Tala was glad for the weather. Her shoes were almost worn out and she was nearly out of food, but at least she was warm and Lina wasn't fussing. She had done her best to make them both presentable on the outskirts of the settlement. Tala hadn't been able to grab much when she had left home, and would have beg or trade work for more. Still, she had her freedom and she had her daughter. She smiled down at the baby, wrapped around the front of her body in a sling, and startled as Marten walked into her.
She stepped back sharply, hand going to the sword at her hip for a fraction of a second. She was strange-looking, not so much for any physical anomaly as for her mismatched affect. Built small and sturdy, she looked like she was meant to be cheerful, like she should be singing as she did the supper dishes in a farmhouse somewhere. The baby still looked like part of that scene, round and rosy with its mother's wide brown eyes, but the mother had the wariness of a cat almost tattooed onto her sweet face, and she moved like she knew how to use the sword. Still, she looked Marten over and smiled cautiously, like the weak sun coming out after a day of rain.
"It's all right."
