Her face grimaced back at her from the mirror, fingers dropping to her side from the shortly aborted stroke through hair that wasn't there. It was growing back, of course, but it was still too short to provide any sort of protection from the cold winds being blown across the Swoop, heralding winter. It had been a necessary sacrifice, of course, sensible at the time to keep her out of some jumped up Copper Isle noble's bed, but safe at home she could be vain about it.
Like they always side, her thoughts slide away from the Isles and her 'lost summer' spent there. She might have avoided being a bedwarmer, but there were other things still better left unthought of. Least, that's what she always said whenever her mind turned from those days in the Isles, like a practiced response, a defense, a shield. She couldn't have said what against, if she'd even thought of needing a reason.
Nearly a month home now, since Da had found her while she was still making her own preperations to get home. Any annoyance of having her plans of proving herself to her father being ruined by his arrival had been dispersed in favor of relief over simply seeing him. She'd found herself strangle unsteady the entire trip home, as if the sea sickness which plagued her mother but had never bothered her was suddenly taking up home in her chest and head, making the world spin and feel dizzy. It had faded as soon as her feet touched solid ground in Tortall, for all the bear moments before her family was there, Alan sweeping her up off her feet in a hug, with others crowding around close behind.
The month had been a whirlwind, quietly traveling to see all the family members who had been so concerned, letting them hold her and reassure themselves she was really there. Ma had been hovering, and Aly had found herself not even minding it. At least for now. At some point, the hovering would take on less concern and more planning as the need for a project replaced the worry, and then it would be annoying, but for now it was nice to have such a strong reminder that her Ma did care.
Things were settling back to normal now. She was home, and the war was winding down, and the harvest would be starting soon, with everyone out in the fields to get the food for the winter within the safe walls of the castle. At least this year she wouldn't have to worry about tying her hair up to keep it out of her face as she worked. Small blessings, she supposed.
Slipping the head scarf in place to cover up her lack of hair, Aly gave her reflection another frown before standing and leaving her room. There was a sense of restlessness settling into her bones, and she had to hope that a walk around the castle walls would alleviate it enough to make dinner bearable.
