“Water.”
“That isn’t water.” He went over to an open barrel, used a ladle to scoop up some water, and brought it to me. “Thisis water.”
I took a sip, not entirely sure why we were doing this, but then blinked in surprise. “Wow. That’s, like, mountain spring fresh or something.”
“Uh-huh. Your water tastes like shit.” He tossed the ladle into a sink of dirty dishes and poured my water bottle out over a drain in the floor. “You should do something about that when you go back.”
That perked me up a bit. “So you think I’ll be going home?”
“Well, they said I can’t torture you, so I figure you’re not staying here.”
I took a deep breath and tried to see the good in that. No torture. Not staying in the dungeon. Okay. I focused on watching him go through my things because that didn’t matter nearly as much as whatever my fate was.
“What’s this?” He held up my phone.
“Mobile phone. A small computer, really.”
Lars shook it side to side, and I could see that the screen stayed black. Dead battery? Or had falling through a fairy ring somehow shorted it out? I winced when he tossed it to the other end of the table he wasworking on, but really, it was basically a paperweight without the charger that I’d left in my hotel room.
And now that I was looking at the table, I realized it was actually a rack. The kind of medieval torture device they’d strap someone to and then pull them apart on.
“So, uh, how often do you torture folks down here? Got anyone lined up for today?” Because me and the sight of blood did not get along well, so I would not participate as a witness for long before passing out.
“Nah.” He sniffed at my trail mix before opening it and eating some. “Hmm, that’s tasty. Haven’t had anyone to torture since the curse took all the Summer and Autumn folks away.”
My stomach growled, and Lars came over the with food to pour some in my mouth. “Thanks,” I said while chewing, “but what do you mean that the curse took people away?”
I’d already surmised that if there was a Winter Court, the rest of the seasons were probably somewhere nearby.
He snapped his fingers and threw his arm out to the side. “Something invisible snatched them right out of everywhere they were. Busted through the very walls, which then put themselves right back together like nothing had happened. Even took the Spring Court folks away.” He shook his head like that was disappointing.
It was interesting that even he was mystified by magic. Did that mean it was reserved for only some people, like those throwing curses around? Hopefully, no one would turn me into a frog just for the fun of it.
I refocused on our conversation and asked, “Itsounds like Summer and Autumn were your enemies, and Spring was an ally?”
“That’s right. Well, not ally per se, but we weren’t at war with them.” He found my towel and swim trunks, shaking them both out and eyeing the bright colors. “Not a one of the princes truly gets along with any of the others, you see.”
Four brothers at war with each other. Then a curse comes along and traps their father while separating them, ending the conflicts. Aside from the bit with the king, it didn’t sound like a bad thing exactly.
“What’s the worst thing about the separation of the courts?” I nodded at the trunks. “Can I put those on? It’s getting really cold under here.”
Lars looked at me and then at the swim trunks before sighing and bringing them over. “It’s all about layers here, boy. Don’t forget that.”
I nodded and lifted one foot and then the other to step into the trunks. He hiked them up and wiggled them around to get my junk situated, thankfully not reaching in himself. Then he went over to get the towel and draped it over my shoulders. I opened my mouth to thank him, but he started talking.
“Worst thing about being cut off from the other courts is that some families got separated. We weren’t all pale and frosty back then.” He paused to brush at the coating of white on his shoulder. It floated away like dust only to sort of regrow on his shoulder again. “You couldn’t tell if someone was from another court or just from up in the mountains or some such. But the cursewhisked them all away to their original courts, and we all knew.”
I ignored the possible prejudice. “That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”
Lars grunted and ate some more trail mix. I wasn’t sure if I should ask whether he’d lost anyone, so kept quiet about it.
“Second worst thing,” he said, “is losing all our trade with Spring while being stuck in this infernal winter. Nothing grows in the cold, eh? Should’ve seen us scrambling to build greenhouses and figure that out before we starved to death.”
“But you all did it, right? You’re doing okay growing your own food?”
He shrugged. “Lost some folks early on, before the first harvest. Rationing everything, of course. Lost five stone myself.”
Five stone? Oh, that was a weight. I couldn’t remember how much it was, but five of them seemed like a lot. Especially since it sounded like he’d lost it due to a lack of available food. And they’d lost some folks early on? Trauma on top of trauma.
