Six years passed. Sólstaður without Kuro wasn’t extremely different than Sólstaður with it—not on an official scale, at least. Kuro was never really involved in the political side of things, so the greatest change there was Andreas taking his father’s place as grand chief. All that really meant was that Andreas had to play the peacekeeper.

His days got a bit more interesting when a little son came along—more so when a daughter followed two years afterwards. It prompted Amanda to move out—albeit she stayed in Byen Roken—but Lizette stayed because she liked the kids. Amanda still visited fairly often regardless; Elias was barely seen after the change in power.

At the moment, Lizette was out and it was just the four of them. Miya entertained conversation with the littlest, Emelie, while Andreas kept an eye on Kasper while the boy doodled on a piece of paper.

Andreas glanced over when Emelie’s rambling paused for a moment, smiling when he saw the girl huddled next to her mother. The little one was either talking or sleeping, as Amanda liked to point out.

He looked back at Kasper, although he spoke to Miya. “I’m still disappointed it started to snow,” Andreas mused. “I’d rather them be outside than in here all day.”

“Not much can be done about it,” Miya replied simply. She gently turned towards him, as to not disturb Emelie. “You’re still worried about me leaving, aren’t you?”

“I will never stop worrying about you, love,” Andreas said honestly. He glanced back at her, frowning a bit. “I’m just…wary. I always am when it comes to you.”

Miya smiled back at him. “Toru is just as protective, don’t worry,” she said. “I just want to see the spring festival—visit the capital, pick up a few things, and come right back. I won’t be very long.”

“It still doesn’t instill the…greatest confidence in me,” Andreas admitted. In the time since Kuro left Sólstaður, Miya’s brother had visited a few times—the men got along fairly well when it came to worrying about Miya, it seemed.

Before Miya could carry on and insist, Kasper let out a little noise and stood up. The boy happily ran over to his mother, showing her his drawing. It managed to get Andreas to smile, at least; for nothing more than a circle and a few lines, the boy seemed proud.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Mama! Look!” Kasper held out the drawing.

Miya chuckled. “It’s very pretty, Kasper,” she said kindly. “What is it?”

“It’s you, Mama!” Kasper declared.

“You got the resemblance just right,” Andreas said.

The boy beamed at the compliment.

“Why don’t you add you, Papa, and Em?” Miya suggested. “Then it can be a family picture.”

“Okay!” Kasper wandered back over to where his things were and continued the little piece of art.

They sat in silence to appreciate it for a little while—the simplicity of it. Andreas believed they were one of the lucky few who could enjoy a life like this, even if he was technically still apart of the ruling people. In moments like these, it didn’t feel like it.

Miya picked up a conversation topic after a few moments, which continued until Lizette returned home.

“The snow’s let up, if you’re ready to leave,” Lizette said to Miya.

Andreas translated so she could understand—Miya had picked up most of the essential phrases and words by now, but decided she could officially learn the language alongside her children—and she nodded.

“I should get going, then,” Miya mused.

Carefully, she tried to move Emelie towards Andreas without waking the girl. The exchange didn’t quite work, as she opened her eyes when she was placed next to Andreas. Kasper stopped drawing so he could watch his mother.

Miya left, briefly disappeared in their room to get her things, then murmured thanks when Lizette helped move them closer to the door. His wife returned to her huddled family and offered the little ones a smile.

“Mama will be gone for a little bit,” Miya explained gently. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Emelie frowned. “No go,” she said firmly.

“It won’t take long,” Miya maintained.

The girl stood and repeated herself. “No go!”

Miya looked like she was at a loss; Andreas gently requested that Emelie sit back down, which she did with as much annoyance as a girl her age could muster.

After a moment, Miya was smiling again; she patted both of the kids’ heads, which seemed to calm Emelie a bit. “I’ll bring back some nice things for you both,” Miya promised. “When you’re older, we can all see the festival and with Uncle Toru together, okay?”

Both of the children nodded, leading Miya to recover from the earlier outburst. She turned to Andreas. “I should get going,” she said. He nodded, and they shared a little parting kiss.

Miya went towards the door, glancing back at her family with a little smile. “All right—Kasper, Emelie, I’m trusting you to keep Papa out of trouble.”

The kids gave their agreement, and Andreas smiled back at her. “Keep yourself out of trouble, Miya,” he said.

“I will,” she promised. She murmured her goodbyes to Lizette as well, and after she had an extra coat on, she left.

It felt normal at the time. Andreas eventually convinced himself not to worry—at least, not as much—until two months passed and he didn’t hear any word about her return. Come another month, and Toru came to tell him in person.

He couldn’t even begin to explain a concept like death to the young children.