Page 12 of The Elves and the Shoemaker (The GriMM Tales #4)

Nine

Elias

T

he following day, after Elias had finished designing the three pairs of shoes for Mr Von Baden, he decided to clean the shop while he waited.

Henrik and Johan had left for the market to buy material while Elias minded the shop. Johan hadn’t been able to fully explain, but Elias suspected he worried about him and Henrik being spotted in public and someone attempting to take them, so he didn’t like them to go out unaccompanied.

In the shop, however, Elias felt surprisingly safe. He liked it here a lot and was grateful to discover that his experiences in the mills hadn’t killed all the joy he found in creating beautiful things.

Turning the old clothes that Elias assumed once belonged to some of Johan’s family into garments for him and Henrik to wear proudly had reignited Elias’ passion. Because Elias loved beautiful things. He loved the journey of an idea to a design, to a tangible thing he could behold.

Elias was cleaning one of the window displays and humming a tune to himself when he spotted Johan and Henrik walking down the street together.

He watched them curiously. Johan smiled and laughed at whatever Henrik was saying to him, and when he saw the way they looked at each other, Elias prepared for a stab of jealousy—only it didn’t come.

After the argument he’d had with Henrik the other night, he felt more reassured of what they had together than ever before.

But Elias couldn’t deny what he could see with his own eyes. Would it bother Elias if Rik also had feelings for Johan?

He was sure it should, although he wasn’t entirely convinced that it would, because he was looking at two men who clearly held affection for one another and the only feeling he could muster right then was a degree of fondness for them both.

How bizarre. As with most things in Elias’ life, he chose not to question it too much.

Life had given him enough reasons in the last few years to feel genuine misery; he wasn’t going to prematurely invite any unnecessary sorrow.

The two of them had barely stepped inside when Elias asked, “Notice anything different?” He flourished his arms to their surroundings.

Henrik looked predictably suspicious as he stared around the room, but Johan smiled and whispered softly, “Clean.”

Elias beamed before quickly getting distracted by the smell of warm cheese pastries. His stomach growled so loudly that he blushed.

Johan passed Elias the brown paper bag, which contained the new fine scratch awl he’d requested along with plenty of leather.

“The man in the market where we bought the supplies said he would spread word that we’re selling elf-made shoes,” Henrik explained as he led the way into the workshop with the bag of pastries.

“I’m excited to get started,” Elias replied.

“I thought it might feel too similar to the work in the mills, but I feel free. Even with these.” Elias waved his bangled wrists in the air, and Johan frowned at them before silently leaving the room and returning with two handfuls of coins that he dropped onto the table.

He pointed at the pile of money and then at the bangles on Elias’ wrists.

Elias tried not to be miffed that Johan had just dumped all his carefully stacked coins. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” Elias said.

“You think we should use the money to get them removed?” Henrik asked, as if he could read Johan’s mind somehow.

Johan nodded emphatically.

“We would need a sorcerer, and we won’t use any of your share,” Henrik said sternly.

Johan pointed to himself and then tapped his index finger to his temple.

“You know of a sorcerer?” Elias asked, fairly sure he understood Johan that time.

Johan tilted his hand from side to side as if to say “sort of.”

“It’s worth a try, don’t you think, Rik?”

Small flames of hope lit inside Elias’ chest, but he dared not stoke them just yet.

“It would be a relief to be rid of them. Plus, if we were able to make shoes infused with magic, we could charge more than double the current fees.” Henrik was always the pragmatic thinker.

“Let’s wait until we get the rest of the money from this sale because I’ve no doubt it will be costly,” Elias said, forcing himself to be patient, and both Henrik and Johan agreed.

Elias swallowed the lump of emotion in his throat at the thought.

Five years. Five years since he’d been able to speak to magic, feel her thrum through his veins with beautiful light energy.

He ached for it like he’d never ached for anything in his life.

Without it, he often felt like a guest inside his own body.

A sorcerer had created and used spells to make the bangles unbreakable. Would they even be able to find someone strong enough to undo such magic?

“I

t was our pleasure,” Elias said to a grateful Mr Von Baden a few days later when he collected his commissioned shoes—parting with a hefty sum of money in the process.

