Kaye looked around and saw a small fireplace built into the wall. She somehow managed to make her way over to the fireplace and placed the wood neatly down. She rummaged through her sack and pulled out the small box of tinder and matches. Soon enough a small fire was going and the green eyed girl began to warm up. Unfortunately though as the heat licked her body she was sent into a fit of uncontrollable shivers.
"Poor little Kaye. Here take this blanket and go sit by the fire with ."A pleasant woman cooed to Kaye. Kaye nodded and ran over to the equally pleasant man who smiled and pulled her down next to him.
"The nights get strangely cold here Kaye darling. Did you know that?"
"No . Why is it like that here?"
"Some believe it is a curse placed on Chie."
"A curse?"
"Because we failed Kaye to live up to our honor."
"Does and think they haven't lived up to their honor?" The man smiled sadly at her.
"There are some times when I do feel like that Kaye."
"I don't think you're bad people though. I think you've done just fine." Kaye said determinedly.
"Thank you Kaye."
Kaye rubbed her eyes and looked back into the flames. What was that? Those people seemed so familiar but I can't remember who they are. I can't even remember exactly what they looked like. She rubbed her arms vigorously as her shivering was reduced to small shakes here and there. Jarren came back in through the door, closed it, and sat down next to her also shivering.
"Sheesh it's cold out today. I hate the weather here. It's so unpredictable." He complained in a very conversational way. Kaye looked him over. She supposed he could be considered handsome with his soft but determined features. His light brown hair was cut neatly and his matching brown eyes twinkled. He was certainly taller than Kaye but he must have been at least three years or so older than her. Jarren, it seemed, had abandoned his formal General's attire and gone for a much simpler dark tunic and thick woolen trousers. His dusty cloak lay crumpled next to him. He turned and smiled at her. "Well this is exciting isn't it?"
"I…I suppose so." Kaye answered, slightly taken aback that he had even talked to her. Jarren threw his head back and laughed. Kaye frowned and crossed her arms. "And what is so funny huh?" She asked a bit annoyed.
"You need to relax. I swear that I'm not a bad person. Let's try to be comfortable with each other ok? We are going to be traveling with each other for a while after all." He stared her down and Kaye tried to look as intimidating as she could but to no avail. Her face twitched under his gaze and she gave a lopsided smile.
"I suppose you're right M-Jarren." She corrected herself. "So will it still take weeks just to find their tribe?" She asked, now eager to know what exactly they were going to do. Jarren pulled his pack over to his side and rummaged through it. He finally pulled out a piece of paper and laid it in between them. It was an old map dated back hundreds of years ago when Chie was obviously still in its prime. "Amazing…" Kaye breathed as she traced streams and mountains with her finger lightly.
"The nomads typically pick a place to come back to. Sort of like a base town or something. It would be a place where they could restock on supplies, rest up, heal themselves, but stay far enough away whereas if they needed to leave quickly then they could without being seen. They would pick someplace where no one would just stumble across them accidentally or a place difficult to find or get to." He pointed to an area on the map and frowned. "Now we know that they normally come back to this general area. But the problem is we don't know exactly where they would be. So even if we could get to this area in a week or so, it may take another week or even more just to find them. Then there's the whole issue of whether or not they would even let us talk to their leader." Kaye examined the map and pointed to a spot.
"We're approximately at this spot as of now. Going off of what you just said…I think I can reduce the possible places the nomads could be as well. My guess is that they will inhabit this area here." She traced a route to the boundaries of the Mir Kingdom and pointing to another area. "This spot seems to be the most ideal in my opinion. Jarren looked up at her in surprise. He knew he was a genius, the smartest most tactical person within a thousand leagues or more. But this small servant girl in front of him…she was something else. But it seemed she wasn't done yet. "If we take this route here…we could probably reach this point within a week. Give it a couple days and we would probably meet up with the nomads. But…"she bit her lip and sat back. "Though this route is faster…it'll probably be more dangerous. We should take the long way around…but then we not have enough time to warn the people…" Jarren smiled, finally something he was good at.
"We're going to take the shorter route and come up around the area like this." He showed her. "I have several plans ready to go if we run into trouble or if something bad happens." Kaye clapped her hands together and beamed up at him.
"Wow, I had heard you were a genius but it's wonderful to see it with my own eyes. I wish I was as great as you." Jarren eyed her as Kaye continued to examine the map; she traced with her finger here and there and mouthed silently to herself.
"Kaye…how old are you?" He asked suddenly. She looked up and tilted her head.
"I'm pretty sure I'm sixteen give or take a year…I can't exactly remember."
"You can't remember?" Kaye nodded and looked into the distance with a blank expression.
"I can't remember anything really…at least nothing before I entered the castle. Everything is…a blur really. But it happens to all who enter the castle. The children just…just forget…I think." Jarren looked sadly at the ground.
"It doesn't actually. It would be very rare if it even happened at all. Servants may claim to have forgotten everything but no one ever really does. Why it happened to you…I don't know. I'm sorry though."
"It doesn't matter though now does it?" Kaye replied breaking out of her thoughts. "If I can't remember then it isn't painful or depressing." She smiled up at him and handed the map back. "One of the few things I can remember when I was little was looking at maps. They've always fascinated me for some reason. Then when I entered the castle I used to sneak into the chart room in-between chores and study the maps there." She broke off as though remembering something and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You caught me once and gave me to the whip master. I remember that now!" Jarren thought back and couldn't help but smile. He remembered her now. He was just twelve so she must have been nine. He had walked into the chart room and found a little girl pouring over maps and knew that he would be in trouble if he left her there much as he wanted to. He had handed her over to the whip master but had begged him to go easy on her seeing as she wasn't really doing anything bad.
"Ha, I remember that."
"So how are you then Jarren?"
"Eh? Oh nineteen." He said simply. Kaye's jaw dropped.
"But…but you're the commanding general…I mean I knew you were young but nineteen?! And you're a genius as well?!" She sputtered out. Jarren laughed at her childish nature.
"Come now and rest. We shall be leaving soon." Kaye nodded still shocked and went over to lay her cloak down and sleep a bit.