‘That’s what Sinná said to Lejo, and he has been miserable ever since!’ said one of the younger children, and Runar decided that he should check on his friend later.
He glanced at Embla, who looked worryingly pale in the fading light.
‘They are surprised to see me,’ he explained, ‘and are a little disappointed I have no gifts to give them.’
‘What would they need?’ she asked, her eyes wide as she took in the beautifully decorated clothing of the children, and he smiled.
The tribe would like her.
‘They like the toys I make them.’
‘You make toys too?’
He blushed, feeling a little foolish under her shocked scrutiny. ‘Sometimes.’
It was more than sometimes. He spent most of the year making toys, just so that he could see the pleasure on their faces when he visited in the spring. He liked spending time with the children. They tended to prefer playing outdoors, and that always suited him more than speaking with the adults in thelavvus.
Embla’s face brightened with delight, and she gave him one of her devastating smiles. Hoarding her smiles was his new favourite pastime, carefully grouping them in his mind by how they made him feel. This one made him want to hug her to his chest and squeeze her tight.
‘You are as soft as I am!’ she declared, swatting at his arm playfully.
‘Soft?’ He wasn’t sure if he liked her thinking of him assoft. ‘How so?’
But Embla seemed pleased by it, and at least some colour had returned to her cheeks. She smiled at the gathered children, who were still tugging at his pockets and searching the sledge for their usual treats.
‘You are soft with the children. I am the same. I hate to say no to them,’ she laughed. ‘Do they believe in Old Man Winter?’
He shook his head. ‘No, they believe in the spirits of nature. Not Odin, or the other gods, and definitely not Old Man Winter.’
Runar knew of the tradition, how an elder would pretend to be Old Man Winter and request shelter for the midwinter festival. When he left, he would leave gifts for those who had given him hospitality.
As a child Runar had been jealous of the toys the other children had received at the midwinter festival. His mother had tried to make him feel better by making him some new boots or a hat. But the traditional Sami clothing had only made him feel more different from the other children, and so he had asked his parents to stop taking him to the Norse festivities altogether. He had banished himself from Gudvangen well before Thorin had.
‘What a pity! You would make a good Old Man Winter, with a little flour in your beard and hair,’ she laughed, tapping his beard lightly. He wondered why she found the idea so amusing, but he liked it when she touched him, so he would not question it.
He left the sledge where it was, as he might need to take it to a storage tent later. Runar walked beside her, daring a glance as they approached his mother’s tent. She looked nervous, and he took her hand in his and murmured, ‘They will love you.’
Embla blushed, but seemed to breathe a little easier at his words.
How could someone so charming be nervous?
His mother’slavvuwas one of the larger ones, because she lived with the rest of the elders. He gave a high-pitched whistle as they approached, his usual greeting from when he was a boy. Moments later the tent flap flipped open and Miljá came out to welcome them.
Her body stilled when she saw Embla, and he groaned inwardly. She would think he had finally found a wife and would be disappointed that he hadn’t. Dropping Embla’s hand, he strode forward to kiss his mother’s cheek.
He bent down, and said quickly in the Sami language, ‘She is only a friend.’
The slight widening of his mother’s eyes was the only indication she had heard him. She gave a polite smile to Embla, which quickly dropped to a sour look of disapproval when she turned back to Runar.
‘Why not a wife?’ she snapped at him accusingly, followed by a much sweeter smile for Embla, who looked increasingly disturbed by the strange exchange.
‘She got trapped this side of the mountain. I have offered her shelter until spring.’
‘Would you prefer us to look after her?’
Runar stiffened. He had not thought to suggest such a thing to Embla. Would she prefer that? ‘No... I mean... I do not know. I have not asked her...’ He stumbled, trying to think of some reason as to why Embla should stay with him, but he could think of none.
Would he lose her today? He had promised to take her home in the spring, but it didn’t matter where she lived until then. Damn him! He should never have brought her here! Of course she would prefer to stay with the tribe. She liked people, after all. Was that why she had insisted on coming with him? Had she been looking for a way to escape him? He should let her go, if that were true...
