There was again no trace of doubt in his voice or his eyes, and as Raye sagged into his side, she desperately wanted to believe him. Wanted to believe he could barge in, and take care of everything, no matter how difficult or dangerous it might be. And maybe, if she kept her vow enough, maybe he would stay…
“So come, woman,” he said firmly, as he nudged her toward the house. “Come, and you shall see.”
So Raye squared her shoulders, and nodded, and obeyed.
32
Kalfr soon came back again, just as Gaelfr had promised.
Raye and Gaelfr had just finished saying a grateful goodbye to Olarr and Aulis, who had both wanted to return their children home before nightfall. And who, Raye hadn’t helped noticing, had both kept glancing between her and Gaelfr, with unmistakable approval in their eyes.
“We are glad you have come, brother,” Olarr had told Gaelfr, as he’d firmly clasped his arm in farewell. “We shall see you again soon. And next time” — he’d raised his bushy brows — “mayhap you shall tell us the full tale of what you have done, for all these summers you were gone.”
Gaelfr’s smile had gone rather fixed, but he’d nodded, and joined Raye and Svein in waving goodbye. And once Olarr and Aulis and the children had disappeared into the forest, Raye had briefly considered pressing that question with Gaelfr — whathadhe done, all that time? — but instead she’d squeezed gently at his taut bicep. As if in reassurance, and understanding. In… peace.
“I smell Papa!” Svein exclaimed, only moments later, pointing his claw in the opposite direction, toward the north. “And meat!”
When Raye turned to look, Kalfr had indeed reappeared, striding out from the trees with a dead pheasant in his claws. And though Svein crowed aloud and raced off to greet him, Raye hesitated, the unease again gnawing in her belly. What if Kalfr still couldn’t bear to see her? What if he’d intentionally waited until their guests had left before he returned, so he wouldn’t feel obligated to acknowledge her, or speak to her?
But Gaelfr firmly nudged Raye forward, his expression again decisive and determined, so she took a breath, and complied. Fighting to ignore the swirling rising visions from the altar, Kalfr’s hard jutting cock, his slick sputtering seed.Do not look at me, nor speak to me…
When they caught up to Kalfr and Svein, Svein was already chattering, excitedly recounting his afternoon’s activities. And though Kalfr still looked decidedly wan, he was smiling down toward Svein, and he nodded toward Gaelfr and Raye, too.
“Thank you for the meat,ástin mín,” Gaelfr said, once Svein had paused for breath, and he stepped forward, and inhaled deep against Kalfr’s neck. “Are you well? Is there aught I can grant you?”
Kalfr grimaced, even as his eyes glanced toward Raye again. Holding for an instant too long, while the memory of the altar swirled up between them, as vivid as if they’d been reenacting it together. His body sliding into her, pulsing and sputtering, spewing her full of him…
“No, I am well,” Kalfr said, as he glanced away again. “Are you hungry?”
Gaelfr nodded against Kalfr’s neck, and pressed a kiss to his scarred skin before drawing away again. “Ach, let us eat,” hereplied. “I ken I saw a firepit in that grand garden of yours, did I not? Mayhap we can eat our supper there?”
Kalfr hesitated, but nodded, and strode off ahead of them toward the garden, with Svein again chattering by his side. And as Raye followed with Gaelfr, she couldn’t take her eyes off Kalfr, and his tall, graceful strides. Looking smoother than before, his head held high, his shoulders back.
“He looks a mite better, does he not?” Gaelfr said, under his breath. “He scents better, also. This ploughing upon the altar has done you both much good, I ken.”
Raye’s face heated, and she elbowed Gaelfr in the side, though she couldn’t deny the traitorous little skip in her chest. And when they reached the edge of Kalfr’s garden, Gaelfr plucked the pheasant from Kalfr’s fingers, and gently shoved Raye toward him.
“Our mate has not yet fully seen your garden,ástin mín,” he told Kalfr. “You shall show it to her, and mayhap fetch more for us to eat, whilst Svein and I ready this meat.”
It was Gaelfr barging in yet again, his tone deep and commanding, his eyes holding with a distinct challenge on Kalfr. And though that might have been a flicker of rebellion in Kalfr’s eyes, he angled a brief look at Svein’s curious watching face, and nodded. Agreeing to this. Agreeing to show Raye around his garden.
Raye’s heart skipped again, but she accordingly took a breath, and followed Kalfr into the garden’s nearest path. A path that didn’t proceed in a straight line, but instead twined and twisted around shrubs and beds and plantings, and even a variety of full-grown trees.
Kalfr didn’t speak as they walked, though he did cast the occasional unreadable glance over his shoulder toward Raye, and hesitated whenever she paused to take a closer look at something. Which happened rather more often than she mighthave liked, because despite her simmering unease about all this, and her ongoing anxiety about Kalfr’s too-near presence, he had created a beautiful garden. It boasted an astonishing variety of plants — herbs, legumes, vegetables, berries, flowers, roses, a cluster of young fruit trees, and large beds of maize and oats. And together with the unconventional layout and meandering paths, it meant there was always something new to discover — an unfamiliar clump of berries, a large patch of cheerful fiddlehead ferns, a variety of sorrel she’d never seen before.
“This is wonderful, Kalfr,” she said, as she stopped to marvel at a sprawling bed of squash, some of the fruit larger than her head. “It must have taken you a shocking amount of work. And there are so many unique varieties of plants, too. How did you —”
Too late, she stopped and shook her head, darting a wincing look toward Kalfr’s face. And though she still couldn’t read his expression, he didn’t look annoyed or angry, did he?
“In my studies of our clan these past summers, I have learnt much of gardening,” he replied, his voice careful. “There is now a large Bautul garden at the mountain, and our kin there have granted me many of these plants, and have visited to help me plant and tend them, also.”
It was a real answer, far more comprehensive than he’d needed to give, and Raye gave him a small, grateful smile in return. “Well, you’ve done a stunning job,” she said. “It’s beautiful, and there’s still so much to eat here, too. Enough to keep you fed foryears.”
Kalfr nodded, though his eyes flicked away again, toward a nearby elderberry shrub. “Ach, well, I was not meant to live here alone,” he replied. “This garden was meant to feed not only me, but an entire band of orcs, along with —”
He grimaced, shaking his head, and Raye studied his face for an instant too long. Had he really meant to live here withan entire group of orcs? And also, what else had he been about to say? He couldn’t have meant… he might have hoped to feed them, someday, too? Svein, and Gaelfr, and… her?
The taste of the rose mallow tea flared at the back of Raye’s tongue, together with a sudden, desperate longing — and for an instant, she could see it, unfurling here before them. All of them living here together, working in this beautiful garden together, making improvements, growing their favourite plants. Maybe Kalfr would consider planting coreopsis, for orange dyes, or saffron crocuses, for bright yellow, or black hollyhock, for green and blue. All of which Raye still had growing back in her own garden, though she had no use for them anymore.
