Chapter 13

When I slowly rode towards home after that conversation, I felt conflicted about my future. In a way, it would have been very easy to accept a future in which I’d marry either Siv or Erika - or why not both of them! That would really put Saga and her new husband in their place. Since there was no active church or priests nearby, there would probably be no protests. Yes, that would be something. Only that it might not be fair to the girls. I sighed. Well, it had been a nice daydream.

Then there were the Elves who wanted my ‘services’. I had to admit that I enjoyed having sex with them much, much more than using my own hand - right or left. However, I had a feeling that, to them I was a curiosity, a stallion they used for breeding, and that they wanted to keep me hidden as much as possible, even if they had promised to teach me. True, they did teach me and they didn’t lie to me. Because of the use of the Old Language, that is difficult. I didn’t really trust them, but they were the only source of information I had. Especially when I tried to ask questions about history, their answers became very vague. Of course, I ‘knew’ from the fairy tales my mother had told me that both Elves and Trolls had become a part of our world because of an experiment by the Magicians gone awry. I had an idea when that had happened - but that was about it. It was like a part of history was missing. After Bellcauniel, none of the Elves had given me any good answers to those questions.

Somehow, I was sure that my mother would have had the answers - and she had probably given me some answers with the stories she had told me. I just should have listened to them carefully and correctly, remembering some of the details instead of the heroes and heroines. Of course, I remembered quite a lot; but things happening inside castles, and between heroes or heroines and arrogant royalty, weren’t of much use here in the village. Besides being nice stories, of course.

That brought me back to the possibility my mother had mentioned in her posthumous message about leaving this remote area and visiting Aston - and the University - in order to get some answers. Answers. I’d only need to figure out the correct questions first. There just were too many things I didn’t know. I shook my head and patted Luna while riding. I knew what I needed to do - I had to go hunting. Not because I’d need the meat but because of the peace being alone in the woods brought to my mind.

Four days, two deer, and several rabbits later, I was reasonably calmer - even if I hadn’t really made any decision. There was no need to make it yet. Or, it just wasn’t practical to do it now. The winter was coming, I had ordered some books, and I was prepared for the winter. In a way, I had already made a decision to postpone making anything permanent. I just hadn’t admitted it to myself before. So, I’d be spending the coming winter in my small house, hosting possible guests - I had serious doubts of them coming during the winter - and probably teaching Siv and Erika. There was no way that I’d allow them to visit my home. I didn’t trust them; and, in all honesty, I didn’t really trust myself, either.

The following week I kept myself busy by doing all kinds of small tasks around my house and garden. I piled so much extra hay for Luna that I’d probably have some problems using it. I cut so much firewood that I could have warmed two houses for the whole winter. I made sure not to visit the village until after my second hunting trip, when I had to do it, since I wasn’t able to store all the meat, myself. I knew that I had depleted those deer herds a bit, but I did that mostly in the area closer to my old home. Too bad if they had problems hunting during the coming winter. Yeah, too bad.

However, because of my actions, my own storage was full. I needed to deliver some meat to Ake; partly for sale, and partly for the common good. Damn, if I had sold all the meat I had brought to Ake I wouldn’t have needed to use another smaller bond for the books I wanted to have. On the other hand, I wanted the villagers to have some good reason to like me.

I could smell the coming freeze in the air when I rode to the village with all the extra meat I had smoked and salted. After giving it to Ake, I’d have a visit or two to make, and I wasn’t at all sure what I expected out of those visits.

“I don’t understand. You’re giving away all this meat. Why?”, Ake demanded.

“I have no place to store it by myself. Besides, I’m sure that there are some families who’d appreciate some extra meat, if the winter is hard.”

“That’s true. Last winter was bad and the people had to slaughter some animals they would have liked to spare. But why are you giving it away for free?”

I almost laughed when I understood what the real problem was. Ake was a merchant to the bone and the whole idea about giving away something for free was against everything he believed in - and yet, he wasn’t a bad or a greedy person at all.

“Maybe not totally for free. My point is that you probably know much better than I do when some families, or some of the widows, have it tough. You’ll also know what they can afford to pay - and of course, all that meat takes some storage space you could use for something else. My point is that I don’t need to get paid for my surplus.”

That storage space was pure bullshit, since I knew that Ake had a huge store deep in the ground and he could store enough food for the whole village, but this way, I gave him the freedom to take some minimum return for the food he kept in storage. I was sure that he wouldn’t rob anyone. Besides, when I treated him like this, he probably wouldn’t rob me when my books got here.

“If you put it that way, Stian. I have to admit that some more meat could make quite a difference to some of the families. But are you sure that you have enough for yourself?”

