His future mate

2 Orphanage and traveling

Nahla

  There is as always a lot to do at the orphanage. I’m a volunteer here and help ones a week by taking care of the kids. To survive the orphanage makes bracelets, necklaces, paintings and other things like that to sell on the market. They also help cleaning the town or houses from richer people to make some money. It keeps the children busy and helps to pay for food, clothes, and the bills. The older kids help taking care of the younger. The kids also get some education to help them when they leave. They have a couple of teachers for that.

  Today I help with making creative work. I help with coming up for ideas on what to make, picking colors, and helping where needed. I go to one of the kids who looks like she is struggling.

  “Hello. Can I help you?” I ask when I arrive at her table. 

  “Yeah, well I’m new here and I have no idea what to make. I have never done this before.” She tells me looking a little lost.

  “My name is Nahla. What is yours?” I decide to get to know her better. That way I can help her better.

  “I am Daisy.”

  “What a pretty name. And are you liking it here so far? I can imagine that it must be overwhelming, so many people.”

  “It is indeed busy here. But everyone is very nice. And the food is so good.” I laugh at her dreamy face while she talks about the food.

  “It is indeed a very nice food. Maybe you can draw your favorite food so far?” 

  “But with what should I work? And where do I even start.” 

  “Well, I always start drawing the outlines. If you tell me what food you like most I’ll draw the outlines. Meanwhile, you can search for some colors for the drawing. When I am ready you can color it. And maybe next time you can do it yourself.” I suggest.

  “That is a great idea, thank you. I like the fruit salad here the most. At home we almost never had fruit.” I feel sorry for that. In the more poor parts of the population, the fruit was almost impossible to buy.

  “What a good choice of food. Very colorful too. I’ll directly start.” She hurries away to get the colors and I star our masterpiece. When I was younger I got drawing lessons. It was a very popular hobby amongst the rich families. I leave Daisy alone once I’m ready. 

  The time flies and soon enough it is time to make food. I help make the soup today. Others make the main dish. After I’m ready and the soup is served I go home.

  Kayden is early today. Everyone is busy with the moon festival which is tomorrow so it's quiet today. He already made some food for us.

  “How was the orphanage?” he asks me when I sit down to eat.

  “It was fun, I helped with the creative making and the food. This tastes amazing.” Kayden made a salad and some chicken, which both taste amazing. 

  “Thank you. I am really looking forward to seeing Walten City and how they celebrate the Moon festival. I hope it’s going to be awesome.” 

  “I’m sure it’s going to be better than your expectations. How was your day?”

  “boring! I had to guard the town keeper's house in the morning and then had to make sure everything was ready for the orphanage to clean tomorrow. Then I could go home. So I’m already an hour or two home. I knew you were coming home soon so I made us some food. I am not the best cook so I’m glad you like it.” 

  After we ate we clean up and prepare for tomorrow. We pack our clothes and some food so we can leave when we wake up. Kayden got us two horses so we can easily go to Walten City. There we will stay in a hotel. We need to travel three hours to the center of Walton City where the hotel is. Walten City is laid next to the sea. The festivities are always on the beach. I don’t know exactly where the hotel is laid but I think we have to walk around half an hour to the beach. 

  The next day we go to the horse keeper to get the horses Kayden hired for us. I used to drive every day. We didn’t live here then, although our family does have a house here. When we went here for a business deal dad had to make us came here. That is when I met Kayden. He was applying for guard and as a test, he had to be my guard all day. We spent the day talking and laughing. The next day he got the job and I visited him to congratulate him. We fell in love and when my family left I stayed here with Kayden. I got a big scandal amongst the high families. At first, people were hesitant to accept me in their community but with some time they started to accept me and then love me. 

   Kayden and I leave the town and go. We ride until we see the vess mountains and decide to take a break. We grab our food and sit down. There is no city or town in sight but this is a popular stop place and there are lots of people. A couple walks to us. A man and a woman. they are an older couple. I think they're around 60 years old.

  “Are you going to Walten city?” the woman asks.

  “Yes, ma’am?” I reply politely.

  “Is it your first time there? We could be your escort if you want? We have been to Walten City a thousand times. This is my brother Jake and I’m Beth.” 

  “Well nice to meet you, Beth. I am Nahla and this is Kayden. We don’t need an escort but thank you. I’ve been in Walten City when I was younger and know to find my way there.” I have seen this kind of couples a lot when I lived with my family. They always try to steal something from you. 

  “Oh, well can we still travel with you two. You know we’re older and can use some protection from some young people.” The woman tries. I’m not falling for that though. I did that once when I was younger and they took my money and pushed me from my horse and stole her too. I had to walk an hour to the closest town and there was my aunt who got me home. After that, it took me a while before I left the house alone.

  “No, we rather travel alone.” I can see the woman getting angry at my reply. She tries to quickly grab my purse but Kayden grabs her arm and holds a knife at her throat. 

  “Don’t try that again,” he tells her threateningly. When he let go of her they scurry away.

  “Are you ok Nahla?” 

  “Yeah I am fine, thank you. Let's get going before someone tries to steal something again.”

  We travel next to the impressive sight of the mountain in silence. We travel for another hour and there is the and of the mountain. you can smell the sea here. the wind is powerful when we travel around the vess mountains. The mountain holds a lot of wind back. The wind is pretty cold so I grab my cloak to not freeze and see the first houses appear. It are farm to feed Waten City. Half an hour later we get in the poor part of the city. 

  When Walten City was made it started at the beach. The rich live there now. In the center are a lot of high skyscrapers to house the big amount of people who live here. In poor, the people live horribly. It’s dirty with everyone close to each other. You have no real house. If you can get a bed for the night you sleep in that. If not you sleep in the mud on the ground. Most people die of the cold at night. The rest of starvation or sickness. Not a place where you want to live.