* * *
A fire roared in the hearth. They both knew it would be futile to attempt to leave the castle during the night, particularly with the inclement weather. The fierce storm outside could be seen through Lord Maslyn’s window. Since they knew they would not be seeing each other again until the morning, they agreed to plan their next day during dinner. Arna rested at the table and Soryn leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head. Neither was hungry just yet. Arna had not even gone to get their meals. They were content just sitting for a few moments.
“I think it’s obvious that we should wait and see what the weather does in the morning, but if it is nice enough to go out, we should explore as much of that forest as we can without getting lost,” Soryn said.
He was so eager to get out into the world that the thought of being confined for an entire day was unbearable. Once he had felt such freedom, he could not imagine waiting to taste it again for more than a few hours.
“If we’re ever going to find Fanndis, I think you’re right. I wonder if she’s the one we saw in the woods last night.” Arna had been frightened by the strange person they had seen. If it was Fanndis, she hoped her fear would dissipate when she actually met her.
“What sorts of things will we need?” Soryn asked.
It had taken both of them almost thirty minutes to thaw out from their exploits in the forest and each one knew a heavier coat would be a necessity from now on.
“Do you have a heavy coat, Bialas? If you’ve never been out, I don’t suppose you would…” Arna thought about a place she might find an old coat that had been thrown out.
“Well, I have never looked for a coat in here, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have one.” Lord Maslyn got up and headed for his dresser.
While he searched each drawer, Arna made mental notes of the places she could look for gloves, scarves, extra socks, warm hats, and other articles that would help them in their long escapades outside the tower. Soryn startled her when he exclaimed, “Aha!” She looked up and he held a thick, wool overcoat that had been shoved in the very bottom dresser drawer. It looked a size too big for him, but she knew that several layers underneath it would help him stay warm in the frigid Niflheim air.
“That looks fine. Start looking for knitted sweaters and things. We’ll have to layer up if we’re going to be out there very long—which I imagine we will be.” She went back to her thinking and he went back to work on the dresser.
Umm…little miss…shouldn’t you be going to get dinner right about now?
“Goodness! Ulla! Thank you! I had nearly forgotten!”
Without saying anything to Soryn, she dashed down the steps to the castle passage, thankful that she had changed back into her uniform already.
“Goodbye?” Soryn said, obviously having missed Ulla’s interior dialogue with the girl.
Sorry to leave you out of that. Takes a little bit more energy to communicate to two people at once and I’m rather tired today.
“What have you been doing that’s so strenuous? I thought you stayed indoors all day.”
Those two pesky cats came to visit me and their incessant whining has worn me out. They are always complaining about some animal or another who has spurned them or won’t talk to them et cetera, et cetera.
“Ah huh…” Soryn continued pulling out sweaters, wool trousers, and all the socks he could find from his dresser.
No sympathy? Ah, I see. You are too busy for me now. You haven’t been down to my study.
“We’ve got a fire going at the moment, Ulla.” Soryn had not really thought about the fact that they had not returned to the study in quite some time. The boy felt a bit guilty. Ulla sounded lonely.
Well, since there is a blizzard going on outside and you’ve no need to work in the other passage tonight, why don’t you come down to my study? Once the fire has burned out, of course. We can talk.
“I’ll see what I can do. I’m not sure how long it will take for it to burn down all the way.”
Arna returned about that time with their dinner on two trays. Panting, she set the meals down quickly.
“Things went well?” Soryn left his work at the dresser and sat at his place at the table.
“Yes…things…went…well…” Arna tried to catch her breath.
“You didn’t get into trouble, did you?”
“No. Inga had the trays on her kitchen island. She was out of the room. I grabbed them and left without anyone really noticing me. I don’t think I was late or anything.”
“That’s good news. When you dashed out like that, I wasn’t sure what had happened. Ulla didn’t include me in his brief conversation with you,” Soryn smiled.
The two of them attacked their food as if it would disappear if they did not ingest it as quickly as possible. After all their hard work, it was little wonder their appetites had increased. Ulla let them eat in silence. Though he wanted to talk to them, he just sulked about the study. He had grown indignant that they had left him alone for so long. He thought, Aren’t I the one who has helped them with all their little intrigues? Scowling, he hopped down from his top shelf and planted his squat, petite body near the miniature Adden. The small sun’s warmth never ceased to comfort him. Just as he had grown contented and relaxed, he heard the familiar hissing of his feline lackeys. Ulla groaned and pretended to be asleep.
Sssir, are you asssleep? The cats’ synchronized way of speaking irritated the pig.
No. What do you two want, now?
