After leaving the shop, Kol stopped by the local bakery. He remembered that before the attack in the docks, he was supposed to bring sweets for his fellow orphans.
After spending a gold leaf from the bakery, he made his way to the carriages outside of the Lindow; there he paid a man for a ride back to his town.
The sky was clear and the winds were warm, the complete opposite of the last time he was home.
Carrying a basket of treats and his bag on his shoulders, Kol made sure to look a bit presentable for his family. He wore the black, long-sleeved turtleneck and black pants he got from the ship, though he only wore burlap shoes. But this was only noticeable when people would pay attention; otherwise, the length of the pants would be enough to cover it.
Kol knocked on the familiar dilapidated door he grew up with and waited patiently. Kol could hear the playful laughter and bickerings of his brothers and sisters until the door opened before him.
The shocked expression on Angel's face was priceless for Kol.
"Kol!" She shouted and quickly went to hug him. Though her height only reached up to his chest, Kol had to maneuver the basket out of the way for her.
"Everyone, Kol is back!" She shouted, running back inside.
The children then raced to the door, quickly hugging him. Angel had to grab the basket in case anything had happened to it.
Kol was bombarded by questions, hugs, and kisses. But he was in no mood to answer any of them; the only thing he could think of was how happy he was to be back home.
"Alright, alright. I'm a little tired, but I brought you guys treats. Go to the kitchen and have some," Kol said with a smile.
"C'mon, let your brother rest," Rafi said from the corner.
The 8 kids then left and went straight to the kitchen, still bickering over who would get there first.
"You look pretty well for someone who's supposed to be dead." Rafi smirked.
"I know. That's because I left all the ugly with you, remember?" Kol said.
Rafi gave Kol a hug, and Kol welcomed it.
"We knew you weren't dead."
Though younger than Kol, Rafi was not the type to cause trouble. He loves the family he has in the orphanage and would always respect and follow Kol as if he were his own big brother. Kol wasn't the type to lead the orphanage or be the best example for them, given his solitary nature, but Rafi still obeyed and followed. This was just the sort of person he is and the type of environment Bea would cultivate among the kids.
"It's good to see you again, Raf," Kol said, separating from him. "Where's Bea?"
"She's upstairs praying," said Rafi, closing the door behind them.
Kol gave a hesitant look, but before he could speak, Rafi already knew what he was about to say.
"Go. I'll look after them."
Kol rushed upstairs. In the hallway of the 2nd floor, a small shrine of Obedience stood beneath the window. It was a small table with a framed sketch of the balanced tree with two trunks connected to one base and another of a woman with six arms respectfully holding a dagger, a sword, a branch, an opened book, and a lute. She was of slender figure, covered in cloth with her mouth covered. Surrounding the 2 sketches were 4 lit candles.
Before the shrine was Bea, kneeling with her head down and her hands together. Kol took a step forward, and the floorboards creaked, stopping him in his tracks. Bea turned to the sound and smiled.
She rushed towards Kol and gave him the biggest hug.
"I'm home," Kol said, holding back his tears.
"I know," she whispered.
When the excitement died, the children and Bea gathered around the table to share the meal Kol had brought for them. Kol then shared his story of what happened to him after the attack on Lindow, only leaving the gruesome parts out for the kids, the encounter he had with the Queen of Witches, and all the treasures he found.
After listening to his story, some of the kids felt inspired and couldn't wait to learn magic since the people who saved Kol used magic, and it was what gave Kol the means to survive inside the cave; some wanted to be like the paladins and guards who both saved and accompanied Kol in the cave, while the others wanted no part of any and would just like to stay in the orphanage with Bea; the excitement and adventure weren't what they were after.
Hearing the children laugh and joke about their dreams was something Kol didn't think would bring him happiness, but it did. Kol vowed to himself that he would help give them the life they deserve or at least help them achieve their dreams. With that in mind, Kol excused himself from the table, claiming he was tired from his journey and would like to rest.
"Of course, Rafi and the kids fixed up the old broom closet we had just for you," Bea said.
"Yeah, I helped as well. Come let me show you," Sham said, grabbing Kol's hand and guiding him to the broom closet.
Sham took Kol to the 2nd floor between the boy's quarters and the girl's. The broom closet was where all the cleaning materials were kept, but when Sham opened the door to Kol's surprise, it was empty and clean except for a single bed.
"We never lost faith and knew you would come back. So we cleaned it for you and even brought one of the beds." She said, holding Kol's hand. "We know you don't like noise, and you like to read, so we thought you would like a place of your own. It's not much, but we will always be beside you, and Rafi can read to us now instead of you."
The gesture made Kol speechless.
"Don't you like it?"
"No. I love it." Kol picked Sham up and hugged her. "Thank you."
The thought of his family not believing he perished during the attack warmed his heart. But also gave a hint of suspicion. Their faith in him almost felt like they knew he wasn't dead.
Sham left Kol to rest. Alone with his thoughts once again, the first thing he did was to remove all the leaves in his bag and begin counting. After a few hours of tirelessly forming a comfortable pattern of counting, Kol was able to come up with a definitive value.
"I have 1463 gold leaves in total."