Birthright

The old woman hugged the worn, gray cloak closer to her breast and the sleeping child she held. Though the ride had been rough nearly the entire way from the capital city of Falladia the sleeping babe had hardly stirred except to feed and be changed. She's a special child, thought the old witch. Born into a broken and torn world but perhaps I can give her a chance...

The journey had already taken two days, with the necessity of them changing coaches halfway in the last small community. The witch had used what little of her magic was left to make sure both drivers couldn't remember who it was they were transporting or where they were going, but it had drained her. After all, she was very old now and had seen more of the world than most and longed now for rest and quiet. Of course, she thought wryly, with a young child I may get less rest than I was hoping for. But she had taken a blood oath to hide and protect the child and she knew in her bones that her fate was now tied to the sleeping child in her arms. She'd had a premonition that her life would end to save the little girl's and she accepted it.

The carriage bumped hard then, stirring the baby inside her cloak who made a sweet cooing noise and when the wrinkled, old hand peeked down she could see sweet hazel eyes blinking up at her. A chubby little hand grabbed her crooked finger and a contented sigh came up from the cherubs face. They'd gone through the last of the outpost's in the Hinterland's territory and though the driver had been paid handsomely for the journey he was becoming increasingly nervous with the area and she could tell from the sweat starting to form on the side of his brow that the proximity from the Dark Woods was making him uncomfortable.

"We will arrive very soon, lad." she said to placate his fears before he could decide he's gone far enough. Her voice was calm and soothing and she infused a little of her magic in it to help him relax. It helped that the words were true. She could see the crest of a small hill and knew the run down lodge that was located on the other side. In another lifetime, that had been a lively place, but now no one from the Bright dared to get this close to the border. Of course, the witch wasn't always from the Bright and she knew that the darkest of dangers lay in the Falladia and the world they were escaping. No creature in the dark wood would ever terrify her soul more than the horrors she'd seen there. No, they would be safe here. She would make sure of it.

Even though she'd charmed the young driver, she noticed he was unconsciously quick with his movements and unloaded their trunks quicker than perhaps he would have somewhere else and within minutes he was paid the rest of the fare owned and on his way. There was much work to be done, and so she set the baby down in an old makeshift crib and started to scrub the living quarters and unpack her many tomes and trinkets.

At first, the babe had stirred and then gone softly back to sleep. She'd been listening to her steady breathing since the cabin was so remote, the stillness made it a comforting sound. After a few minutes though, the witch stopped breathing and her eyes jumped to the crib. The noise had stopped, and the little girl was gone.