“I’m quite certain. Besides, if I need more, I can always go hunting. I have no problems in going to hunt in the middle of the winter.”

I wasn’t going to explain to him that I had enough food for myself but if I had a lot more unexpected guests, I might run into problems. However, I didn’t expect any more visitors, since Elves weren’t really used to the cold and all the snow we might have. I had managed to dig out some tiny pieces of knowledge about their home valley, and I knew that the mountains protected them from the cold northern and eastern winds and the mountains on the west made sure that there weren’t too many heavy rains, either. So, they weren’t too happy to visit me up here on the North, and I was quite certain that I could expect their earliest visits in the following spring. Of course, I had asked Caladwen, but she had only known about the group before them besides her own.

Ake had been busy with in his own thoughts, when I had estimated my own resources for the winter. After a moment I could see him nodding.

“That might work - but Stian, you still need to pay something for your books. They’ll cost a whole lot more than I can get paid for storing that meat.”

“I know, I know. But it doesn’t hurt me if some people here think good things about me.”

Ake snorted.

“Like you’d be in any danger of that.”

After my second stop, I worried myself if I had bitten off more than I could chew. No, I was certain that I had bitten off more than I could chew. I had stopped by Erika’s house and talked about teaching both Erika and Siv to read and write better. What I had planned to be just a quick visit became a long stay that ended with a dinner to which Siv’s family was also invited. I ended up sitting tightly between Erika and Siv at the other end of the table and both the girls had some serious problems keeping their hands on the table. While both fathers questioned me about hunting and my mission with the Guardians, two hands were doing some exploring under the table. From the look of the two mothers, they knew exactly what their little girls were doing under the table. Together.

I didn’t mess my pants, and I was only half-hard by the time I had to get up from the table. Maybe it was fair - in some sort of twisted way - that I got a glimpse of what it is to be the prey. That’s what I had been, there. Both of the girls had decided to get me, and I was quite sure that they’d had some lengthy discussions with their mothers about what they could - or should - do. What had surprised me, had been the fact that it had felt like a coordinated effort. It reminded me the way two wolves worked against a single prey. Usually, the prey didn’t have much chance.

Erika’s parents had offered me the possibility to spend the night in their house. I politely declined, and I was sure that I saw the relief in the eyes of Erika’s father. Maybe the fathers weren’t so clueless after all. At least Erika’s father seemed delighted that there’d be no reason for me to fight for my virtue during the night. Erika seemed a bit disappointed, but it didn’t stop her and Siv from kissing me before I left. Directly on my mouth. With some tongue.

I sighed when I slowly rode Luna towards home through the darkness. If I ever ended together with either of those vixens there would be time for some serious payback. On the other hand, I wasn’t quite sure if it would be a good idea to make a girl - or two girls - pass out because of an orgasm. Especially if I wasn’t going to marry that girl.

Still, I couldn’t help the feeling that right now there were other people who were making plans about my future. I shivered involuntarily; even if I liked both Erika and Siv, I didn’t like the idea of being controlled or restricted by somebody else. As soon as that thought came to my mind, it reminded me about something my father had said about marriage and love. If you loved each other, neither of you needed to give up - you both wanted to give up, just to see the other person smile. I knew that I had been on my way there with Saga. Maybe I’d learn to be there with Erika or Siv. Maybe. Some day.

That night, I didn’t dream about Saga or petite, pointy-eared women. No, I dreamed about two young girls naked in bed with me. Together.

We were more than a half way between autumn equinox and winter solstice when the weather finally changed. It hadn’t rained for a while, and the weather had been calm and below freezing for several days in a row. This was unusual because the open ocean was there next to us. Then came the light wind, which brought the first flakes of snow. That soft snow stayed on the frozen ground, making everything white and beautiful. While it had been pitch dark during the nights, now the scenery was glowing when the almost-full moon showed its face between the clouds. I enjoyed that part of the change but I also got the feeling that this was not all of it.

Two days later, in the middle of the morning, the weather changed even more. The first indications were the light wind and some new snowflakes. Only this time, the wind wasn’t coming from the southwest as usual, but from northwest - and the temperature remained below freezing. By mid-afternoon, there was a foot of new snow on the ground and the wind was getting stronger. Connected with the snow, the visibility dropped so much that it was hard to see the barn from the house, and I decided to check that everything was okay with Luna at the barn. Of course, she was happy to see me and Tariel - who had also sneaked outside - or maybe Luna was happy because of the two carrots I had with me. Whatever. When I left the barn, Luna had a blanket over her, protecting her from the cold, and she had some fresh hay in front of her. Tariel hurried back inside before me and I took one more look at the surroundings even if I couldn’t see much.

