“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Seren asked, observing their father. He wobbled a little when he walked but otherwise was fairly steady.

“Yes, Seren, I’m fine.” He said, trying to keep the smile off his face. “Focus, boots. Remember?” He lightly pushed Seren to get a laugh out of them. It was a pleasant change of pace for Seren to see their dad dressed warmly for the snow and walking about outside. They couldn’t stop their smile.

“Boots, right!” Seren agreed. “So we’re probably going to the Autumn district…”

Seren kept talking, rambling on about where they would find the right boots that would fit them as well as what else they thought would be beneficial to them. Their dad kept nodding along but his smile vanished as he tensed up and glared as the two of them passed. Seren paused as they noticed their dad glaring at something behind them.

“What is it?” They asked as they tried to look around. They got the smallest glimpse of someone also glaring back but was shoved into their dad’s side before they could see who it was.

“What were you saying?” Their dad said as they entered the Autumn district.

“Who was it?” Seren asked, trying to look around but whoever it was, was gone.

“Don’t worry about it, boots!” He snapped his fingers in remembrance. Seren jumped again to face the shops.

“Right, boots!” Seren said, they pulled their dad into the streets that weren’t as popular yesterday, but weren’t empty either. Walking down the street, people moved out of their way but not in the same way people moved out of Mr. Asche’s way. They moved out of Mr. Asche’s way because it was clear he wasn’t stopping. People moved out of their dad’s way in the same way they’d avoid a skunk.

Seren looked off into the distance in private reflection. Their dad noticed and gave him a slight bump.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“I was thinking about how people walk.” Seren said, looking up at their dad.

“Is that what’s fascinating you today?” He asked, pulling them across the street. Looking for carts before leading them across.

“Yeah,” Seren skipped along. They let their dad release their hand and open the door to the store so they could enter.

The door jingled as it shut behind the pair. The shoe store was dusty and filled with racks of shoes on display. At the back of the store there was a little cobbler corner where pieces of unmade shoes littered the area. Sitting in the center, working on a pair, was the cobbler.

“Welcome in! I’m overwhelmed with requests so what’s on display is what’s available. No exceptions.” The cobbler called.

“All right, thanks.” Their dad called, and he ushered Seren toward the shelves. They wandered and looked around the shelves for a pair of winter boots. There were lots of big boots for adults but very few shoes for people Seren’s size.

“You find something you like, I need to sit for a minute.” Their dad closed his eyes and held his temples.

“Do we need to go home?” Seren asked.

“No, no. I just need to sit for a minute.” He said, waving his hand. Seren helped him to a little sitting area and into a chair. He pushed them toward the shelves. “Go, go pick something out.” Seren smiled once they were sure he was really fine and ran off into the store. While browsing the shelves they heard the voices of other shoppers talking quietly to each other. They tried not to eavesdrop and just focus on their own shopping but they couldn’t quite help it.

“I’m not kidding! I swear it’s him.” One voice whispered.

“No, no way. He’s dead, he died in that fight like seven years ago.” The other voice said. “I heard that Sothach boy is still in prison for it.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“That’s justice isn’t it? He takes his wife and newborn into the forest and murders them, blames the fae and doesn’t see any repercussions. Meanwhile, the wife’s brother rots in prison and didn’t even kill the bastard.”

“That’s the legal system for you. He’s one of the Winters family, probably paid his way out.”

Seren was staring at nothing while they listened. The pair whispering wandered away, still whispering about whether or not the subject of their conversation was dead. Seren shook themselves back to reality and found a pair of winter boots that fit them. Though they kept thinking about bits and pieces of the conversation, they’d overheard.

Seren brought their boots to their dad who helped them pay for them. Seren noticed with new eyes the way the cobbler was hesitant to take the money from their dad. The pair left the shop with a pair of new boots and some socks to boot. Which should have made them happy, but their head was loud with thoughts.

“Dad?” Seren asked as they walked back toward home.

“Mm?”

“I have a lot of questions.” They looked up at their dad who was avoiding looking at any lights and keeping his knitted hat down low to create a shadow for his eyes.

“What questions?” He asked.

“Complicated ones.” Seren tried to figure out how to say exactly what their questions involved but it was hard.

“Let’s hold off on this conversation until we get home. Unless it’s an emergency, are you bleeding?” He stopped walking and looked concerned at Seren who shook their head no. “Good, then we’ll wait for this until we get home.” Seren agreed, lost in thought as another round of snow began to fall. Their dad was just as lost in thought as they were.

Reaching the Winters district, they both slowed and looked down at the snowbanks that were piling up in the flurry. Seren kicked in the snow as their dad opened the door and motioned them inside.

Their house seemed a lot darker than normal. But they went in and straight to the dining room table where they put down the boots and socks.

“Okay, these questions. Let’s start with the one you’ve been thinking about the most. Then we’ll keep going from there.” Their dad said as they sat on the floor of the living room.

“Why is our last name Winters but we don’t talk to the Winters family?” Seren said. Their dad’s mouth dropped open, taken off guard.

“Oh. Oh, this isn’t the conversation I thought we were going to have.” He coughed awkwardly. “I… I think I might have preferred the other talk.”

“What other talk?” Seren asked, instantly distracted.

"Well… you see…" their dad started, he looked at Seren and his face went bright red. "Nope. Nope. I can't do it. What was the other question you had?" Their dad covered his face, leaving Seren even more confused.

"Uh." Seren made a note to ask about whatever he was talking about later. "There were these two people in the shop and they were talking about stuff." Their dad looked up, now his face was pale.

"What did you hear?" He asked, he got up and passed Seren to the kitchen.

"They…" Seren could think clearly what they wanted to say but they couldn't get their mouth to say it. Their dad brought a glass of water to Seren and moved them both to sit in the open living room area.

Seren played with the glass, sipping occasionally. Clearing their throat so they could speak.

"They said that there was this person who was a part of the Winters family. The one at the end of the street? That he." Seren had to stop again as they didn't know how to say the rest.

"I see," their dad said with a nod. "Remember how I told you, your mom wanted to trade you to the fae? Well, when I went after you and brought you back, your mom never came back. Which caused a lot of people to think I did something to hurt her."

"Did you?" Seren asked quietly.

"Never. Seren, look at me." Their dad said. Seren looked up. "I would never have hurt anyone." Seren tried to tell if he was lying, but couldn't. Every piece of their body wanted to trust their dad. But the whispers in their head wouldn't shut up. Their dad winced and held his head. "Are you okay? Do you need to lie down?"

“I’ll be okay,” Their dad said, though he wobbled.

“Have you taken your medication today?” Seren asked suspiciously.

“I.. think so?” Their dad stared at the floor in confusion.

“I don’t think you did,” Seren said. They got up from the floor and hunted around the mess in the kitchen. “Where did we put it?”

“Did you check my room?” Their dad asked, leaning over until falling onto his hands.

“You should lie down,” Seren directed as they ran into their dad’s bedroom. They dug through things looking for where in this world that they could have put the bottle down. While digging under the bed, their hand bumped a box. Seren pulled it out curiously. It was a small worn cardboard box that was falling apart. The lid wasn’t even holding the box closed, Seren moved it aside and froze.

Inside the box was an ancient pistol.