Page 10

I moved to the ladder and ran my hand over one of the rungs.

It was sturdy, well made. I left my dog and my bag behind on the floor and headed up for a quick look, pausing when my shoulders passed the platform.

It was… beautiful. Another window drew my eye right away.

It was under the roofline, the beams rising on either side, meeting at their highest point just above it.

It was a cute little thing, and the frame had been engraved with hatch marks and swirls.

It faced east, away from the village, and I thought to myself that it would probably catch a nice sunrise.

I almost moved to pull back the shutters, then stayed my hand.

I’d better not. The mattress was beside it, already heaped with wool blankets.

The chimney from the fireplace downstairs was running along the side wall, and I could imagine the heat it would give off, warming my feet on cold nights.

I heard a whine and looked back down at Goose. He had his head cocked, staring up at me with his big ears pointing out either way, and he was a sad sight to behold.

I headed back down the rungs.

“You can have the loft,” I said, and I grabbed my stolen bedroll, carrying it back by the fireplace so I could claim a bit of floor there.

I supposed it was my turn to be the stranger in his hut.

Roan didn’t respond. He’d made himself busy putting his things where they went, always the organized one.

His axe hung from two nails by the front door, the scarf Rahv had made him for winter beside it.

Next, he was at the small table in the front corner, laying out his knives and tools, hanging his bow on the wall, stashing something I didn’t get a good look at into a crate he tucked underneath.

Wholly focused on his task of placing everything just right.

There was a ruckus at the door. Goose had his ears perked, and I turned to look just as Indi came through, her hazel eyes gleaming.

“Fenli Wyn,” she said, “this is the prettiest hut I’ve ever seen.”

I tossed my roll and ran my palms down my pants. Her smile said she hadn’t heard about my attempt to run away, and relief swept over me. I hadn’t wanted to hurt her. I glanced at Roan, willing him not to rat me out, but he didn’t look my way.

“You did a fine job, love,” she told him, inviting herself in and pulling him down into a hug. “It’s good to see you again. Toke, are you ever tall. Fenli, isn’t he tall?”

She spoke as if she’d seen him recently, and I wondered what I missed. She also said the last bit with a sly edge to her voice, looking at me with a smile that made me want to crawl in a hole and die.

“Ma,” I hissed.

She waved me off like I was being silly, then came and pulled me into a hug as well.

“Roan came to see me last week. Did you know that?”

I glared at him from over my mother’s shoulder and he shrugged.

“No.”

“Yes, and he brought me this.” She let go of me so she could reach her hand into her pocket, pulling out a knife. The sheath and handle were made from the antler of a deer, flowers carved into each. When she slid the latch, the blade pulled free, a smooth and gleaming thing.

“Indi flowers,” I said, finally recognizing them .

“That they are.” And I knew he had won her over. My own mother, another one of his many admirers.

Damn and hell.

“Well,” I said, looking back at Roan now. “He is m-mad about knives.”

He frowned at me, but my mother didn’t notice. She slid the blade back into its sheath and busied herself snooping around the place.

“Are you two getting along?” she called over her shoulder, inspecting the shelves on the side wall.

Roan waited for me to answer, but that never happened. Unable to let the question hang any longer, he caved.

“Yeah, we’re just fine,” he said. His first lie? I was intrigued. “Things have been hectic with the move, but I think we’ll get to calm down and get to know each other better once we’re settled.”

Hmm, he’d tempered it.

“Good, good,” she said. “Fenli, baby, I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you. I was so busy with the kitchens, and Iver’s brother has been in such a bad way. We had a hell of a time with it all.”

I nodded.

Iver was her partner, and his brother had long been sick. I hadn’t considered the trouble it would be to move him north, but now that I thought about it, I was sure they’d had their hands full.

“I sh-should have—I should have—”

“Nonsense,” she said, turning back. “It’s nothing for you to worry yourself about.”

She looked at me from across the room and smiled.

Her age was written in the lines on her face, but she was still as beautiful as ever.

Her auburn hair was several shades lighter than mine, and her hazel eyes were radiant.

With her high cheekbones and peaked lips, it was no wonder she’d raised all manner of hell in her youth.

I’d heard it said that her good looks had gotten her into a lot of trouble; they’d also gotten her out of some.

“I’m going to go check out the bed, and you can’t stop me.”

“Ma!” but it was too late. She was already heading for the ladder, never one to heed me. “You could fall,” I said after her.

She only cackled at that. When she got to the top, I heard her gasp.

She stood there for many long moments before she headed back down. When her feet reached the wooden planks, she turned to Roan, her hands over her heart. “You did such a beautiful job.”

“Thank you,” Roan said, “but it’s nothing.”

“It’s a beautiful home for my baby. To me, it’s everything.”

She hugged him again, and I could have beat my head against the wall, I was so frustrated. Was that truly everything to her? That I had a nice hut?

She peeled herself from Roan and came after me. There was no fighting her. She wrapped her arms around me, and I knew the embrace wouldn’t be over until she said it was.

“I love you,” she said, drawing in a deep breath like she never wanted to forget the way I smelled. “You mean the world to me.”

And it cracked open my hard little heart to hear her say it. I knew it was true. I’d never doubted it. But I let myself get so wrapped up in my anger that sometimes I forgot to remember it. My mother loved me fiercely and always had. In that, I was lucky.

Guilt and shame wrapped their way through me. I wished to Toke I could be happy enough with what I had. Maybe I was as selfish and stupid as I knew some said. I gave in to her embrace .

It was a time before she let me go and pulled herself together. “Alright, well. I’ll leave you two to it.” She straightened and headed for the door. “Have fun in that bed of yours, children.”

“ Ma! ” I hissed again.

She swung around and winked at me.

Then she was gone, Roan and I floundering in her wake.

After an awkward moment, he said, “She’s nice.”

My gaze cut to his. “A knife? Really?” Maybe I imagined it, but it seemed like a bit more color filled his cheeks. I turned away and headed for the door. “Where’s the nearest shat hut in this h-hell hole?”

He frowned. “First of all, gross. Second, the outhouse is northwest, between here and the trees. And third—”

I was out the door before he could say another word.