I was about to follow Tariel when something stopped me. Something I had seen or sensed. Or rather, something I had not sensed.

After a few moments, I wanted to start cursing, but I wasn’t sure I had time for that. Instead, I went inside and put two large logs in my stove and filled my largest pot with water. Then I started picking out all the extra clothes I had that might be useful and found my way back to the barn and Luna. The look Tariel gave me when I left the house, told me everything my cat thought about getting outside again. I found it hard to disagree.

Once again, I had to be grateful about how great a horse I had. I could tell that Luna was not fully comfortable with the weather, but she didn’t complain when I saddled her and filled the saddlebags with clothes. For a moment I considered walking next to Luna but since the snow cover on the open areas was already well over my knees I decided to ride. Not because I hadn’t been able to walk in the soft snow, but because riding Luna would make us a bit faster, and I’d also get less tired. I was afraid that I’d need my strength, soon. Once we started moving, I took one look back towards the house I could barely see through the snowstorm. I didn’t really want to admit that I wasn’t all that sure I would be able to find my way back through the storm. I was almost sure that I could. That had to be enough, for now.

It was already dark when I found the group I was searching for. The darkness of the snowstorm is something different. It’s not really dark, but gray, and you really noticed the darkness because all you could see were gray shapes against a gray background. That, combined with the idea that the group wanted to stay hidden, made it hard even for me to find the group of Elves, lost in that storm.

I stopped Luna close to the ridge that protected some lumps of snow - or something that looked like lumps of snow.

““You can’t just stay here! You’ll freeze to death before this snowstorm is over!””

For some moments, I felt extremely stupid for shouting loudly into a snowstorm. Then slowly - very slowly - one of the lumps moved and started to become a form against the grayness. I slowly moved closer with Luna and gradually those lumps started to pick up some form. There were smaller horses and people - Elves - cowering under some canvases. Of course, they had some baggage with them. After all, all the parties that had visited me had had their camp somewhere in the forest. But, there was no easy way to survive under canvas in this weather. Besides, there were their horses to consider. One of the Elves rose and faced me when I dismounted and moved next to them.

““Then, if you are so mighty and wise - what do you suggest?””

The amount of contempt she managed to put into her voice almost made me laugh. A creature almost a full foot shorter than me, shivering from cold and partly covered with falling snow, trying to maintain an image that she was far superior to me - and almost succeeding in doing it! Well, at least she didn’t try to use magic on me. I guess she was way too tired to even try. Yet, there was something about her that made me feel oddly warm inside.

Way past midnight, I wasn’t so sure any more about my ability to walk, and the snow didn’t feel so soft anymore. Instead, it felt like jam that made my feet drag more and more. Yet I had to walk in the front, since I was the only one who knew the right direction ... I wished that I knew the right direction. In the beginning, it hadn’t been that hard to walk in the soft snow, but now it felt almost impossible to lift my legs high enough for the next step - and yet I did that one more time and one more after that. However, walking wasn’t the worst thing. Every now and then, we had to stop and I had to help riders to change horses so that two of their horses could have some rest. At the same time, I also checked that all the riders were protected the best we could and I also checked Luna, who was the last horse in the queue and carrying two riders. All that took some concentration, which I didn’t really have any more. But the absolutely worst thing there was, was to start walking again. After a while I didn’t want to do it anymore, but somehow I did continue walking against the storm and towards my home. Yes, I hoped that I walked towards my home.

I almost hit the wall on my barn without realizing where I was, and first I just cursed an obstacle in my way. When I finally understood that we had found my home, my first instinct was to rush inside and go to bed. Only, there were eight Elven women who were even in worse condition than I was. Not to mention all these horses. I would have groaned, but I there was no energy left for that.

Five of the women needed to be carried inside, and the other three weren’t much better. As soon as I had them all inside; I lit my oil lamp, and both the stove and the fireplace. I pulled out all my extra clothes and bed covers and turned to the woman who had spoken to me when we first met.

““Can you make sure that everybody gets out of their cold, wet clothes? I’ll be soon back to make you some sweet porridge.””

I put all the authority I still had into that request. As if I could push some power to her with my words. At least I looked directly into those deep blue eyes.

““Yes ... I think I can.””

I just nodded and headed back out. It wasn’t really fair to force an exhausted woman like that, but I needed some help.

If the horses hadn’t been so well behaved and trained, I probably wouldn’t have been able to make it. They all waited patiently when I took off the saddles and made sure that there was some hay and water available. I brushed them only lightly. I knew that I’d need to take a closer look at them as soon as possible. The horses had only a little space to move inside my barn and cleaning it would be a nasty chore. But that would be later. Later.