Chapter Four
Rune fumed silently as she looked around the tattered atrium. She didn’t want to be staring at dried and withered plants that adorned the huge area that had at one time been beautiful. She wanted to watch the children as they ran circles around her while throwing snowballs. She wanted to hear their off-key singing as the excitement of the Christmas season approached.
Instead, she had been ripped away from the serenity of her former home. She had spent the last century watching over the children. The orphanage had changed dramatically over the years, but the children, despite the changing times, remained the same. She sent warmth to the new arrivals, listened to their hopes and dreams, and did what she could to make them feel safe and happy.
She grimaced as an older man brus
