5. Charlotte
In the end, Charlotte did cut her foraging short but not because of her encounter with the bear. As the day wore on, gray clouds rolled in, and the afternoon became darker and darker.
She turned for home much earlier than usual, unnerved by the way day appeared to be descending into night hours too early. She was glad for her forethought when the heavy clouds released their wet load just as she ducked through the front door.
To her relief, her father was there ahead of her, although he had also planned to be out all day. He had probably read the change in the weather more quickly than she had and known what was coming. Even after five years, the sudden storms in the valley still took Charlotte by surprise.
“Charli-bear!” he exclaimed. “I was about to put my jacket back on and go out to find you. It looks like this will be a bad one.”
She slipped her own jacket off and hung it on the hook by the door. “I should have turned back sooner, but I’d just found a pocket of wild mushrooms, and I wasn’t sure I’d remember where to find it again.”
She unpacked her load, laying it across their large wooden table. Her mother made several pleased sounds as she began to sort the delicacy, muttering to herself about what dishes she would make. Watching her made both Charlotte and her father smile.
“You turned back soon enough,” he said. “All is well. And now we may enjoy a few snug hours together.” He beamed, looking delighted at the prospect. While he never shirked the endless list of tasks waiting for him and seemed to genuinely love the valley, his favorite moments were ones like this, where the weather trapped them all together inside their cozy home.
Charlotte tried to feel the same enthusiasm. A few months ago, she would have at least been glad for the extra time with her father. But her sisters’ frosty reception—they still hadn’t even greeted her—reminded her that the painstaking ground she had won with them had all been lost, and her home was no longer a comfortable place.
Thoughts of her relationship with her sisters reminded her of her conversation with the bear. She knew she should tell her father about it, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak of the strange meeting. Better her sisters be silent than speak up in ridicule.
She moved toward her mother, intending to help her with her food preparation, but Elizabeth leaped in before she could get there. Odelia followed with a contemptuous look at Charlotte, as if she had been lazing about all day instead of working hard like them.
Something bubbled up in Charlotte, and for once she wanted to speak up to defend herself, even knowing it would do no good. But her mother threw her a sympathetic look, clearly pleading with her to keep the peace, and Charlotte subsided, remembering they were all stuck inside together for the foreseeable future. As much as she would have liked to hear her mother defend her aloud for once, she was probably right that it wouldn’t be worth it.
Sighing, Charlotte turned to the sewing basket instead. At least she had enjoyed her solitary wanderings, so maybe she really had enjoyed a nicer day than her sisters. She took a seat by the fire and was soon joined by her father, a block of wood and a carving knife in his hands.
He smiled at her, the quiet scene clearly filling him with contented joy. And glancing from him to the three women working in harmony on the other side of the large room, Charlotte could understand his feelings. She only wished she could share them. But while her father seemed not to have noticed the divide that had returned to his family, Charlotte felt it as a constant ache inside, a reminder of the pain of her childhood and their current isolation.
The sound of the wind grew, an eerie note to go with her melancholy thoughts. Her father had already fastened the shutters, but it was obvious the sky had darkened further. Night truly had come early, and the thunder of raindrops against the roof soon joined the wind. She usually enjoyed the sound of rain—as long as she was safely inside, preferably tucked in her bed—but the intensity of the storm turned the comforting noise into an assault. She kept glancing at the roof, wondering if it would hold.
“Don’t worry, daughter,” her father said softly, drawing her eyes. “It was stoutly made and will hold against storms worse than this.”
She managed a tight smile and a nod. Her mind knew he was right, but deeper instincts couldn’t help responding to the ferocity of the storm. She was glad now that she had taken the extra time to harvest the wild mushrooms. Even if she could have found the spot again, who knew if they would have survived the downpour. It might be many days before she found anything worth harvesting now.
Her mother and sisters were just laying out the completed meal on the table when a sound made all five of them look up.
“What was that?” Elizabeth asked, sounding afraid.
“Probably nothing,” her mother said quickly, but her voice was uneasy.
“It sounded like a knock,” Odelia said doubtfully. “But it must have been a loud one to be heard above the storm.”
