Chapter 15

Dakota turns around and looks. For a cabin it is huge, but of course it was a cabin built for royalty. Once, kings and queens of old would have ruled from something very similar to this.

Even though it is hard to fully see through the raging storm Dakota says, “It is beautiful.”

Sorbo kisses her damp hair and carries her into the cabin. Luckily the roof seems to be still in one piece. As Sorbo is getting ready to shut the door behind him he sees the floating sphere of light hovering just outside the door. “Well, come on,” says Sorbo, to the sphere and it happily comes inside the cabin.

Sorbo puts Dakota in another favorite chair of his and then he goes outside and grabs Hugs and brings her inside the cabin.

“Hugs!” says Dakota.

Sorbo pulls all the stuff off of Hugs and then pulls out the bedroll and blanket and wraps Dakota in them. “Take your wet clothes off.” She doesn’t have to be told twice.

Then she dives into the blanket. “Come in here with me, Sorbo.”

“I will in a minute, babygirl. I’m going to start a fire first.” Sorbo looks over and sees a pile of what looks to be freshly chopped wood neatly stacked near the fireplace.

On alert he makes the fire, first making sure nothing has made a nest in the chimney. Then he moves the chair with Dakota on it closer to the fire, and then he pulls out his sword and starts looking around his old family cabin. It looks too clean to have been unlived in for decades.

“What’s wrong, Sorbo?”

“Nothing, sweetheart, I’m just going to have a quick look around and then I’ll come back and we’ll cuddle by the fire.”

“Okay,” she says, in her small sweet voice, sensing that Sorbo is on edge.

Just then Katarina with about another twenty fairies come out of one of the backrooms. “Oh, you’re here already. We were hoping to have it completely ready for you by the time you got here.”

Sorbo takes a deep breath and puts his sword away. “So how do things look?”

“The structure is sound and we have chased all the critters out and cleaned up the corresponding mess. We have cleaned and started preparing the bedroom down at the end of the hall on the left for Dakota, and the main bedroom just across the hall on the right for you.”

“How long have you fairies been at work at this?”

“Well, I have been here on and off over the weeks, but my clan has been here for nearly three weeks making sure everything is in shape for the White Sorceress and you, sir knight.”

Sorbo shakes his head in wonder. He smiles, then the smile fades and he sighs a sad little sigh. “Actually, I will take the room next to Dakota’s on the left. We will leave my parents room alone and closed, and the other smaller room at that far end we’ll board up so it will be easier to keep this huge place warm through the winter months.”

After Sorbo double checks everything he goes back into the living room and finds Dakota fast asleep curled up in the chair in front of the fire. Sorbo smiles and finds her another blanket and gently places it over her. He stands there looking down at her fondly for a moment then he steels his nerves and turns around to confront his ghosts.

He looks around at the royal cabin and he smiles with tears in his eyes. In the mountains of Andromeda there are four main trees. The most prevalent are the pine trees, but Sorbo’s favorite has always been the white bark trees. It is from that inspiration and beauty that this huge cabin was made. Even though the cabin is as tall as a two-story building or even slightly taller it is only a single floor domicile. There is a walkway that goes around the entire higher half of the cabin, but it was not built for everyday life, it was built by one of Sorbo’s ancestors, who was a king and a warrior. The ledge is so archers can go up there and defend the place if it ever comes to that. But since the cabin was built within the confines of the Free Lands of Andromeda, and Andromeda’s very own mountains that design aspect was never tested.

There are two fireplaces in the living room alone. One is huge and the other smaller one that Dakota is now curled up in front of is about a fourth of the size. They are made out of white and light gray rock that has black minerals in it, which the pattern nearly matches the white barked tree.

The huge beams that crisscross above your head have been stained a brown with a reddish tint. The entire interior of the cabin uses the reddish brown and white bark design to accentuate each other and have made for a very beautiful interior.

Sorbo is looking around and he sees himself run by heading towards the kitchen to feed his ever growing body. If he remembers it correctly he was nine years old then and had very few cares in the world. By then he already knew he was destined to be a Knight of Andromeda. Of course it makes it a lot easier to believe in a god when you talk with her in person from time to time. Once he saw the beauty of Andromeda, he knew his destiny was to honor her. The second he saw Dakota through eyes that weren’t blurry with alcohol he knew or at least he was finally able to see beauty in the world once and again.

He will do what he can for her for showing him back to his path of destiny. Once and again he is a proud Knight of Andromeda and instead of wallowing in the shadows he is once and again basking in the shinning light of love, grace, and honor. He doesn’t know how he will repay Dakota, but he promises he will always tell her the truth and be there for her. He knows he has made that promise before, but maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t his fault. With that thought his eyes flood with tears and he goes outside into the snow.

It is serene and beautiful, as the snow is still falling heavily, but it is coming down slowly so it looks like a dream. It is quiet and pristine and as he looks down at the snow he sees little foot prints in the snow and hears the laughter of another little princess that he once brought up here.

As Sorbo looks out through the snow he can’t physically see the boundaries of the property as night has fallen, but all he has to do is close his eyes and it comes to him full force. From the front of the cabin to the front of the southern property boundary where it drops off and the mountains once again take their form is about thirty paces. From the west to east boundaries of the plateau that the mountain cabin is built on is about a hundred and twenty paces.

From the back of the cabin until the mountains start going for elevation is twenty paces. The cabin has been hit by more than one falling rock. Once or twice it was naturally and once or twice it was because some wild boy and then a wild redheaded girl climbed the challenge. The fond memories bring a smile to the middle-aged knight’s face.

The cabin itself is centered on the plateau as far as east west goes. The cabin itself is sixty paces wide and twenty-five paces deep. It is really too big to be considered a cabin and too small to be considered a Royal Palace. Sorbo takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. He watches his breath float away on the wind that is blowing down from the higher elevations. Even though the main part of the storm comes from the east, the mountains cause the winds to swirl and channel through valleys.

Sorbo turns around and quietly goes back into the cabin. At last the fire is starting to warm the place. He glances over in front and to the right of him and sees that Dakota is still fast asleep. He smiles and then he clasps his hands behind him and leans back into the front door. He looks around the cabin. To his immediate right, about fifteen feet from the front door, is the door that leads into the kitchen. In fact the fireplace that Dakota is now curled up in front of is the same rock and mortar creation that the stove and bakery oven are apart of on the other side of the wall inside the kitchen.

The living room is by far the biggest single room of the cabin. As far as depth goes, it takes up half the cabin, and as far as width goes, it takes up almost three fourths of it. It is near twelve and a half paces deep and forty paces wide. Needless to say the original royalty of Pralene either expected a big family or planned on entertaining important guests when practical.

As you look to your right at the smaller fireplace there is a stately rug laid before it with two chairs normally setting just on the edge of it, but Sorbo moved one of the chairs closer to the fire and that is where Dakota is currently sleeping. Right where Dakota is sleeping is where all the kids would sit on the floor before the fire and laugh the nights away. To the left, and the huge fireplace that is on the west wall, is where all the big furniture is and is where the grown ups gathered to discuss heads of state matters or to forget them for awhile and sip away at the drinks while reminiscing about the old days.