The Winter Born [COMPLETED]

Chapter 12 - Winter Festival

I stare into the mirror, gazing to the finished result. Mother somehow convinced Laila to lend me one of her dresses since mine is almost rags. I turn around but my head is still to the mirror to see my backside.

The dark purple dress fits my body well, not too tight, not too loose as Laila has the same body like mine. The sleeves are long, covering my arms and the dress drops to my feet, giving warmth from the winter weather. A light blue ribbon is tied onto my waist and is held by a small bronze pin. I smile, satisfied with the dress but my hair gives reasons to worry about.

My silver-white hair is up in a tight braided bun, so filled with pins that I swear is ripping my hair out and at the back is another bronze pin, bigger than the one holding my ribbon but it has a slight variation. In the middle of the pin is a blue gemstone, so beautiful and bright from the red iron.

It was a trade from a Valarian and Mother claimed it was too valuable to sell. I groan and harshly pull on a pin in my hair, loosening it and the bun falls slightly. I try to be careful. Mother won't like me ruining her work.

How long it had been since she did my hair? Two? Three years? She never wanted to and I almost never allow her. But today, today is a breath of fresh air. It's always good to be out of the forest for a day and sitting on a stool while Mother does my hair. Her touch was gentle and kind, so different from the air in the forest.

I turn my gaze from myself and look to the other figure in the mirror, sitting on a stool while looking into another smaller mirror with both if her hands in her hair. She's wearing a dress identical to me, only hers is green.

Her reflection shows her struggling to tie her brown hair into a ponytail. The ribbon is between her teeth as a chunk of hair falls from her grasp and I here a loud groan.

I sigh and walk my way to her. She stops as she watches me using the reflection in her mirror. Her face is unreadable as I take the ribbon and look to her with a look as if I'm asking permission.

She rolls her eyes but eventually gives me a timid nod. I smile and I collect her hair and begin to tie.

She doesn't say anything and I don't too. If I'm with other people it may be awkward but with Laila, it's calming to sit in silence. It's one of the bonds we made when we were smaller. I look to her reflection as I work my hand through her hair. We're so different yet so similar, I thought.

We're the spitting image of each other and the only thing that set us apart between us is our hair. But inside, we're different.

I finish her ponytail and pull on the ribbon to make it tighter. " There, " I say, satisfied with my work. Laila runs her hand through my work and for what seems like forever, she smiles at me.

" Thank you, " she mutters.

" You're in a good mood today, " I say, mockingly.

She stands up and walks towards the bigger mirror to see her whole body. " Who wouldn't? It's the Winter Festival, " she says as she twirls, her dress fanning with her. " It's our birthday, " she straightens out a crease on her evergreen dress.

I stay quiet and my mind comes to the Winter Born but I quickly wipe it off my mind, and I look towards Laila. What if she's the Winter Born? I thought as she sighs into the mirror. Gods, stop thinking about it. It's just a folk tale.

Suddenly there's a knock at the door and Mother comes in with a smile. " Happy birthday, children. Come. We'll celebrate at the square, " she says, with a happy tone. It's almost a tradition for us to celebrate at the square every year. My mind goes to Ethan and I wonder what is he doing. I walk to the window to look outside.