“How could there be someone out there in this?” Elizabeth snapped, clearly wanting to believe her own words but struggling to do so.
“We shall have to look before they beat the door down,” her father said, cheerfully. He stood, and Charlotte couldn’t tell if he was really unbothered or if he was just pretending in order to reassure the rest of them.
She stood as well, and since she was closer to the door than he was, she moved toward it. Whatever her misgivings, she wanted to prove to herself that she wasn’t like her sisters. She wouldn’t give way to fear.
Taking a deep breath, she threw open the door in one smooth movement. A hard sheet of rain angled through the opening, carrying a gust of freezing wind with it. She gasped at the sudden assault, and before she could recover herself, her father leaped forward, thrusting her behind him.
Grimacing at her poor exhibition, she stepped to the side, looking past the rain to what stood outside. She gasped again.
Standing in the doorway, apparently impervious to the rain and wind, was the White Bear.
Her father raised the staff that had somehow appeared in his hand, his expression no longer calm. He looked equal parts afraid and determined, his gaze wavering only once, when his eyes flicked to his wife and daughters and then to his bow, still hanging to one side of the door.
“No!” Charlotte cried. “He isn’t dangerous!”
“Not dangerous?” Elizabeth shouted in a half-scream. “It’s a bear!”
“Quick, Father! Kill him!” Odelia called from where she was cowering behind their mother.
Charlotte leaped forward, placing herself between her father and the doorway, arms outstretched to hold him back. It was a futile gesture if he was truly determined. She was much too small to physically restrain her tall father. But surely he would turn away from any rash action once he heard the truth about the bear.
She stood with her back to her father, her face toward the doorway. Her eyes immediately locked with the bear’s, and the expression on his face was hard to read. At least he didn’t look angry at the outburst of her sisters. If anything, he looked…pleased.
“He isn’t an ordinary bear,” she said, the words tumbling out. She twisted her head to look back at her father. “He can speak.”
“Speak?” Elizabeth’s shrill cry was laden with disbelief. “You’ve lost your mind, Charlotte! Bears can’t speak.”
“This one can,” she said stubbornly, keeping her eyes on her father. “We had a conversation in the woods this morning, and he showed no aggression toward me.”
She turned back to throw a pleading look at the White Bear. It would be the perfect moment for him to say something.
He gave the same rumbling sound she had earlier determined to be his laugh. “It’s true I was raised to be polite in all circumstances,” he said. “I wouldn’t dream of offering any of you violence.”
His eyes strayed toward her sisters, and for a fanciful moment Charlotte remembered his words in the forest and the moment when it had seemed he did want to threaten her sisters. But whether that desire had been real or imagined, he was firmly in control now, looking as civilized as it was possible for a bear to look.
“He…he spoke,” Odelia gasped, the words barely audible above the wind and rain.
Charlotte rolled her eyes. Hadn’t she just told them that?
“You conversed with him this morning?” her father asked in a slow, halting manner.
Charlotte lowered her arms and angled herself so she could see both her father and the White Bear. Her father’s words didn’t sound aggressive, and he had relaxed his stance, but his tone still made her frown. It was almost as if he was more concerned by her earlier encounter with the creature than by the appearance of a talking bear in the first place. Did he think she had been in danger? Surely her father must see the bear was a creature from the Palace of Light and therefore not a danger to her.
“I came to speak with you, sir.” The bear was looking at her father. “Perhaps you might step outside so we can converse in private?” He glanced once more at the women by the table.
Charlotte squashed down a ridiculous feeling of hurt that he wished to exclude her from the conversation. It was foolish of her since the bear had already had the chance to ask her questions. Why would he wish to talk to her again?
“Outside?” Her father raised an eyebrow as he looked at the sheets of rain and the darkness beyond the house.
The bear grimaced. “Perhaps I do not have the best timing. I spent the day searching the forest for you but failed to locate you before the weather changed. Once the storm hit in earnest, I realized you would have returned here. Waiting for tomorrow might be more sensible, but I confess to a strong degree of impatience.” He looked once at Charlotte, his gaze fleeting, but somehow the glance soothed her earlier hurt, although she couldn’t explain why.
