Siena (Forestfolk, Book 1)

Chapter 10a

I awoke to the sound of birdsong and realized that Remi was already gone. I was lethargic, heavy, despite the hollowness in my chest. I stayed in bed for some time, identifying the different warbles of the forest birds. It was my stomach that finally prodded me out of bed with its rumbling.

Food here was never scarce, and I ate my fill at every meal. I felt stronger, maybe even taller. My bones no longer poked up from beneath my skin, and my hair didn't snap so easily. Would Meresh recognize me?

I paused in my thoughts. Was he even still alive?

Nudging that grim thought away, I pushed myself out of bed and into daylight. The deer hide dress I had arrived in had been cleaned and returned to me, but when I offered to return my borrowed clothes, Bren told me to keep them. Now I wore them all the time. Trousers protected my legs when plodding through underbrush to find hidden berries, and the shirt was so soft I would sometimes find myself stroking the material for no reason.

After scavenging the leftovers from breakfast, I resisted the urge to retreat to my room. If Remi was my crutch, and I couldn't walk about without him, then it meant I was disabled somehow. I needed to prove to myself that I wasn't an invalid.

I wandered down one of the numerous paths that ran through Foresthome, passing by several tradesmen working in lean-tos. Some sewed clothes, some prepared animal hides, others carved wooden tools and utensils.

I had just stepped on a small pinecone with a yelp when I heard a voice call my name. I looked around and saw an old, white-haired man bent over a small table of leather scraps. His station was out in the open instead of under a roof. He gestured with a withered hand for me to come closer.

"I heard you grunting like a piglet in the underbrush." His voice was gruff when I expected it to be frail. "Where are your shoes, girl?"

I looked down at my bare feet. It never occurred to me to ask for shoes. These people had given me so much already. I'd been secretly healing my feet every day after returning from the forest. "I don't have any shoes, sir."

He waved me off with his hand. "No need to 'sir' me. My name is Davin. Why don't you have any shoes?"

"I've never worn shoes before," I said.

He raised his bushy eyebrows. "Never?"

I shook my head and looked away, not really wanting to explain that captives didn't get shoes.

He harrumphed. "Plainsmen. Bunch of jackals."

Remembering Remi's advice to me, I resisted the urge to shy away and asked, "What are you making?"

"Why, shoes, of course! This forest will tear up your feet if you don't protect 'em. How is it you're still standing?"

Maybe I should have fled after all. "Um, I have thick feet, I guess?"

He peered down at my feet again. "They look like nice feet to me. Here, take these. Should fit you nicely."

He pushed a pair of soft hide shoes into my hands.

I stared at them.

"They're called moccasins. Here, let me show you."

I sat self-consciously on a nearby stump while Davin slapped dirt off the bottom of my feet and then slipped the shoes over them. "There, see? Perfect."

I looked down at them and wiggled my toes. They were more comfortable than they looked. "Thank you, Davin. You do very nice work."

"Bah." He waved me off again. "An old man's got to have something to do."

I stood up and wiggled my toes again. Wearing shoes was an odd sensation. I took a few experimental steps, jumped up and down, then started shuffling my feet in a little dance. I must have had a silly grin on my face.

Davin laughed with delight. "Siena's first shoes. Enchanting."

"You're very kind," I said. "What can I give you in return?"

"Why don't you come visit me tomorrow?" he said with a twinkle in his eye. "As much as I talk to these shoes, they never talk back."

"It's a deal," I said, and waved him goodbye.

Not the most ideal place to break a chapter, but it was the best I could find. Sorry! Vote anyway? *hopeful grin*