Chapter 56
The great wooden gate, the only one on this side of the village, slowly opened with the combined effort of several men.
Two enormous wooden jays, their beaks touching the ground while the gates were closed, now rose toward the sky as the doors swung open.
Their carved beaks parted, making them look as though they were singing into the heavens.
“These are Kae and Rae. The loverbirds. People say they built this village together,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her elbow.
A man waved us forward, and we gently nudged our horses at the sides, urging them into a slow walk. I felt Lys moving closer on my left until my leg pressed against his horse.
The same man pointed toward a huge stable to our right and began walking toward it. He stopped in front of the entrance and waited for us to approach.
I nodded to Lys, telling him to dismount first, and he immediately did so. He swung his strong legs over the horse and, still holding the reins, walked toward the man.
Now, finally alone after five days together on the road, I turned toward Welme.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
She immediately lifted one hand toward me, showing me how badly her fingers were trembling. “I don't know, my lady.”
She shook her head.
“Everything feels so unreal, and I don't dare be happy yet. What if—” Before she could finish the sentence, whose ending I already knew, Lysande approached from my left, this time without his horse.
“The man said that, since we're travelers, we can leave the horses here until we find an inn. Then we can come back for them or leave them here. It's one silver coin for all three for the night,” Lys said, one hand resting against his side.
I nodded.
“Alright. We'll leave them here for now until we find an—”
My words trailed away as he extended his hand toward me.
“As you wish, my lady.”
I placed my hand in his and jumped down from the horse. His strong hands caught me gently by the hips. “I've got you,” he whispered as he lowered me toward the ground.
He took the reins of my horse while I approached Welme, who was already climbing down from hers.
“It will be alright,” I told her, taking her hand.
Lysande took those reins as well and, with a quiet click of his tongue, led all three horses toward the stable.
Welme didn't say anything else as she followed him.
“Ladies, I hope you had a comfortable journey.” The man greeted us with a warm smile, lifting his hat politely.
Welme tightened her grip around my hand and nodded.
“Ah, I'm glad to hear it. Is this your first time in our town?” he asked while Lys placed a coin into his palm. I opened my mouth to answer, but Welme squeezed my hand so tightly that I immediately understood she wanted to speak herself.
“I... I was born here.”
The man's eyes lit up, and his brows rose toward his forehead.
“Ah, wonderful. I knew you were from here. Those eyes... only this village makes eyes like those.” He stepped toward us with open arms and a warm smile. I froze. Lys, already behind him, had slipped one hand beneath his coat. But the man simply placed both hands on Welme's shoulders.
“Welcome home miss.”
Then he turned toward me. “And you? Are you from here?” He tilted his head, waiting for my answer.
“No. My husband and I are from the capital.”
He clapped his hands, but my eyes were already on Lys.
He had raised one eyebrow, the faintest smirk pulling at his lips. Then he lowered the hand from beneath his coat and crossed both arms over his chest.
Husband? He mouthed the word. Heat rushed immediately into my cheeks. I looked away from him and back toward the man.
“My name is Arthur,” he said, placing a hand over his heart and leaning slightly forward. “When did you leave the village? I may remember you.”
Welme shifted uneasily. “Five years ago.”
He scratched his beard, studying her face as if searching for features he might remember.
Lys finally moved from his place and stood beside me, so close that our sides were touching completely.
“Hm. Five years ago, only the boys left, as far as I remember. They went to work in the gold mines... Ah, and one girl.
His eyes saddened, and his mustache twitched slightly.
“Welme, I think. The one belonging to that miserable arsehole Jack.”
She froze.
His gaze moved back to her hair, and his lips became a thin line.
“And she had hair like that, didn't she?” He already knew the answer.
Welme tightened her grip around my hand once again. “Where... where is my father?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
The man took a step backward. His eyes moved between the two of us, and he raised his hands in front of himself. “I'm sorry. I didn't know. I didn't mean to offend you.”
Welme shook her head and repeated the question.
“I don't know how to tell you this, miss Welme, but he died very soon after you left. One of the cows he received gored him with its horn, and he bled to death.”
He removed his hat and held it against his stomach.
He clearly hadn't expected Welme to start laughing.
She laughed so hard that all of us stared at her in confusion. Even a few passersby stopped and turned their heads toward us.
With tears streaming down her cheeks and one hand covering her mouth, she nearly doubled over from laughter.
The man, having no idea what else to do, simply offered his condolences, placed his hat back on his head, and walked into the stable with the horses.
Welme continued laughing for a few more moments before wiping her tears and finally forcing herself to calm down.
“Well, ladies, I think it's time we get out of here and find an inn,” Lysande said.
Welme immediately turned toward him.
“No. Can we go to my Rinch now? I need to know the truth immediately.”
“As you wish, Welme,” I answered immediately.
I let her walk ahead of us and show us the way.
“My wife,” Lys whispered into my ear the moment Welme was out of earshot.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, and he quietly slipped his hand around my waist and left it there.
Held against his side as though I truly were his wife, we followed Welme through the streets.
It took us several minutes to weave through streets crowded with people, vendors, and entertainers.
I couldn't stop my eyes from wandering over the performers scattered throughout the town.
One sat balancing on a single wheel while tossing small clubs into the air and catching them again.
Another stood on her feet in an incredibly tight outfit, holding a torch in her hands.
When we passed her, she brought the torch toward her face before suddenly blowing a stream of liquid from her mouth.
I nearly gasped as fire erupted from her lips like a dragon.
Still, we couldn't stay there, even though I desperately wanted to.
Just for a moment, we stopped, and then we nearly had to run after Welme, who had already disappeared into a narrow street.
I had to stop in front of Lys so that we could squeeze through the long muddy alley, passing a dead rat lying in the filth, before the sunlight suddenly struck my eyes.
I nearly crashed into Welme, who had stopped so abruptly that we both had to catch ourselves.
Her hands flew over her mouth.
We stopped beside her and looked toward whatever had frozen her in place.
Across an enormous meadow turning golden beneath the autumn sun, not far from a weathered little cottage and a wooden stable, a young man stood in the middle of the fields, reaping wheat all by himself.
Welme ran down the meadow.
The sun fell over the wheat field as two lovers, torn from each other five summers earlier, finally held one another again.
Through tears and sweat, with tiny pieces of grass tangled in their hair and an embrace strong enough to leave marks upon their skin, they finally had each other back.