Lakehouse

Talea shouldered the warped wooden door open. The hut hadn't been lived in for what looked like years. The thatching of the roof was decomposing before her eyes. Wind howled through the empty windows, the sacking that should have kept it out long rotten and the shutters fallen to the ground. The inside smelled musty and moldy.

Fabienne pulled a face. "You really want to stay here? In this... hovel?"

"For now, yeah." Talea shrugged. Only a week ago, she'd been recognized in a small market town. They'd barely managed to sneak up unseen before Prince Meerten's soldiers had arrived. "It’s too warm to run, anyway. Here, we can go for a swim, hunt deer, find mushrooms. All those kinds of things. We'll have ourselves a little vacation."

"It’s early May," Fabienne sniffed. "It's cold, it's rainy, this cabin is leaky and I'd rather stay in a cave."

"Suit yourself." Talea was already busying herself with mucking out the cabin. When the bigger chunks of half-composted plants were dropped behind the cabin on a heap, she went on to fashion a broom from some twigs and one long thick branch for the handle.

"Alright, alright," Fabienne grumbled. "I'll have a look at the roof. You can go hunt your deer and fungi later. You like that yucky business."

"We can't all swallow our prey whole," Talea laughed. She caught Fabienne's delicate wrist to pull her close for a kiss. "But all those aren’t the only reasons I want to stay here," she whispered.

"Oh?"

"I always see how everyone looks at you in the towns. You’re so beautiful, nobody could look away."

"Talea..." Fabienne chuckled. "Alright, I see. We can summer here. After we fix the roof. In summer, at least, we can make good use of the lake right outside our door. It’ll be a good break for you. We traveled far this spring."