Page 35

The Librarian abruptly turned away, perhaps uneasy with her scrutiny. He made a point of shuffling slowly towards his desk. Still, she continued to observe him keenly. In passing, she realised one of his blue candles was no longer lit. Thinking to be helpful, and to get closer, she picked up her own candle and hurried to hold it to the still hot wick.

With lightning speed, he grabbed her hand. His grip was firm and strong. His hands were soft and smooth, totally at odds with the rotations he appeared to carry so heavily. She yanked her hand free and looked at him questioningly. He offered a small smile, she was far from convinced by.

‘There’s no need, really. Come, I’ll journey to see Freya for once. She’s always so good as to bring me my meals here, but now I’d like a change.’ Once more, she suspected him of trying to make his voice sound old. And, although the words were quietly spoken, there was iron behind them. What lies and secrets had she walked into now, she wondered.

Certainly, Emma had allowed her to venture to the Library, but whether it was truly for her own good or not, she was unsure. Had Emma managed to get her away from run-ketill, while at the same time, having her accomplish something else on her behalf? Again, she considered Emma and the Librarian’s relationship? Did they have one, or was she seeing strange coincidences when really, none existed.

Perhaps, after all, her return to run-ketill in four days’ time wouldn’t be as terrible as she feared. She might get answers from Emma at last, provided she could first get some from the Librarian.

16

SEREH

As the Librarian shambled away from his untidy desk, he glanced back with a strange look on his face. She didn’t understand it but somehow knew better than to ask. Everyone she met seemed to have secrets. The Librarian was proving to be no different.

She watched him walk up the short set of steps, again, unable to shake the feeling he moved with too much vigour. He must be older than Ralf, and yet, his steps were light. Having worked with Ralf only that morning, she knew he sometimes had to stop and rest in between his many chores.

Freya gasped in shock from where she knelt, feeding rolled peat to the fire, when Sereh walked into the room behind the Librarian.

‘Well, Librarian, good afternoon,’ Freya beamed broadly. ‘It’s rare to have you visit my humble kitchen, but you’re very welcome.’ She stood and dusted her hands down her tunic.

‘You must be hungry, both of you, and thirsty as well. Come, come. There’s much to eat, thanks to Sereh’s Arrow. That beast is a good hunter, there’s no denying it. Sit, sit,’ she exclaimed in delight.

‘Thank you, Freya, but really, there’s no need,’ the Librarian tried to dissuade her, but Sereh could tell that there was no chance of Freya not jumping to see to the Librarian’s needs.

‘Here, fresh peat cakes. And a good meaty stew, which makes a nice change,’ Freya continued. ‘I’ve told you the jarls are stinting you. The hares Sereh brought show there’s much excess, and they’re keeping it all to themselves. But,’ and here Freya shot Sereh an apologetic look. ‘That’s for another time, isn’t it?’

‘Really, Freya, I couldn’t eat another thing,’ the Librarian protested, as she produced a plate filled with sweet peat cakes.

‘It’s just a tiny thing,’ Freya rejected, and Sereh couldn’t help but laugh as the Librarian rolled his eyes at Freya’s excesses, even while accepting her offerings.

‘No more, Freya. I mean it,’ the Librarian finally managed to assert himself, but Sereh suspected it was only because Freya had run out of tasty morsels for them.

‘Well, I’ll just take a seat with you both then.’ Freya finally listened to the Librarian’s entreaties and sat down in her elaborately carved wooden chair.

Sereh had admired it while Freya bustled around cooking and serving food. The wood glowed with a warm hue. The pattern carved on the back was intricate. She tried to follow it with her eyes, but was unable to work out what the chair portrayed from her place. As Freya heaved herself down, she broke the comfortable silence.

‘Freya, that’s a truly beautiful chair. I’ve been trying to decipher what it depicts. What is it?’

Freya leapt to her feet, proudly turning the chair around so Sereh could see the pattern clearer.

‘Can you tell now?’

A gasp of surprise escaped Sereh’s mouth. Majestically curved around the back supports of the chair, curled a mighty dragon, its jaw wide open, showing off its many faceted teeth.

At her surprise, Freya grinned mischievously. ‘She’s beautiful, isn’t she? I don’t know who carved her, or when. This chair was here when I came, but I immediately gravitated towards it. In no time at all, it became mine.’

As Freya spoke, she lovingly ran her fingers over the carved creature. Sereh caught sight of an odd expression on the Librarian’s face. It was censorious mixed with approval.

‘It’s so life…’ she began, and then gulped back her immediate response. ‘It’s truly beautiful. Almost as though the carpenter had seen an actual dragon from the legends.’

‘A dragon?’ Freya laughed. ‘I think you mean a drekki, Sereh. What’s a dragon?’

‘Oh, sorry, just a word my father told me once. You’re right. It’s a drekki,’ Sereh hastily clarified, too aware of the Librarian’s scrutiny.

She coughed, and then twisted around in her own seat, to force the Librarian to look away, only to discover it too contained a curved creature wrapped around the wooden back pieces. In the shape of a wolf-dog.

‘A wolf,’ she exclaimed. Arrow arrived at that exact moment, bringing with her a bite of the outside cold air. As Arrow placed her head firmly in Sereh’s lap, it was the Librarian’s turn to try and hide his shock. Sereh considered whether he’d never seen a creature quite like Arrow before. She was large for a hunting dog. Still, it wasn’t as if it was rare for wolf-dogs to be kept as hunters.