A few hours passed in silence, and the sun began to disappear over the horizon, the sky changing it’s robes to dusk. Mirabel huddled into herself, crossing her arms in an attempt to warm herself. The darker it became, the colder. The half sleeves of her nightgown did little to prevent the chill air from nipping at her arms.

    The man who had apparently decided to help her, Tomas, looked over at her and seemed to notice how cold she was.

    “My home is just over that ridge,” he said, pointing to their right. “We’ll have to leave the road to get there, though.” His eyes turned to meet hers, his eyebrows turned up in a slightly worried gaze. She smiled and nodded in return, and his expression relaxed.

    He had such an open, honest face, it was hard to resist a smile when looking at him. He reminded her a lot of a puppy in some ways. And it certainly wasn’t a bad thing, in her opinion. While he was at least a foot taller than her, and probably a couple of years older, he was incredibly gentle in everything he did. It was a comforting change from her previous travelling companions.

    Tomas turned off the road then, following a worn trail instead. Mirabel followed carefully. Her feet had blisters, she was sure. She’d been walking ever since she’d fallen off the horse hours ago. She wondered where she’d be now instead if she’d stayed on. For all she knew, if she’d let the horse continue running, she’d have ended up in Winterthur. At least she knew what kingdom she was in. The only question was, which way was Lucerne, and how was she going to get home?

    They reached the top of the ridge, and Mirabel paused, taking in the view. The light was dim, but she could see what she assumed was Tomas’s home just at the bottom of the slight hill. It was lit up, lantern light shining out through the windows. It was a small house, more of a cottage, really, but it looked homey. And most of all, it looked warm.

    Forgetting about the view, she hurried after Tomas. As she ran down the hill, her stomach rumbled. She’d forgotten just how hungry she was until she’d seen the cottage.

    Tomas chuckled when she reached his side. She looked up at his face and gave him a wide smile. It was odd how comfortable she felt in his presence. She’d only known him for a few hours, but he was so nice that she couldn’t help but feel safe with him.

    She glanced over her shoulder in the direction they’d come from. She could still see the forest, off in the distance. Her home lay in that direction, and here she was going the other way. The comforting feeling of a few moments before fled with the sun, a feeling of homesickness coming in and taking it’s place.

    She wondered what she’d be doing right now had she not been kidnapped. Having dinner, perhaps? Or maybe in the thick of planning her wedding.

    That thought brought her to an entirely new one. Had her parents even told Winterthur what had happened to her? Or did they still think the wedding was going on as planned? It was hard to tell with her father’s politics what he would have done. Hopefully, with her mother there to help, they would have told them what had happened. Perhaps even now they were assisting Lucerne in the search for her. Assuming there was a search.

    They reached the bottom of the ridge and began to walk along the path leading to the front door of the cottage. Of course, that was assuming there was a back door. Either way, the door to the cottage was lit by a lantern sitting on a stump beside the door.

    A bleating noise came from Mirabel’s right, and she turned in surprise. Off to one side of the cottage was a large fenced in area with goats in it. The goat bleated again, and Tomas chuckled.

    “That’s Connie. She can be a bit noisy sometimes, sorry,” he said, rubbing the back of his head, and looking a bit embarrassed.

    Mirabel shook her head and gave him a smile, trying to convey that it was fine. She’d just been surprised; she didn’t know he had goats. Now she thought about it, though, it was obvious why she didn’t. It’s not exactly the first thing that pops to mind when talking to a stranger.

    She turned back to the pen of goats and waved, a smile still on her face. She was fond of goats. There was no particular reason for the affection, she just liked them.

    She turned back, and Tomas was smiling. She grinned, and then started walking to the door. She was looking forward to food and a good night’s sleep.

Of course, it didn’t quite go as planned. She’d hoped to waltz in and retrieve some food before retiring to her bed. What she hadn’t planned on was Tomas’s family.

    The moment she walked in the door behind Tomas, a barrage of questions barrelled into her. Who was she? Why was she here? Where did he find her? Why did she have silver hair? Tomas held up his hands, stopping the flow of words for just a moment before he began to speak.

    “This is Dove. Or at least, that’s what I’ve decided to call her,” he began. “She can’t actually speak.” At that, the entire room radiated with shock. The questions began again, and Mirabel tuned out, instead taking her first look at Tomas’s home.

