Page 8

Even as she washed her body again, scouring away the last eight rotations of her servitude to Rankil, she allowed herself to weep for all that she’d lost. Here, she could let her emotions show. Here, in the heat of the bathing room, she felt as though her icy resolve melted away, leaving her weak and feeble. Bereft. Alone.

Only when Emma returned with an armload of clean clothes, and a cup of herb tea, calling through to her, ‘was she decent?’ did she decide it was time to leave the pool.

‘I’ll wait outside,’ Emma murmured.

‘I can find my way back,’ Sereh countered. ‘Please, don’t wait in the cold.’ She listened to the shush of Emma’s footsteps moving away. Emma’s lack of argument reinforced her belief that Emma was unhappy Skaldi had brought her to the mountain caves.

All the same, Sereh was grateful for the soft, fresh smelling clothes and dressed quickly while gulping the scalding tea. It tasted strongly of the teas Emma had brewed Erann when he was injured. Sereh didn’t doubt it contained the healing herb. She grinned bitterly. She queried whether it would heal her ice-bound heart.

Still holding her cup, Sereh opened the heavy black curtain screening her and began to walk back towards the common room. She’d not paid much attention on her way to the latrines and worried momentarily that she wouldn’t be able to find her way, despite her assurance to Emma.

The passages she’d travelled last night or this morning, whenever it was, were all similar and so was this one. She walked anxiously, sometimes feeling the brush of cool air, and sometimes not, but soon detected the smell of cooking food.

‘This way then,’ she decided, following the aroma back to a curtain that opened into the common room. She held the curtain aside and looked around in consternation. This wasn’t the same way she’d left. Emma glanced up from where she was checking something near the floor, an almost guilty look on her face.

‘Sorry.’ Emma smiled, although it didn’t reach her eyes. ‘I was about to send Finn and Arrow to escort you back. This place is a maze. Were you lost for long?’

‘No, not really,’ Sereh responded ruefully. ‘I thought I’d come back the same way.’ Emma laughed in sympathy.

‘Don’t worry. In the days to come, you’ll find your way around.’ Emma’s tone endeavoured to be light and welcoming.

‘What? Will I be here for days? I thought…’ she began, dismay making her tone sharp. ‘I thought, Skaldi would return me to the glacier. I need to look for Erann. What’s Skaldi said? What do you know?’ Even to her ears, her voice sounded harsh and forceful, although she croaked on Erann’s name, as her heart faltered in its steady rhythm. Her voice had sped up and her words came out in a disjointed flurry. Emma raised her hands as if to ward off blows.

‘I haven’t seen the Speaker today. I know no more than that which he conveyed to me early this morning. I’d only assumed you’d be staying. My apologies if this isn’t correct.’

Sereh hunched her shoulders against Emma’s rational response. She walked closer to the hearth table. Emma and the others were obviously about to sit down for a meal together. They watched her with open expressions. Sereh tried to smile, but it died on her lips.

This was all so normal, and yet, it wasn’t normal. Not at all.

She noted there were two additional places around the table, evidently one for her, and one for Emma, who’d again crouched over something near the hearth. Sereh wasn’t sure what it was, assuming it was Arrow, until she spied the wolf-dog sat next to Finn, her head in his lap expectantly.

‘Arrow, you’re incorrigible,’ she complained. ‘You can’t beg for food all the time.’

‘Oh, she’s not begging for food,’ Finn was quick to counter, his eyes turning adoringly to Arrow.

‘Oh, she is,’ Elen interjected. And Sereh’s thoughts turned to their time in Rankil’s home, where there was no opportunity for begging to take place. Any spares or scraps were always used.

Sereh angled towards the extra place closest to Arrow.

‘Shall I sit here?’ she questioned, just to be sure.

‘Yes, that’s for you,’ Elen offered, for Emma was distracted. Sereh pulled out the four-legged wooden stool, with a surface so shiny she fancied she could see her rosy cheeks reflected in it, and sat down slowly. Her small amount of activity had worn her out more than she thought possible. She glanced about at the others and received a beaming grin from Finn and a more hesitant smile from Elen.

‘I don’t think we’ve been introduced,’ the man she’d not seen earlier offered. There was an undercurrent to his words. ‘I’m Jon. Welcome to our home.’

‘Thank you,’ Sereh managed, looking at the young man with dark brown hair hanging in a shaggy wave to his shoulders, his eyes a deep grey. He sounded distinctly uninterested in her, and quickly returned to his meal, eating with gusto.

Brand passed around a plate containing small peat cakes. Sereh took one hesitantly with half a smile for his hospitality.

Elen held a bowl of steaming pottage before her. She recognised the smell. Emma had cooked something similar in the cave. She was starving, yet she didn’t want to eat. She wanted to punish herself in Erann’s absence, but the tantalising smells of the food and the gurgles coming from her stomach made her realise it was a stupid thing to do. She needed to keep her strength up so she’d be able to leave without a moment’s hesitation when Skaldi was ready for her. She accepted the bowl with a muttered, ‘thank you,’ and hungrily dug into the vast pile of what she suspected was hare meat. It was delicious. Arrow sidled up to her and placed her head on her lap. Sereh gently nudged her head away.

‘Come now, Arrow. I can’t imagine you’ve been starved today. You certainly don’t need any of mine.’ At this, Finn cheerfully imparted a full account of the many and various meals Arrow had enjoyed that day. The boy’s tone was airy, and Sereh couldn’t keep herself from smiling at his care for her wolf-dog. He spoke as though she knew everything about the caves, and some of the places he named, the warren, the garden, meant nothing to her, but she smiled anyway.

‘I can’t thank you enough for the care you’ve given to Arrow. I hope she hasn’t kept you from other chores?’

At her words Finn shot a guilty look at Emma and with his mouth full uttered what Sereh thought was, ‘It’s not a problem. I can do my chores now you’re awake. Unless you want to give Arrow a bath. Elen was asking.’ Arrow’s head shot up at the word bath, and Sereh quickly calmed her, running her hand over the wolf-dog’s long back.

‘I don’t think now’s a good time. Maybe tomorrow. You should see to your chores. I wouldn’t want you to get into trouble.’ The grin on the boy’s face faded but not for long.