“I wouldn’t dream of keeping you waiting,” her father said respectfully, bowing his head briefly.
Charlotte expelled a breath of relief, glad her father had grasped the nature of their visitor after all. She would hate for her family to cause him any more offense than they must have already done.
“Wait!” her mother cried softly as her father stepped toward the open doorway.
He paused and glanced back at her.
“I must go, my dear. Surely you see that.” He spoke only just loud enough to be heard over the storm. “We have no choice. But I believe all may still be well.”
Her mother wrung her hands together before nodding reluctantly.
Charlotte frowned. There had been something strange in her father’s manner since the first mention of the bear, and she now couldn’t escape the certainty that whatever her father knew was also known to her mother. What secrets were they keeping?
She stood in place as her father took a waterproof wrap from a hook and swathed himself in it. Only once he had stepped outside and closed the door firmly behind him did she move.
Racing forward, she placed her ear against the door. But there was no use in attempting to overhear the conversation. The noise of the storm was too great to allow any other sounds to permeate the solid wood.
Rushing over to her mother instead, she gripped her arm, ignoring her sisters who both appeared to be in too much shock to speak.
“Who is the bear?” Charlotte asked in an urgent voice. “Why has he come here?”
“I have no idea,” her mother said in such bewilderment that she couldn’t doubt her. “I never dreamed such a thing would happen.”
“Who would?” Elizabeth finally managed to say. “It’s a talking bear!”
“Daisy used to tell stories about a talking cat,” Charlotte said. “And our cousins were telling us only recently about a talking horse. Is a bear so different?”
“Horses and cats don’t eat people,” Odelia said firmly, and Charlotte had to admit she had a point. There was no denying it would create a very different impression to meet a talking cat.
The thought only made her feel sympathy for the White Bear. How often was he met with distrust and fear just because of his form? It wasn’t as if he was an ordinary bear who might attack a human.
The door swung abruptly open, and all four of them jumped. But it was only their father striding inside, shaking off water like a dog. Their mother raced to him, her eyes roaming over his body, as if checking for signs of injury.
“Is he gone?” she asked.
Her father hesitated and then shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Oh!” Her mother clasped her hands together. “What does he want?” She sounded terrified.
Her father didn’t answer for a moment. Instead, his gaze lifted and pinned itself on Charlotte. Her heart began to race, a strange feeling suffusing her.
“He wants Charli.” Her father’s words were almost too quiet to be heard.
“Charlotte?” Elizabeth screamed, sounding actually worried for her sister. “What can you mean, Father?”
“Does he wish to eat her?” Odelia asked, sounding ghoulishly curious.
“Of course he does not,” their father said sharply, his face losing color. “Do you think I would talk with him if he wished to eat any of us?”
Odelia subsided, looking sulky.
“But what does he want, Father?” Charlotte asked in a much quieter voice that nevertheless drew her father’s attention immediately.
“He wants…you,” he said again, as if struggling to know how to communicate the bear’s request. “He wants to take you away with him.”
“Take her away?” Her mother gasped and rushed over to wrap a protective arm around her daughter. “How can you be sure he won’t eat her later, once he’s away from us?”
Charlotte stood motionless beneath her arm, unable to think clearly but free of the fear that gripped her mother and sisters.
“I’m certain he doesn’t wish to eat me,” she said in a faint voice, earning another sharp look from her father.
“Do you know his intentions, Charli?” he asked. “Did he speak of it this morning?”
She shook her head. “No. I am as surprised as any of you. I merely feel certain he doesn’t wish me harm.”
Her father nodded, a strange and almost calculating look coming across his face. “That is a good start,” he said. “Perhaps it is not impossible after all.”
“Does he wish…” Charlotte hesitated, trying to make sense of it. “Does he wish me to go with him somewhere? Does he need a companion?”
Her father glanced once at her mother, seeming to stumble over the word.
“Yes, I suppose it is a companion of sorts. He wishes to make you…part of his family.”
“Part of his family?” Elizabeth asked, still sounding incredulous. “But he’s a bear!”
“He may be a bear,” her father replied, “but he is clearly also a person. Or do you think him a mere animal?” He spoke slowly, as if willing them to read between his words.