We jussst wanted to ssssee how you were handling the boy’ssss defection in hissss loyaltiesss.
He has NOT defected in his loyalties. The girl is no threat. She is just trying to help him. That’s the honest truth of it, Ulla protested.
We’ll ssssee.
Any news? Ulla hoped they would get right to the point.
Dependsss.
On what? The pig grunted. Those cats truly knew how to try his patience.
Dependsss on how much you want to know our sssspecial newsss…
What if I said I didn’t care?
Then we wouldn’t tell you. We want to know our ssservicesss are appreciated.
The two tabbies’ tails waved like twin snakes as they turned their heads and closed their eyes—attempting to look coy.
I assure you, your services are most appreciated. I can’t collect the information myself, can I? I am at your mercy, Ulla soothed—knowing full well he had already discerned their “special news” with his mind reading.
Well then, we can tell you that the one you sssseek isss not far from the village. He’sss in the north, near the foressst. We heard thisss from our cousssin in the next village.
Really? That’s a stroke of luck.
Yessss. We thought sssso asss well.
Ulla smiled the only way a pig could, which turned out to be more of a grimace. Geri and Freki turned together and slithered out the same hole they came from.
The pig sat back on his haunches and soaked in the warmth from the sun. So you’re this close, are you? Ulla felt a deep satisfaction that he could read the minds of the children but they could not read his. If they could, they would not associate with him at all. They would probably think he was using them. How little humans knew, always looking at the forest and never at the trees themselves. He listened in on Lord Maslyn’s conversation with Arna above.
Soryn stretched after eating too quickly. Arna stared at the fire. They were silent for some time. While eating, they had been far too busy to talk. At the moment, their hunger mollified, they were merely happy to catch flickers of heat from the fireplace and rest.
Well, you two are not very interesting at the moment.
“We’re tired. Don’t you have something important you can be doing?” Arna quipped as she folded her hands and put her head on top of them.
Fresh out of important things to do, I’m afraid. I’ll just have to bother the two of you.
“You’re not a bother, Ulla. Like she
said, we’re just tired. We worked very hard on that tunnel.”
Seems like you made quick work of it. What was it like for you in the outside world, little Maslyn?
Soryn thought hard about the question before answering. He could not really explain to himself what it had been like, let alone another person. To know that, at any time, he could leave…it gave him a bold feeling of independence.
You don’t need to voice it. I heard you loud and clear. I’m happy that you were able to get out and about.
“Thanks,” Soryn muttered through a yawn. He looked over at Arna who was almost asleep. “Arna,” he said, nudging her arm gently. “Wake up. Go on down to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Mmmm,” was all she said. She carefully picked up the dishes and waved as she descended the few steps to the castle passage.
Ulla decided to leave Soryn alone for a while. If the boy chose to come to the study, he would. The pig hopped up to his shelf and went to sleep. Meanwhile, in the tower room above, Lord Maslyn sat in his chair, taking in every ounce of warmth from the fire that he could. He closed his eyes and took in the sounds of the wind and snow pummeling the window and stones of the tower. He had no idea what they could expect tomorrow when they opened the door below. Still, he knew that even if they had to dig all over again, it would be worth every bead of sweat.
It had been surreal, being out in the forest, almost as if it could not have happened. But it did. It happened, and he was truly free to leave whenever he wished. He knew he would have to make sure that no one took his freedom away. The door would have to remain secret to everyone but Arna and Ulla. If ever again he was locked away without any hope of escape …he had no idea what it would do to him. The first time around, he had nearly expired of boredom. If it happened again, who knew what would become of him? It was still quite some time before Night Bells. He knew he needed to put away the clothes he had gotten out of the dresser before Jori saw them and asked questions.
It was difficult to make his body move when he was so tired, but he went to the dresser, anyway. He decided the best thing would be to organize the shelves so that one would be for their outside explorations and the rest could be for things he wore inside the tower. Organizing the dresser and the clothing he had pulled out did not take nearly as long as he had imagined. Without much desire to read, he found himself at a loss for what to do. When Arna was gone, it was lonely. He went to the fire, still amazed by the overpowering heat it brought into the room.
Jori found him asleep on the hearth when he arrived to take the day’s paperwork and help Lord Maslyn prepare for bed. When the manservant found he could not wake the boy, he picked him up and carried him to the bed. After the covers were secured, Jori dimmed the red lanterns and left the little noble alone. Jori smiled, marveling at the effect that Jordis and the fire were having on the boy. It was as though he was finally peaceful after all these years. Humming, Jori strode down the castle passage and went to drop the papers under Steward Asmund’s door. After that, he went to his room, dressed for bed, and went to sleep.