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‘Yes, that’s Arrow. She’s a wolf-dog. She only just arrived.’ Her soft words seemed to satisfy Pal. He returned with gusto to his meal. His behaviour, however, made her ponder. He’d never acted that way before. On his arrival he reacted with unease whenever he met someone new. It had taken a week for him not to scream at the sight of Brand and Gunnar.

Pal’s easy acceptance of the wolf-dog was unexpected.

‘Did you have a wolf-dog in your home?’ she murmured to the baby. And then a thought struck her. ‘Did you know Arrow?’ she asked, so quietly, she wasn’t even sure the words were said aloud.

‘Surely not.’ She shook her head, rejecting the thought. It would be a strange coincidence but would start to account for the staggering number of occurrences that had befallen them all in recent weeks. But that was impossible, wasn’t it? She considered the boy’s birth as she never had before. Skaldi’s rescue of the baby had been totally unexpected. She certainly enjoyed Pal’s presence. But how Skaldi had come to find him was unexplained. The nature of his birth was a mystery although he’d been well cared for. Even after his exposure he’d been well rounded with more than ample fat stores. Yes, he’d been cold, and she’d feared he might lose a finger or toe to frostbite. That he hadn’t was more thanks to his warm fur coverings than anything she’d done on his arrival. And the intervention of Skaldi.

Pal was a lively babe, quick to rage and quick to soothe. Her heart had been won over by him. She decried whoever had given him up. Was it possible Sereh and the wolf-dog had something to do with it? The girl didn’t look old enough and certainly didn’t bear the ravages of pregnancy about her thin body. She was lithe and trim, and although her eyes were haunted, she didn’t carry a burden as heavy as abandoning her child. She was angry and emotionally beaten, admittedly, but Emma thought that was more to do with whatever drove her now. While in the days to come, Emma suspected it would be grief at the unexplained loss of Erann, the days they’d spent together caring for Erann had hinted at other wrongs done to her before their meeting.

None, however, had struck Emma as being as monumental as exposing your child to the ravages of the horrendous weather.

Pal snagged her attention again. She spent much of the remainder of the day seeing to his needs. He was time-consuming during the day, and Emma worried his constant demands for food since her return were because he wasn’t getting everything he needed from the liquid pottage.

‘He’s fractious today,’ Elen commiserated.

‘Perhaps, it’s a growth spurt,’ Emma suggested.

‘It could be, yes. Or teething. And he missed you while you were gone, and then unwell. Maybe he simply wants to make up for that lost time. At least when you put him down for the night, he shouldn’t wake,’ she commiserated.

‘Yes. Sereh’s slept as contentedly as he will.’ She laughed. Later, she was pleased to place Pal in the basket close to the hearth where he slept when they remained awake. Later, she’d take him to her room. But it was too far away for them to hear him if he woke during the day.

Around her the activities of feeding her small family continued. Gunnar and Brand had spent their day refreshing the lights within the passages and smelt of the oil extracted from leaves they used to keep the flames small and bright. They sank into chairs near the fire and the table. Brand shook his boots from his feet and massaged his toes while Finn provided them both with a cup of herb tea, and a plate heaped high with sweetened peat cakes Elen had baked. They spoke in hushed voices so as not to disturb the baby or Sereh, but finally, questions bubbled from their mouths. Emma was amazed at their reticence. She wondered if she’d have been so circumspect with her own queries in the same situation and doubted it.

Brand started by looking significantly at the still slumbering Sereh. ‘Where did she come from? And is she staying?’ Emma smiled. He was as to the point as ever.

‘This is Sereh, and she’s a “friend” of the Speaker. He’s asked me to look to her needs for a few days.’

Brand’s mouth gaped open. He snapped it shut and whispered excitedly. ‘You mean the Speaker has had contact with people of our kind, other than Erann and Pal? How is that even possible?’ His voice held awe and unrestrained interest.

‘I’ve no idea. When last I was with them, she couldn’t “see” the Speaker, nor “sense” him. Something’s changed, although I’m not privy to the details. The Speaker bombarded me with a series of images when he returned this morning. None of them explained his revealing himself to Sereh. I’ll need to speak to him, or to her. I’ve not looked in on him today. I assume that like her,’ and here she shrugged in Sereh’s direction, ‘he’s exhausted. He needs to sleep just as much as she does. I do know Erann’s disappeared without trace, that much I understood. We’ll need to tread carefully here. I’m unsure of the Speaker’s plans.’

Emma noted Finn’s confused look as the others spoke.

Brand watched Sereh and now whispered conspiratorially. ‘Is there any mention of her in the prophecies? Is this supposed to happen?’