Charlotte nodded. It made sense to her. The inhabitants of the Palace of Light might not all wear human form, but surely they must all be considered people. They certainly couldn’t be thought of as animals—not when they were thinking, feeling beings with as much intelligence and capacity for communication as she herself possessed. Probably more, in truth.
But even so, she couldn’t help her thoughts mirroring Elizabeth’s. How could she join the family of a creature from the Palace of Light?
“How could I do so?” she asked. “Surely it is impossible.”
Her father cleared his throat, glancing once again toward his wife. “There is an established way.”
For a second, Charlotte and her sisters merely stared at him, confused. Then Odelia let out a gasping laugh, one that hung on the edge of hysteria.
“Marry him? You want Charlotte to marry a bear?”
“Of course not,” Elizabeth said with a repressive frown. “That’s ridiculous.”
Utterly and completely ridiculous. They must be misunderstanding their father.
And yet, the bear had asked her specifically about marriage ceremonies. It had been the only thing he was interested in. She had assumed he was conducting cultural research, but…
“Of course she couldn’t marry him in the normal sort of way,” her father said quickly. “But a legal marriage would make her part of his family. It would make it all right for her to leave with him. They have different rules in…” He trailed off without saying the words Charlotte knew came next. In the Palace of Light. Was being tied together a requirement for the bear taking her there?
The idea caught at her, making her breath lodge in her throat. She had heard tales of the High King’s domain, of course, but they were all fanciful ones. No one had ever been there—or even knew of anyone who had. Rumor said Queen Ava of Rangmere had traveled there once, but everyone seemed to agree she was the only one. Was it really possible she was to be given that opportunity?
The thought of visiting the Palace of Light had never even occurred to Charlotte. She couldn’t say she had dreamed of it, but it was a captivating idea nonetheless. But why would the White Bear wish to take her of all people to such a place?
“This is madness!” her mother cried, rounding on her husband. “You cannot be considering this! We cannot give our Charlotte to a bear. He isn’t…he isn’t one of us!” Again Charlotte had the impression there was something more that her mother wished to communicate, but something was holding her back.
Her father cleared his throat uncomfortably. “The ceremony only requires that they speak the necessary words, so it is technically possible. As I said, all he wishes is to take her into his family. This is merely the mechanism of doing so. But of course I would never force Charli into it. That’s why he’s waiting outside. I said the decision belonged to Charli herself, as is only right.”
“Decision?” her mother cried again. “What decision? You should have sent him on his way the moment he suggested such an outrageous thing!”
But even as her mother spoke, she looked uncomfortable, as if she knew the words were more easily said than done.
The suggestion was outrageous. Charlotte acknowledged that openly. But the strange request hadn’t shaken her inexplicable certainty that the bear would never offer her any harm. And neither could she deny the strange pull toward him. He wished her to become his companion on a fantastical journey, and there was something enticing about the idea of leaving with him, of freeing herself from the valley’s isolation and exploring places she could only imagine.
But at what cost?
“Even if it’s only a legal marriage,” she said slowly, “it would still turn me into a married woman. I would be barred from entering into a true marriage. I would never get to fall in love.”
Her father looked pained, and she expected her mother to speak again in protest against the idea. But instead she was looking at her husband through narrowed eyes.
“What have you not said?” her mother asked. “Why would you even consider such a proposal?”
Her father looked from Charli to the older girls and then back again, looking more uncomfortable than she had ever seen him.
“Of course I couldn’t entrust my daughter to just anyone,” he said. “He’s not an ordinary bear, that much is obvious to us all, but it’s more than that. He has power and position. There is much he could do for her…and for us.”
“Do for us?” Elizabeth asked, catching at his words immediately. “Whatever do you mean?”
Her father looked from his older daughters to his wife. “I know you’ve all been disappointed in our life here,” he said softly. “You agreed to the move at my assurances, and so far it’s not lived up to our expectations. It is a burden I bear daily. And while we are close to a turning point that will bring us greater prosperity, it will likely be a gradual change. However, if Charlotte agrees to undertake the wedding ceremony, the White Bear will reverse our fortunes. We will soon be as rich as we have been poor.”