This month has gone by so fast! I can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas eve already!

-owl


Tony woke up to the sound of his wife snoring particularly loud. One would think that after so long together, Tony would be immune to the horrible snoring of his wife, but that was sadly not the case. Dawn was just about to arrive, and Tony decided to get up and get ready for the first day of the journey.

He and Ziva had packed everything they were going to need the previous night, so there wasn't much Tony had to do. Once he was dressed, he sat down at his desk and opened the book he had been reading recently.

By the time Ziva woke up, Tony had gotten through a whole chapter. With bleary eyes, Ziva moved around the room, brushing and braiding her hair, putting on stockings and trousers, her shirt and her cloak.

"I think I will wear this for the first day of travel," she commented to Tony.

Tony shrugged. "Whatever you want to do, Sweetcheeks."

They were pulled from their conversation when there was a knock on their door. Tony opened it to find a pair of servants.

"Good morning, Your Majesties," the taller one greeted them, both he and his buddy bowing.

"We have come to bring your trunk down to the carriage," the other one said when they rose from their bow.

Tony nodded and pointed them to the trunk that was sitting in the middle of the room. They grabbed it and left the room, each of them holding one of the handles.

"On that note," Tony said to Ziva, "I believe we should head down as well. We need to be on the road soon if we hope to make good time."


In the courtyard, four horses were harnessed to the carriage they would be taking, and the coachman was checking over the harness again. There were dark clouds on the horizon, and it was already snowing, not a good sign.

Ziva stopped to have a few words with Sir Torres while Tony got into the carriage. Inside was a fairly large pile of furs that were warm to the touch, likely having been held in front of a fire overnight. There were curtains on the windows, and both bench seats were looking extra cozy.

Then Ziva hopped into the carriage, sitting on the bench that faced forward and covering her lap with one of the furs. Tony therefore took the other bench, resigning himself to the odd feeling of moving backwards the entirety of the journey. He also covered himself with furs and settled in. Both of them opened the books they had brought with them, and made use of the fact that it was light enough for them to be able to see to read.


The longer they were on the road the louder the wind howled around them. When Tony peeked out the window, he could see the trees directly next to the road, though not much else past that. The snow was coming down much harder than when they had left the castle.

"Do you think the weather will delay us?" Ziva asked, putting down her book and looking at Tony.

He shook his head. "I don't know. But if it gets much worse, we might need to stop and take shelter until the storm blows over. At least once we get past the next village, the road goes into a thicker forest, so there should be less snow on the ground."

They then sat in silence for a while, pretending to read their books, though in reality they were looking out the windows more than they were reading.


They stopped, a little after noon, if Tony had to guess, and the coachman rapped his fingers on the door.

"Your Majesties, I think the snow is too thick, we need to stop for a while," he called through the door.

Ziva wrapped herself in furs and hopped out of the carriage. "Is there anywhere we can shelter?" she asked.

"I grew up around here, if I remember right, there should be an abandoned homestead just a little further up the road. We can stay there."

Ziva nodded and got back into the carriage, brushing snow off her furs. The carriage started moving again, and within fifteen minutes they stopped. Tony got out with Ziva this time, and they looked at the homestead that was in front of them. It consisted of a small stable and smaller house, a brick chimney protruding from the back of it.

The three of them worked together to get the horses in the stable. There was barely enough room for all four horses to be inside, but Tony figured that they could keep each other warmer that way. There was even some dry hay that they filled the manger with and the horses ate with what seemed to be contentment.

Then Ziva led the way into the house. Inside they found a table with two chairs at one end next to the fireplace, and the other end held a double bed, a forgotten, threadbare quite covering it. Tony filled the fireplace with wood, and the coachman pulled from his pocket flint and steel.

Soon they had a fire roaring, warming the entire building. While the fire was beginning to burn, Ziva had run out to the carriage to grab the furs and they were hung near the fire. Once everything was where it needed to be, the three of them settled in to wait out the storm.


The snow and wind finally stopped around midnight, and Tony sighed with relief. He and Ziva were sitting on the two chairs, and the coachman had fallen asleep on the floor next to the fire.

"If that storm had lasted any longer," Tony commented quietly to Ziva, "we would not be making it to Timothy and Abby's in time."

She nodded. "Yes, but it will still be close if we do not want to travel in the dark. We will have to have perfect weather tomorrow."