Stained in red

Turning The Hour Glass

Serta sat in Roseanne's quaint hut. He was in a main small and circular room, with a roasting fire at the back along with a bookshelf and a low lying bed. There was a desk and a wooden stool that were both kept tidy and organised with Roseanne's small collections and trinkets. A small draft of wind crept through the cracks but luckily the fire made up for the gusts. Dana knocked on the wooden door.

"Serta! Would you get that please." Roseanne Called from her kitchen. I knew who it was, yet my stomach flipped.

I twisted the knob and Dana walked in. A smile burst onto her face, big enough it touched her eyes. She pulled me into a tight hug.

"Look... Dana.... I'm sorry- I didn't mean to b-" Dana cut me off with a timid but loud giggle.

"Serta! I don't care! I'm just..." she stopped to squeeze me tighter. "Your actually going to do it?" She asked me hopefully. Like a yawn, her smile caught me. 

"Well..." Luckily the rest was cut off by Roseanne.

"Hi, Dana! Are you hungry, I've got some homemade cookies. But, I wouldn't go for that one, it's looking a tad on the burnt side." She laughed looking at the charred black cookie. "It fell into the fire." She explained to Dana who skipped up to the cookies with a massive grin on her face. I followed behind her, and went to the healers side. "You want one?" She asked me.

"I don't know if I trust your cooking." I teased her but helped myself. "Thanks."  I stopped to savour the moment. Like Amagra had said, this wasn't to last. I had figured out her riddle. I knew what I had to do.

"Hey," Roseanne whispered to me. "Your going to be a great King. You know." She kissed my cheek and disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Dana, sorry... for everything. You were right."

"Why are you telling me? I'm always right, what'd you expect." She said through a mouthful of crumbs. She opened her hand at her side and sprouted a green vine from her hand, it swiped another cookie from the plate. "These are delicious! Serta, when we go back to Remenie, we HAVE to keep these! Mmm! I'd pay good money!" She muttered.

"What."

"Hmm?" She asked, not flicking her eyes to me.

"What do you mean 'go back to Remenie.' We-"

"Well that's the whole point of you being King, isn't it? Your going to help us fight to take back our home!" I tried to speak but Dana continued. "And now Jax is coming back, she can help the quads etcetera and be the captain!" It was true. Jax was due home in three days. That was when I planned to take on my duty.

"No, Dana it's not that simple. If we could take back Remenie, we would. Me being King doesn't mean we've suddenly got all the recourses to march right back home!"

"Come on you two. Let it go, at least for now." Roseanne scolded sweetly. She picked up the empty tray and vanished again.

"Ugh! She's like my mother." Dana moaned beside me. I shoved her playfully, which then evolved into us hitting each other when Roseanne wasn't looking.

"Your like my annoying baby Sister!" I laughed and pushed her again.

"Oy!"
———
The night vanished with a mix of laughter and sniggering, but a beast of dread now slumbered subtly at the pit of Serta's stomach.