‘I don’t recall any mention of a girl, or a stinking wolf-dog in need of a bath for that matter,’ Elen interjected, wrinkling her nose at where Finn once more stroked Arrow.

‘She’s been outside for two weeks. And she doesn’t smell that bad,’ Emma countered. ‘But, perhaps the pair should bathe, when Sereh’s awake. And as to the question of the prophecies, I’ve not had time to consult them today with Pal as grumpy as he’s been. Like you, I don’t remember a mention of her, but still, everything else is happening as it should. So I’m not overly concerned. I suggest you don’t trouble yourself.’

Now Elen had mentioned the wolf-dog, Emma examined her critically. Arrow had spent much of the day asleep at Sereh’s feet. She’d awoken at the serving of each and every meal and now lay full and sated before the hearth. Finn stroked her, and her head rested in his lap. Emma was unsure whose face showed the most adoration, Finn’s or Arrow’s. At the mention of a bath the wolf-dog visibly straightened. It took Finn some few moments to calm her. Emma wasn’t entirely sure that a lump of tonight’s meal hadn’t been used as a final bargaining chip.

She turned her focus to Sereh’s sleeping face. It was roughened by exposure to the elements. In the few days they’d been apart, the girl had lost weight from her already thin frame. Her eyes were sunken and her cheeks hollow. Emma was shocked at the change. Arrow had fared little better although she was certainly doing her best to regain her lost weight. In one day. Even Sereh’s hair hung limply around her face. Emma was amazed that she’d slept throughout the entire day when the room had been so busy.

Jon asked his questions now. He’d not been there when Sereh appeared, but his arrival had occasioned a furrowed look in Sereh’s direction. Again, he’d held his tongue. Until now. Jon would need more answers than Elen to gain a full understanding.

‘How was the Speaker able to bring her here? Can he communicate with her? I thought it was impossible for all but a select few?’ Emma looked at Jon, seeing a quiet curiosity in him.

‘I don’t think so, although again I’m unsure. I think it more likely they muddled their way through to an understanding of what the Speaker wanted to do. I can’t imagine it was a quick fix. As to how she came here with her wolf-dog, I must assume he carried them, as he did me only days ago.’ Her words trailed away as she vividly recalled the terror of her sudden illness.

One moment she’d been talking to Erann and Skaldi about Sereh, the next the world around her had suddenly come sharply into focus. She’d been overly aware of her heart beating and the blood flowing through her veins, throbbing painfully with each heartbeat. She’d been focused on Skaldi’s huge face and then she’d slumped on the floor, her body rigid and immovable, even her eyes.

She’d wanted to shout out to Erann, to call to Skaldi but had been unable to, surrounded as she was in a silence so profound the absence of sound had been horrific. She’d wanted to cry in desperation, but no tears had formed. She’d felt Erann cover her in furs, but it was as if it was happening to someone else. She’d seen flashes of light pulsing in her eyeline and been aware of the frantic activity of Skaldi as she now realised he’d prepared for flight. Then there’d been nothing. She knew what he’d done but couldn’t understand why her long-protected body had shut down so completely when outside the shield. The stricture that she not leave run-ketill had never mentioned such a physical reaction to doing so.

She’d understood risks were involved. What she’d not comprehended and still didn’t was why it had caused her to feel nothing but an absence in the world. She’d been promised that when all this was over, she’d return to her kind and have the remainder of her life previously denied to her. Her inability to function outside run-ketill when she was freed was something that hadn’t occurred to her before. When the time came, would the shield not come down? Or would it be extended? Whatever happened, at the moment it appeared she couldn’t live outside run-ketill for more than a few days. She desperately wanted to speak to Olaf about it, but knew it wasn’t only forbidden but also impossible. Neither could she risk leaving her protection to seek him out. She’d need to think of another way to find answers.

Jon opened his mouth to utter a further well-thought out question when his dark eyebrows rose. Turning her head to follow his line of sight, Emma realised Sereh was stirring from her sleep. Emma wondered how long she’d been conscious of their conversation. She quickly replayed the words that had been spoken, and her reactions to Jon, Brand and Elen’s questions. She cursed inwardly. She’d talked too openly. Sereh may have heard, and been privy to even more knowledge she shouldn’t have. She consoled herself. Gemini’s arrival meant that, no matter what, everything was about to change.

Emma poured a cup of tea for herself and Sereh from the large pottery kettle and walked to place it into her too warm hands. Sereh’s face was flushed. Emma realised the girl wouldn’t be used to so much heat. It wasn’t that her home was super-heated, more that it retained what warmth there was far more efficiently than any of the steadings. She doubted any improvements had been made in the years of lack her people had since endured.