Page 40 of A Winter Redemption

I’ve always loved you and looked after you.His brother’s voice echoed in his head.And I’ll be right here. I won’t let anything happen to you.

Ketho stood, pacing back and forth in the small space. He went to the window and yanked open the curtains. The village lay blanketed in snow. No movement at this time of night.

He leaned his head against the cool glass. His breath fogged the window. He tried to keep his breathing even, to stay in the present. To force the memories of years ago from his mind.

I am happy and free. Happy and free. Nothing binds me. Nothing holds me.

But the past wouldn’t let him be. It never did.

“Come on, Ketho,” Bradley, his older brother by about five years, had said. He’d reached out and grasped Ketho’s shoulder. “You just got to sneak up behind him, slip your hand into his pocket, and grab his wallet.”

“I don’t want to,” Ketho said, wrapping his arms around his body, trying to stop his shivering. He stared after the man, watching him turn down a dark side alley. “What if he sees me? What if he grabs me? What if he hurts me?” Tears burned his eyes. “I don’t want to.”

“Come on,” Bradley said, giving Ketho a little shake. “You’re part-nymph. You can see in the dark, and he won’t be able to see you. You’re so light on your feet. If I could do it, I would, but I’m only human. I can’t see or move like you.” Whilst their father had been human, they’d had different mothers. Ketho’s had been an oread and Bradley’s a human.

“I don’t want to,” Ketho whispered.

“Come on, Ketho. I’m your big brother, and I’ve always loved you and looked after you, haven’t I?” Bradley squeezed his shoulder. “Now we need money to buy food. Come on. I need you to do this. For us. For me.” His brother leaned down and pressed their foreheads together. “And I’ll be right here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

So Ketho went, picking pockets in dark streets and alleys. No one ever saw him. His brother was right about that. But Ketho hated it. He could never shake the fear that he’d get caught and beaten.

Then they met some other children living on the streets. Older children, closer in age to his brother. They didn’t just pick pockets. They broke into houses too.

“My brother could do that,” Bradley boasted, trying to impress his new friends. “He could climb up into the windows on the second storey. He’s half-nymph. And he wouldn’t need a lantern to see in the dark.”

So they went out. His brother’s new friends surrounded him and Bradley, but all eyes were on him.

“Come on, Ketho,” Bradley said. “You’ve got the best eyesight. And you’re the only one who can climb up to that window. It’ll be quick. In and out. Just grab anything that looks valuable.”

Ketho stared up. The house loomed over him.

“How will I open the window?” Ketho asked, voice small.

“The servants don’t lock the windows on the second floor. Just slide it open.”

“Please. I don’t want to,” Ketho begged. “Don’t make me.” Worms crawled in his belly. “Can’t we just go back to pickpocketing?”

Bradley’s eyes narrowed. He lowered his voice. His hand tightened painfully on Ketho’s shoulders. “I told them you could do this. Don’t make me a liar. Just go up there and do it! Don’t pretend you can’t.” His expression softened. “Come on, Ketho.” He smiled. “I’ll be right here. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

So Ketho did it. Over and over again. The houses got bigger.

And Ketho got sicker and sicker. Then one night his sickness got so bad that he couldn’t get up from the pile of rags on the dirty floor where he slept. Feverish, he kept coughing and coughing and coughing.

“It’s nymph sickness,” one of the others whispered loudly. “I saw a dryad die from it once. Nymphs can’t live in Bordertown. They have to leave or they’ll die.”

Ketho dreamed of mountains. Of peaks, caves, and snow. Of forests and trees. Of night skies that stretched endlessly above him. He dreamed of places he’d never seen but that his soul knew. In a trance, he tried to rise and leave. But his brother held him down.

The fever broke. He survived. But he grew desperate to leave Bordertown.

“Can’t we just go?” he asked his brother. “We could go to the mountains. Then I won’t be sick.”

“We can’t just leave.” His brother glanced at the others. “We need more money first.”

Ketho didn’t point out that Bradley and his friends often went out celebrating and spending the money they’d gotten from Ketho stealing.

“Just a few more houses,” Bradley kept promising.

Ketho kept believing.