rhale gestured to her, "were on our way to my home when we got caught outside."

"The sodding storm came out of nowhere. This is Riggs," Edgar nodded at another man who sat in a chair in front of Celia, "we were out too when the storm hit but we were close to here. Well sit down and have some ale, little to be done but wait."

Edgar poured a cup to Rhale and gave one to Celia as well and she took it gratefully.

"Only you would bring ale with you when you hunt."

"He keeps whatever cabin he is close to stocked with it." Riggs chimed in with a disapproving tone.

Celia could clearly see that he was younger than Edgar and he was eying her up and down in a way that made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

She drank her ale and grimaced at the bitter taste.

"It tastes awful but it will warm your belly" Edgar told Celia and she gave him a small smile and drank some more. It did warm her stomach nicely even though it tasted horrendous.

"So you are on your way home? Where is your home?" Riggs asked Rhale but he still kept his eyes on Celia as he spoke.

Rhale moved his chair so that it stood next to hers and sat himself down again.

"The land of the gods is my home" Riggs' eyes grew in size and he seemed to look at Rhale for the first time since they came in.

"There is a story going around, I heard them talking about it in one of the towns I was in. A story of a girl that the King would pay a hefty price for. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Riggs said coldly.

So much for it being safe. If Rhale had reacted to Riggs' words he did not let it show. "We have not been to any towns so I would not know."

"Really? And why is that?"

"Come now, I have known Rhale for a long time. We hunted together, what is it now? Twenty years ago?" Rhale nodded "We caught a lot of game that day!"

"That we did."

"That's funny, twenty years ago? How old were you then? You look to be in your thirties. That would have made you around ten years old." That man really had no sense of self preservation, Celia mused.

She drank some more ale and grimaced as she did while watching the exchange with fascination. She wasn't worried, she knew Rhale would knock Riggs out if he tried anything, but it was a bit amusing to watch. She could see Rhale's eyebrow twitch.

"I look younger than I am." Rhale said and Celia watched as Edgar started to sweat, he kept giving his Riggs looks that pleaded with him to stop.

"Because in the stories she is with this half God, man, whatever thing." Riggs paid his friend's glances no mind.

Celia's eyebrows shoot up, thing? She herself wanted to knock him out now.

"As soon as the storm has calmed you two will be coming with us to the next town so that we can sort this out." Edgar was shaking his head wildly at Riggs but Rhale just stared deathly quietly at Riggs.

Rhale looked terrifying and Celia would not want to be the one he was looked at right now.

Riggs was beginning to get some sense, his eyes darted around between them, realizing everyone's reactions.

"No problem" Rhale said and stood up "Let me fill that for you" he gestured at Riggs empty cup and Riggs smiled broadly.

"Thank you" He said happily, Celia had never seen a more stupid man in her entire life and she held her breath, waiting to see what Rhale would do.

Rhale calmly took the cup from Riggs and turned around like he was going to fill it but when he turned around again he smashed the wooden cup into the side of Riggs head and he fell to the floor, unmoving.

"Is he dead?" Celia would not be surprised if he were but she really hoped he wasn't.

Rhale bent down and felt his pulse "No, he's just knocked out. Edgar, is there any rope in here?"

"Of course, this is a hunting cabin, there is always rope." He stood up and pulled out some drawers, he turned back with thick rope in his hands. "Here, could I ask that you do not kill him? Riggs is young and stupid but he is a good hunter."

"I will not kill him, but he will be tied down to a chair and you can not let him go until hours after we have gone." Edgar noted his head at Rhale.

"That's fair. You have my word."

Edgar filled Celia's cup again and she drank it happily, it started to taste better after a few cups, almost good even.Rhale had put Riggs on a pin chair in a corner, tied up, but he was still out cold.

Edgar kept Celia highly entertained while they drank by telling her about all the times Riggs had gotten him in trouble.

"And he accidentally pushed the guard into the water! You should have seen the guards face! And the pond was full of ducklings!"

"Ah, poor ducklings, I am sure they were demanding an egg-splanation!" Celia giggled at the picture in her mind.

"O no, they Ducked real fast!" Edgar was laughing loudly too at their silly jokes. When Edgar started hiccupping she thought he sounded just like a duck and told him as much, which had only made him laugh harder and hiccup more.

When Celia started giggling a little too much Rhale took the cup from her but he smiled fondly as he put the cup to the side and handed her some water instead. Celia drank some before she sunk down into her chair and her ale filled mind rocked her to sleep.

Celia woke up to the sound of grunting and she blinked her eyes open. Riggs had apparently woken up and was trying to get loose from his restraints.

The smell of food filled Celia's nostrils and her stomach growled at her. She pulled herself up in the soft chair but as she did her head started pounding badly and she put her hand on her forehead, trying to get it to stop spinning.

She lazily looked around the room, Edgar was cooking something over the fireplace and it smelled wonderful.

"Thought you could use some food this morning" Edgar said happily and started to whistle a tune.

She closed her eyes at the sound and willed her head to stop pounding.

"It will feel better once you eat something, I let you drink a bit too much last night." Rhale told her from the chair beside her own.

"Yes, way too much." She agreed, she had seen others being drunk but she had never even come close to it herself.

"You were adorable, laughing and making jokes. I could not bring myself to take it from you."

"I am sure you couldn't." She really hoped she had not said anything embarrassing, she could hardly remember any of it.

Celia ate the wonderful food that Edgar had cooked, it was a simple meal but she had seldom tasted anything so good.

Rhale had apparently put a gag on Riggs when he woke up but now he was hopping around in the corner, trying but failing to break the chair. None of them paid him any mind as they ate and she could feel her headache slowly lessening, when Edgar offered her some more ale she heartily declined. She never wanted ale again.

The storm was lessening and it seemed like it was going to blow away as quickly as it had appeared. Rhale had gone out to check on Taurus and when that was done there was nothing they could do but wait.

Rhale and Edgar played a game of dice and Celia looked on, trying to understand the game but she soon gave up and went to look out the window.

It had finally stopped snowing, something she never thought she would replace herself to be thankful for.

The wind however was still as bad as ever and she went to sit down again, there was nothing to do but wait. She counted the wooden boards on the wall to try and keep herself entertained.

"I won't let Riggs go until you two have had a chance to ride away" Edgar told them just as she and Rhale was about to leave. The wind had calmed down and the sun was shining, making the snow glitter on the ground.

"Thank you" Both Celia and Rhale thanked him for his kindness.

"Can I just ask? And I ask not to turn you in but if it is true then, we'll, it would be wonderful. If there really were someone, out there, with angel blood..."

Rhale looked at Celia, she knew the look, he was letting her decide what to tell him.

Celia hesitated but after a while she said "If there were someone like that out there, if, then that person would probably not know what it meant just yet. It might not mean anything." She hoped that she had not been too vague, hoping that Riggs would understand that just because she had angel blood that did not really mean that she had any powers.

Edgar nodded his head in understanding "Well at least there is still a little hope."