And now, jumbling against the rest, was an almost-forgotten memory of her dragging Kalfr out into her garden to help her harvest the precious crocuses, which had come in all at once. And how he’d easily agreed, and had then knelt beside her for an entire morning, helping her pluck the multitude of tiny purple flowers, without a single complaint. And when she’d thanked him afterwards, he’d only fondly smiled toward her, shaking his head.I know naught about gardens, he’d told her,but if it pleases you, and helps you with your weaving, I shall gladly learn all you wish.
That had only been a few short weeks before the end — gods, perhaps it had been the last time Raye had seen him, before Gaelfr had showed up in her garden? And as she blinked around at Kalfr’s own beautiful garden, something pitched and heaved in her chest. He couldn’t have done this for her, learned all this for her… could he?
But then another memory flared, the truth of what he’d done on the altar that very afternoon. His body filling hers, using hers, while he himself remained furious, distant, cold.Do not look at me, nor speak to me.
“Mayhap we could have some fried greens with our meat?” Kalfr finally asked. “Do you wish to help me harvest these?”
The question froze Raye’s breath, snapped her eyes up toward Kalfr’s face. And though his eyes were still distant, his mouth carefully twitched up, into a small, tentative smile. As if… he really meant that. He really wanted her help.
Raye’s stomach flipped, and she smiled and nodded back, and followed him over to the small patch of dandelions and nettles, growing in a sunny spot nearby. And though they didn’t speak as they knelt and harvested the greens together, placing them into a small sack Kalfr had tugged from his pocket, the longer they worked, the more it felt familiar, or even… companionable. Not unlike that morning they’d spent in Raye’s garden, harvesting the crocuses together.
“What do you think of frying up the greens with some onions?” Raye cautiously ventured, once they’d finished. “Or roasting some pine nuts to add, too?”
She nodded toward a cluster of pine trees at the edge of the garden, and to her surprise, Kalfr easily nodded, and agreed. And once he’d tugged a fresh onion out of a nearby bed, he even climbed up into one of the pine trees, plucking the pinecones with his claws, and tossing them down to where Raye was holding out the sack. An activity that again felt almost companionable, especially when an irate squirrel showed up to scold Kalfr for stealing his pinecones, earning genuine laughs from Raye and Kalfr both, while Kalfr made a hasty retreat back down the tree.
Once they’d headed back through the garden’s winding paths, they found Gaelfr and Svein working together at a flat stone slab beside a large, well-appointed firepit. And upon catching sight of Raye and Kalfr, Gaelfr smiled approvingly and waved them over, and soon set them to work at a second nearby slab, preparing their greens for supper.
It turned out that there were already pans and tools helpfully stashed beneath the stone, and soon Raye and Kalfr were working together, first heating the pinecones to extract the nuts, and next frying the onions, and adding the greens. And again, it felt easy, natural, to work together like this, keeping an eye on each other’s progress, passing tools back and forth. Almost, again, like a shared understanding, or a truce, even in the face of what had happened at the altar, and all the threats still hanging over their heads. Almost… like peace.
So Raye did her best to be cheerful and grateful, and to focus on cooking, until their meal was finished. It turned out beautifully, the poultry rich and flavourful, the nuts adding a crunchy sweetness to the greens, and as they ate together around the dancing fire, they made conversation together, too. Most of it centred around Svein, but Raye also asked Kalfr a few more tentative questions about his garden, and Gaelfr asked him more about Olarr and Aulis, and how they’d ended up adopting their children. And though Kalfr’s answers were brief, they didn’t seem hostile, and he laughed when Gaelfr recounted a vivid tale of how the two of them had once gotten trapped up a huge tree together, while a band of furious men raged from below, and hacked uselessly at the tree with their swords.
