“I’m still not sure,” she said. “He’s a fighter, but the pain had weakened his body nearly to the point of failure. He will sleep for a long while. We should know by morning.”
I nodded. “I’ll find a place to make camp overnight. Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
“There’s no need for you to sleep outdoors,” Solfrid said. “You’re welcome to stay here.”
Shaking my head, I said, “I couldn’t impose. Plus, I’m not alone. The others in my party—”
“It would be no imposition,” she said. “But this placeisa bit small for that many extra people. There’s an empty cottage in the village. One of the elderly villagers passed away peacefully in her sleep a few months ago. There’s been no one to take her place. Your friends can stay there while this man recovers.”
“He’s the human woman’s… husband?” she asked, a note of hope in her voice.
“Father,” I corrected. “How large is the vacant cottage?”
“Plenty of space for the three of them. The villagers will be glad to see it get some use.”
An empty cottage sounded almost too good to be true. I knew Raewyn and the children would relish the opportunity to sleep in real beds, and the idea appealed to me as well after weeks of sleeping on the ground under the open sky.
“When he wakes in the morning—if he wakes—you could move the human man there tomorrow,” Solfrid said. “You’ll need to stay in the village for at least several days. He’ll need to sleep a lot and should be moved as little as possible for the next few days. It’s a nice, comfortable home.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “The girls will be excited to hear it.”
Solfrid smiled and cocked her head to the side, playing with one of her braids.
“As I said, Havendor is a safe refuge. In fact, after he’s recovered, and your human friends are ready to move on,youmight consider moving into the cottage and staying a while. It would be nice to have the company of another Elf.”
“Are you… unbonded?” she asked, darting a quick look at my hand.
I followed her gaze to my bare ring finger and then looked at her hand.
Oh. Solfrid’s ring finger was also bare. And apparently she was a bit lonely for her own kind.
“I’m unbonded,” I confirmed.
Glancing through the window to where Raewyn waited outside with the girls, I said, “I am taken, though.”
“I see.”
Solfrid’s cheerful expression fell, and she looked through the window as well.
Raewyn and the girls sat beneath some shade trees. The girls appeared to be singing as they clapped their hands together in a varied pattern.
“I suppose you’ll be staying in the cottage with them?” the healer asked.
“If it’s large enough for us all. I’m their protector,” I explained, “while their father is incapacitated.”
Solfrid’s brows lifted again along with her tone.
“Well, let us hope he makes it through the night and has a speedy recovery then,” she said.
Chapter20
Going Halvsies
Raewyn
Stepping through the door of the vacant cottage, Tindra and Turi instantly ran to the two small beds in one of the bedrooms and dived onto the coverlets.
“A real bed,” Tindra squealed in delight.