It was enough that the three of them could finally begin preparing for their trip into the Dark Forest to locate a sorcerer.

Elias and Henrik had offered to go alone, but Johan insisted that it wasn’t safe, and so the little shoe shop would be closed for nearly a week. Elias hoped that the sorcerer wouldn’t require all the coin they’d earned because he wasn’t convinced Johan could really afford to be shut for so long.

While Johan packed bags with whatever they would need for the trip, Elias and Henrik busied themselves in the kitchen preparing food for the journey.

Johan had warned them that even keeping up a fast walking pace, it would probably be almost four days each way, which meant they would have to set up a camp each night.

Elias felt a strange mix of excitement and trepidation about the trip because the temperatures had dropped significantly, and he and Henrik still didn’t really have the body mass to withstand any truly bitter weather.

Elias glanced at Henrik, whose tongue poked out the side of his lips while he concentrated on the sandwiches he was making. Overcome with affection, Elias smacked a big kiss to Henrik’s cheek, which startled him.

“What was that for?” he asked, a pink blush blooming across his cheeks.

Elias didn’t reply, merely shrugging with a big grin aimed at his lover. Sometimes he just wanted to squeeze Henrik until he popped. Lovingly , of course.

Once they’d finished, they found Johan in the workshop with the knapsacks, two of which were considerably lighter and one which looked so heavy a donkey might struggle with it; however, Johan hoisted it over his shoulder and fitted it across his back with a reassuring ease that, frankly, Elias found quite attractive.

Judging by Henrik’s expression, he agreed.

Elias’ bag was large but light, presumably filled with the wool blankets to keep them warm at night.

“Ready?” Johan asked, his voice raspy. The shoemaker’s voice sent a shiver down Elias’ spine. It was gravelly and raw and its use such a rare gift that the effect of it always took Elias by surprise.

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Elias replied, and he and Henrik shifted the sacks onto their backs.

They were just about to leave when Johan held up a finger, asking them to wait while he dashed back up the stairs. He reappeared a few minutes later holding out two sets of knitted hats, scarves, and gloves.

Johan gave the green set to Henrik and handed the dark orange to Elias. The elf’s fingers trembled at the sight. Elias didn’t cry. He wouldn’t cry over a hat, scarf, and gloves. His eyes were merely watering from the frigid cold air.

“Let me?” Johan asked.

Elias nodded, not trusting that his voice wouldn’t warble.

Johan picked up the hat and placed it snugly on Elias’ head. Where he expected it to trap his pointed ears uncomfortably, it did not.

“You… you got these made for us?” Henrik said, staring at how Elias’ ears poked out of the sides where it had been designed to fit an elf perfectly.

Johan appeared bashful as he nodded. Busying himself, Johan wrapped the matching scarf around Elias’ neck and tucked his slim, fine fingers into the mittens.

Nobody had ever bought Elias a gift before, let alone something as thoughtful as this.

Johan couldn’t possibly understand what this meant to Elias, but as he glanced at Henrik, his expression was a mirror of his own.

There was something incredibly overwhelming about receiving so much kindness after years of unrelenting cruelty.

Elias didn’t want to dwell on that, though. He smiled down at his warm, cosy hands and let the comfort of being cared for into his heart.

Both of them choked up as they thanked Johan profusely. When they all left the shop, so early that the sun had yet to rise, they were even more grateful for the added warmth.

In companionable silence, Johan and the elves walked down the dark, quiet streets until they reached the edge of the forest. Elias and Henrik hadn’t set foot near the Dark Forest since the night before they’d accepted Johan’s offer of a place to stay, and it felt strange coming back.

The forest was where they had found their freedom, where they’d sought refuge but also where they’d feared being found by dogs each night and where they had both been on the road to starvation.

Three hours had passed by the time the sun finally rose high enough to breach the tree canopy above. Elias found it easier to relax when they were no longer shrouded in darkness. The light formed all sorts of patterns on the ground, which Elias focussed on as he trudged down the path.

Henrik was walking well ahead of him, which Elias was bitter about. He was a long way off his full strength, and several full days of walking were going to be a challenge. Every step felt as though Elias were once again in leg irons, and he’d never felt such resentment towards his own body.