Finding Contentus

Chapter 99: The Calm

Kakara woke up again around the last light of day. The spiked sedative potion had knocked her out cleanly and solidly, but at the very least, she felt fresh, rejuvenated, like she could run for miles without tiring.

She groaned and reached for something warm in her arms, Gabrielle, only to find nothing but the space he had left.

Of fucking course. She sighed, but wasn't surprised. Duty called, and the sap most likely wanted her to rest as much as possible while he pushed himself as much as possible.

Yawning, she got up from her rolling mattress and prepared a light breakfast for herself on the heating pan. She ate egg sandwiches and drank olive tea before stepping out of her igloo to stretch and warm up.

The cold weather was... calm, too calm. There was no storm of any kind to test her, or blasting winds for her to resist against.

Well that's fucking dull. Kakara clicked her tongue. She spotted a single tree and jumped on one of the high branches. She hung freely from the tree, doing upside-down sit ups.

She never counted her reps, she went until she couldn't go anymore. She went until she felt maximum pain, and even then, she didn't stop.

She went until her abdominal muscles were yelling at her, and even there, she told them to shut up and take the pain. She was hardcore on her core that begged for no more, that needed to gain more.

Kakara didn't notice the crowd of children that had gathered you watch her. When she opened her eyes, she nearly got a fright.

All of them move so lightly on their feet, more lightly than I do. It made sense how Gabrielle was the exact same.

They didn't hum or giggle, they all just sat at the bottom of the tree, watching her with wide, fascinated eyes, like they were watching a story unfold in real life, a story of legend.

Kakara grunted, raising her legs to stand on the branch before performing a backflip and landing on the snow.

"Ohooooooo!" The children awed and clapped, having reached the end of the legendary story.

Kakara didn't acknowledge the applause or bow. She got down to do push-ups. She paused, looking at all the children and getting an idea.

"All of you, form a tower on my back," she told them.

Their eyes brightened and the children did as their Queen commanded. Like leaders in the art of cheering, the children formed a stacked tower on Kakara's back. Each child stood on the shoulders of the one below them, repeating the sequence until the last child could do pull ups on the highest tree branch.

They held onto each other in perfect balance. They cheered Kakara on as she lifted them all up on her back.

🌟

"She lifts the tower!"

"For every hour!"

"She never sours!"

"She has our power!"

"Reine! Reine! She has the reigns!"

"Reine! Reine! She has the reigns!"

"She's strong and long!"

"Just like our song!"

"She's strong and long!"

"Just like our song!"

"Reine! Reine! She has the reigns!"

"Reine! Reine! She has the reigns!"

🌟

Kakara did a full session of push ups with the children for an hour before they all jumped off her back and landed gracefully, applauding themselves as though they had joined the ranks of stardom.