Once they’d finished eating and cleaning up, it was well past nightfall, and Svein had begun yawning against Raye’s side. So they headed back indoors together, and put Svein to bed together, too. Following the same routine from the night before, with the hair braiding, and the singing, and Kalfr’s prayer of protection, too. And as he spoke it, perhaps with a little more ease in his voice and his eyes, Raye could again feel that peace stealing closer, whispering between them. Despite everything today, maybe they really could do this. Maybe she could make amends. Maybe they could find a way to keep this, and stay…
But then, once Svein had fallen asleep, Raye followed Kalfr and Gaelfr out into the hallway. And as Gaelfr firmly shut Svein’s door, she could feel something shifting in the air, in the shadowy light of the lamp Gaelfr was carrying. Something in the exhale of Gaelfr’s breath, the look on his face, and in the way Kalfr was… waiting. Waiting, studying Gaelfr, his body taut, his hands in fists.
“So, Gael?” Kalfr demanded, raising his brows. “What is it? What have you been plotting?”
Raye blinked at him, at Gaelfr, as confusion filtered through her thoughts.HadGaelfr been plotting something? Some way to prevent Kalfr from trying to sacrifice himself on that altar, perhaps? Or some way to save them from their enemies? From…Sybil?
But yes, maybe he had, based on the increasingly stubborn set of his mouth, and the deepening impatience in Kalfr’s eyes. And wait, perhaps Gaelfr had even told Raye as much earlier, hadn’t he?We have gained much ground today, and we shall soon gain more. We shall address this.
But he hadn’t told her any details, and surely he hadn’t shared any with Kalfr, either. Though perhaps… perhaps they’d both been waiting for this. For Svein to be safely asleep, before they began speaking of plans, and threats, and danger.
“Tell me, Gael,” Kalfr insisted, lower. “What do you mean to do? And when did you mean to tell us of this?”
He flailed his hand toward… towardRaye. As if he was including her in this, with him. And despite the sudden warmth pooling in Raye’s chest, her eyes were on Gaelfr, too. Because yes, she knew that look on his face, that stubborn glint in his eyes…
“Ach, I have a plan for us,” Gaelfr said, his voice flat, utterly certain. “Come morn, we shall go to Orc Mountain.”
33
They would go to Orc Mountain.Orc Mountain.
Raye’s heartbeat skipped, and began drumming fast and frantic against her ribs. Did Gaelfr mean… all of them? Including her, and Svein? But… he’d promised, hadn’t he? He’d promised he would only go to Orc Mountain himself, without them.
“No,” Kalfr hissed, and he lurched toward Gaelfr, shaking his head. “We shallnotgo there, Gael. I told you, they have already sought to help, and I have already made my choice upon this. I shall not abandon my home, and there is naught else our kin can do to alter this. Naught else that will not start anotherwar!”
Gaelfr growled back toward him, his lip curling. “What this vile woman has done to you,” he hissed back, “this isalreadywar. Hunting you. Seeking vengeance upon you. Plotting to bring you pain, anddeath. For what? Your great sin of showing kindness to a woman who meant to kill you, and all your kin? Who meant to kill yourson!”
Kalfr kept shaking his head, the fury and frustration flashing in his eyes. “This is not your battle, Gael,” he countered. “This is not your choice to make!”
Gaelfr’s shoulders stiffened, and he jerked closer to Kalfr, glowering toward him. “Ach, it is,” he snarled. “You are myástvinur, and I have sworn to guard and help and tend you! I shouldneverstand by and wait for some foul harpy to come here and touch you, and harm you, anddestroyyou!”
The frustration flared brighter in Kalfr’s eyes, escaped in a hard, mocking growl from his throat. “But you did, Gael!” he shot back. “Youleftme! When I most needed you in this, you weregone!”
Gaelfr betrayed an unmistakable flinch, a sharp exhale through his nose. While Kalfr huffed a cold laugh, and shook his head. “And then you charge back in here,” he continued, “with not one word of apology, nor one honest word of how you have spent all these past summers — and now you ignore all my wishes, yet again! I may yet be yourástvinur, but I am no more yours to command or control or entrap, as you see fit!”
Raye could almost feel the words striking Gaelfr, flashing deepening flares of pain across his eyes. And though his mouth opened, no words came out, and Kalfr choked another hard laugh. “Evenshehas spoken an apology to me, and has sought to make amends,” he said thickly, with a furious wave of his hand toward Raye. “Or was that upon your orders, too, Gael? Just like all the rest of thisfarce?”
