Chapter Twenty-One #3
Jaki cleared his throat. “I suppose if you’re not blood, you don’t have much reason to be in here, do you?”
“Er, no.”
“I suppose they’ll only appear if someone related by blood appears, and if you have anyone with you, and notice them, you’ll know to keep them out of Rinder’s room.
” Lumi figured that if Tivar hadn’t been there, they would have all noticed the poem once they were done looking at the portion of the wall with the markings and the key image. They would have kept the Mage out.
“Tivar clearly didn’t see the warning. More proof he was only the false heir.”
“He didn’t care how much proof there was.”
“And he can’t hurt anyone now.”
***
Jaki had to explain the story to the rest again. Lumi was sure they wouldn’t be able to keep quiet, and soon, the whole Kingdom would know that if anyone entered Rinder’s tomb, they’d be devoured by vines, and no trace would remain.
Honestly, it wasn’t bad. Nobody needed to be entering Rinder’s room again.
Even though Iceland would presumably return to its former self, there were no cheers. Lumi felt strangely calm. For the most part, he had nothing to fear anymore. Tivar was gone. There wasn’t even a body to worry about, although he could have rotted on the floor for all Lumi cared.
He had Jaki who wouldn’t need to go to war, and their daughter was waiting for them.
Jaki led him up the hill and went first to make a rough path in the thick snow. They paused at the top, and Lumi got to see the bay ahead.
Chunks of ice floated, and the water rippled softly. Lumi couldn’t tell where it would be safe to walk or stand on the edges. The ice made all sorts of strange shapes, and with the snow, it was likely quite treacherous.
Most of the ice was green like his eyes, and with the white snow and the dark, peaceful waters, it had a strange beauty. He couldn’t tear his eyes away.
Particularly huge pieces remained still in the water.
Glaciers. If one took a boat and braved the ice, there was an island to find somewhere out there.
Clearing the snow and living there was no good.
Ice Island only had a few trees, wasn’t worth logging, and the soil was too stony to bother clearing.
And beyond that lay the Mists that surrounded their realm. Where they stood wasn’t the edge of the realm, but it felt like it.
Jaki put his arm around Lumi who leaned into him. The wind blew a piece of his hair across Lumi’s ears, and they twitched at the ticklish sensation.
“Your eyes really are the color of the green sea ice in the north,” murmured Jaki.
Lumi looked at the light green pieces gently bobbing in the water. Just like Father’s eyes. The wind picked up, and the cold made his eyes burn, so he closed them, focusing on the way Jaki’s arm felt around him.
“I think I prefer the pink of wolver flowers.”
***
Lumi didn’t notice her at first as they sat on a cleared patch of ground around a fire near the tomb. Jaki suggested they could sleep in the tomb as long as they didn’t enter Rinder’s space. Most of the guards vigorously shook their heads.
“Fuck that,” one muttered.
Lumi spotted a figure maybe forty feet away, and he jumped, which made everyone’s head swivel to peer at whatever he saw.
Wrapped in furs, a woman stood with her hair loose and blowing as if the cold didn’t bother her. It was long, dark, and appeared thick. Her skin was brown. Some of the fur was dark, and the piece covering her shoulders was white and possibly created from a snow bear.
Beside her was a small figure.
Lumi guessed the child was a boy, maybe ten or so.
His grey fur hat was pulled low, and he huddled close to the woman.
Whether he was scared or cold, it was hard to tell.
From what little Lumi could see of his face, he was brown too and likely her child.
One of the guards muttered something like, “What are they doing way out here?”
Jaki stood and called out to them. “Are you all right?”
The woman turned without a word to walk back the way she came. The boy hesitated and quickly followed, staying close to her. She didn’t look back as she trudged along, and something moved on her back. Lumi was positive it was a short spear she’d slung over her back.
One of the guards set his bowl by the fire. “Shall I get her?”
“No.” Jaki sat. “If she doesn’t want to talk to us, it’s her business.”
“But she’s out here alone with a child. There’s no village or town nearby.”
“If she doesn’t care to approach and ask for help, then I’m sure she’s been managing.” Jaki set down his empty bowl. “I heard a story once, some years ago, about a wild woman in the north.”
“A wild woman?” asked another guard. “She seemed rather normal to me besides living up here in this barren place.”
“It’s not my term for her. I didn’t think it was true anyway. It sounded made up. Supposedly, a woman came from Earth and decided to head north to live in the wilderness.”
“I thought she was Rowland or Finkin,” said Lumi.
“No, she comes from some place on Earth. Well, I’m guessing she’s the woman I heard about. I don’t know where exactly she supposedly came from. If she’s been living up here, she must be doing well with that kid. With the Crown where it belongs, the hunting will get even better.”
Several, including Lumi, watched the woman and her boy grow smaller in the distance until they disappeared over a slight hill.
Was the boy all human too, or did he have a fairy Father?
If so, where was he? If the woman were human, she must have met a fairy on Earth and decided to come with them later.
Maybe something happened to the fairy later, and she chose to live in the wilderness with her son and make a new path for herself.
It was mean to call her a wild woman, human or not just because she didn’t wish to live in a town.
And if she preferred the company of few, so be it.
Then again, many had given Lumi names too without actually knowing him at all.
He’d been what everyone else said he was.
Whore, court entertainer, storyteller, trickster, pleasure slave, cum midden, stress dump, the holes, bitch, useless, and stupid.
He could be whoever he wanted with Tivar gone and Iceland ready to come back to life, and he stared at the point where the pair had disappeared. He could be who he wanted despite what anyone else said or who he’d been before.
Lumi wanted to be a Father and a husband.