-First Draft-

Cold winds from the north hit the long braids I had put up just hours before. On the verge of the coarse hazel colored hair bursting from their loose hold I reached up to tug my cloak closer around my neck and made use of the hood to hide the dancing weaved braids. It didn't take long for that very chill to hit me down to the core, making me realize how thin my skin must be. Nighttime was coming, on the verge of breaking into the suns rays and collecting the heat with it. With a short exhale, I used my breath to warm the free hand close to my face, then shifted my weight to keep my muscles moving. It would be at least another hour before he arrived and I needed to keep my mind focused elsewhere.

The winds died, but the brisk air remained. My mind wandered, trying to just think of anything else. Suddenly, Calton came to my mind, the very man I was waiting on now. It had been three years, since I last saw this man. The one who was in many ways, a father to me and my sister. Three years, at this very spot, he came to meet us both.. my twin more anxious then myself. He spoke with his deep rugged tone that secretly I adored. "It's only cold, because there's no meat on your bones." Often he teased us. My sister would always scoff and grow silent. I would more or less respond with my occasional flirt; "Can't attract the men with a thick waist, can we?"

Another harsh gush of wind. Sure enough in three years I managed to pack on some weight, but from the training I received in the empire. My once feminine form was no longer lanky, but filled with tone muscle and harsh scars. Calton didn't approve. Not many did. As I braced the winds, I glanced down from the skies to look at the fields before me. Far, far in the distance I made out a tiny blip in my vision, much darker then the dead stalks of the wheat. It was him, still some time away, but I could almost hear his voice now; saying something I knew I would dislike. "Your husband's dead."


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Kimberly's Note: This was a first rough draft of Ruthi. A few changes have been made, but I liked this moment. Also, the last line.. about her dead husband. Well, that's changed as well. I thought the idea of a husband who was alive - but their relationship a rocky one would be more intriguing. 

Calton

Calton was my cane, my rock on the path of this journey. He sheltered my husband through the hardest of moments one could bare. With the agony of my torment raging in my head I knew he would be the light at my dusk, making the sky alive with the tranquility of sunset. With my sister long taken from me in the prime of her life, all I had now was the man who raised us and the husband I barely got to know. All were ones I cared for, but he.. Calton. He was mine and mine alone in this hard world.

Absolutely no family was perfect, but he was the best that he could be. With wrinkles that sagged like a candle, dying too close to the hearth and icy eyes that seemed to always be in a narrowed glare my dear Calton would have been the only one I would have called father. He knew nothing of the life I led after my betrothed went to that dusky prison, but oh if he did. My mentor would have given me the worst possible lecture... the kind that lasted years.

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Kimberly's Note: Not much to say here, other then Calton is more important to the story then even I know yet, lol.