    It wasn’t any larger on the inside than it had looked from the outside. If anything, it seemed smaller. The cottage was cluttered. Be it children’s toys or crafts, or even just furniture, the place was honestly a bit of a mess. Oddly, she didn’t mind. It made the place look lived in.

    Sitting around a table in the middle of the room was a woman and two children. The woman, presumedly Tomas’s mother, had dark hair sprinkled with the occasional grey hair, showing her age. Her face was round and pleasant, and Mirabel could see where Tomas’s honest face came from.

    Beside the mother sat a young girl who looked to be around ten years of age. She, too, had dark hair, though hers looked to be black as opposed to the dark brunet of Tomas or the grey and brown mix of her mother’s. She had large, pale blue eyes that stared curiously at Mirabel.

    Last but not least, a young boy of perhaps seven sat at the table. His hair matched that of his sister’s, though his eyes were more of a stormy blue color. They were wide, staring at Mirabel’s hair. She hadn’t thought of how they might react to that; Tomas hadn’t seemed to make a big deal out of it, aside from asking if she was from Lucerne.

    She was dragged back into the conversation as Tomas addressed her by her newly acquired nickname.

    “Dove, this is my family.” Clearly he’d already introduced them to her when she hadn’t been paying attention. “My sister, Esther.” He pointed to the girl. “My brother, Ansel.” He pointed to the boy. “And my mother, Adelaide.”

    Mirabel smiled at them, unsure how to react. Ansel continued to stare quite obviously at her hair, but Esther grinned widely and stood up, walking over to her and extending her hand.

    “Hello!” she said as Mirabel again confusedly took the hand she was offered. “It’s nice to meet you!”

    Mirabel couldn’t help but grin back at the young girl’s enthusiasm. It was becoming apparent that Tomas was not alone in his kindness. Adelaide stood and made her way over to Mirabel with a sweet smile on her face.

    “It’s so nice to meet you, Dove,” she said, her voice soft and lilting. Her eyes glanced towards Tomas, a mischievous glint in their depths before returning to Mirabel. “How about you come sit down and I’ll get you something to eat?”

    Mirabel smiled and nodded, allowing herself to be led to one of the chairs sitting around the table. Adelaide walked over to the cupboard on one end of the room and took out a plate and spoon for her. Returning to the table as Tomas took his seat, having retrieved a chair from elsewhere in the room, she placed the utensils in front of Mirabel.

    Tomas had seated himself directly across the table from her, and she smiled across at him. He returned the smile, seeming somewhat relieved. About what, she wasn’t sure. Perhaps that things with his family seemed to be going smoothly.

    Adelaide began to spoon a dish of mashed potatoes and meat onto her plate. “There you go, sweetheart,” she said, dumping one last spoonful on the plate. She then returned to her seat and picked up her own spoon.

    Mirabel looked down at her plate and picked up the spoon laying beside the dish. Looking up at Adelaide, who nodded encouragingly, she spooned up a mouthful, taking a bite. It was surprisingly good. She’d never been particularly fond of potatoes, but whatever had been done to these made them taste surprisingly good. Taking another bite, she decided it must be the seasonings. She could taste a few herbs in it, though she couldn’t identify what they were.

    “Why is her hair so white?” Ansel spoke up. Adelaide looked at him sharply.

    “Ansel, that’s a silly question. It would be the same as asking why your hair is so black,” Tomas said, reaching over and ruffling his brother’s hair with a slight smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

    “Hey!” Ansel cried out, ducking away from Tomas’s long reach. “Don’t do that!” he whined, tugging strands of his hair back into their original messy position.

    Mirabel smiled at their antics. It reminded her of herself and Tristen when they were younger. Much younger, that was. They hadn’t been so mischievous with each other in many years, instead having lessons to pay attention to. But she remembered back when he would chase after her, or give her rides on his back around the palace before their nurse would catch them and drag them back.

    Adelaide played that role now, stopping the two brothers before any roughhousing could occur. Mirabel smiled and then dug into her food, her stomach reminding her then of how hungry she really was. Not to mention that the food was far better than what she’d had for the past couple of days.

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A/N Not much to say, but new chapter! Please please please leave a comment! I want to know what you guys think :3 Lovels! xx