“And then I want you to bathe in the pool,” Davvi said. “Please, Giddon, before you strain a muscle. Something’s driving you too hard.”
Davvi was right, of course. And the pool, pleasant-smelling and impossibly warm, enclosed him in an embrace he hadn’t known he needed. Maybe this water warming his skin and soothing his muscles was the answer he was looking for. Maybe the hope could run out of his body, to be swallowed by this pool.
He bathed for a long time, breathing, trying not to think. At one point, a blue fox passed through the trees nearby, its paws perched atop the snow, glinting curious gold eyes his way. They lived in the forests around here, apparently, or so Saiet said. They stayed close to human establishments because humans liked them, fed them, let them inside, sometimes spoiled them shamelessly, and occasionally one bonded to someone.
Giddon heard a rustle behind him, much too heavy for a fox. Glancing around, he observed Saiet making his way along the path.
“That was quick, wasn’t it?” said Giddon, for Saiet had gone out to check on a pregnant pig and Giddon had understood it to be a fair walk away.
“I ran into some friends on the road,” he said. “I think you should put your clothes on, son, and come into the house.”
Finally, someone who could help them with their plan. “I’m coming,” said Giddon, pushing himself up, drying and dressing quickly, for the cold air was a special kind of torture after the bliss of the hot pool. He stepped into his boots and clumped down the path, not bothering to fasten them, rubbing water out of his hair and his beard with his towel. He got to the house and opened the door.
And there she was. His Bitterblue, his queen. Standing right there, looking right back at him. Giddon’s eyes blurred. He fell to his knees and began to cry. Bitterblue wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He held her, sobbing into her stomach, loving the silbercows, loving their stories. She was real. She was solid. She smelled like soap and she was stroking his hair and her voice was saying soft, comforting words. His vision was turning to stars. He couldn’t breathe. He heard her giggling and felt himself falling. Then everything went black.
* * *
—
When he came to, he was lying on the floor with his head in Bitterblue’s lap.
“I hope you know you’re never going to hear the end of this,” Bitterblue said.
“Yes, please,” said Giddon, who wanted to be teased about this every day for the rest of his life. She was still stroking his hair.
Nev’s family was bustling around them, preparing a meal. Hava, her pale face luminous and streaked with tears, was helping them. Saiet was setting out again for the pregnant pig. Giddon knew it was a small room, and he as a big, tall person was taking up much of the floor, but he didn’t want to relinquish his position. He was afraid that if he stood and she stopped touching him, it would turn into a dream.
“What happened to you?” he said weakly.
“Silbercows rescued me,” she said. “And then I’m afraid the Cavendas scooped me out of the sea.”
“What?” cried Giddon, turning to look into her face.
“They kept me in their attic,” she said.
Giddon was up, on his knees, holding her shoulders. He could not contain this information. “Did they hurt you? Are you okay?”
Bitterblue put a hand over his. “They didn’t hurt me,” she said, “beyond trying to scare and humiliate me and not giving me much food. I hardly saw them. Giddon,” she said, in that firm, clear voice that always cut through whatever whirl his mind was in. “Look at me. I’m fine.”
Giddon looked at her. Her eyes were clear and gray, her hair in disorder, but familiar, dear. She was far too thin. She was wearing dirty pajamas. The face she held upturned to his was tired, and so happy. He could see that she was fine, but he knew that she’d suffered.
“We were in that house,” he said, wonderingly. “You were there?”
“I was. It’s gone now. Lovisa burned it to the ground and rescued me.”
“Lovisa Cavenda?”
“She’s sleeping,” Bitterblue said, indicating one of the family’s small bedrooms. “On our way here, she sent a signal message to the Ledra Magistry accusing her parents of kidnapping me and killing one of her friends. I think it was a very, very hard thing to do.”
“Lovisa Cavenda burned her house down and rescued you?” he repeated dumbly.
“Yes. She even destroyed two airships.”
“When?”
“Sunday.”
“Sunday!” Giddon cried. “That’s the day we left.”
“I know,” said Bitterblue. “I came as fast as I could, but the storm slowed us down.”
“How did you know where to find us?”
Her hand reached up again and touched the side of his face, once. “I have a lot to tell you, Giddon.”
* * *
—
Over dinner, Bitterblue shared with them, quietly, the story of all that had happened to her.
It was painful to listen to her relate her suffering and not be able to hold her, comfort her. He didn’t know if she felt that way too or simply sensed his feelings, but she found his hand under the table and gripped it tightly while she talked. He could tell she was doing the same with Hava on her other side.
“All right,” he said finally, giving her hand back, not because he wanted to, but because, holding two hands, she couldn’t eat. “Have your dinner, Bitterblue.”
And so she did, quickly, eating a mountain of food with small, reverential sighs that made his heart ache with happiness. Then she took his hand again.
For a long time after dinner, Bitterblue, Hava, Giddon, and Nev’s family spoke and planned, low-voiced because Lovisa had not yet emerged from the bedroom.
“Does Lovisa know what’s going on in her family’s northern house?” asked Giddon. “Should we ask her what Mikka might’ve overheard?”
“I don’t think she knows,” said Bitterblue, “though we should ask, later, when she’s feeling better. Lovisa is overwhelmed. I haven’t even told her yet that her father drowned our men. And I’m afraid she found Katu’s ring and identification papers in her father’s desk. She thinks he’s dead.”
As Bitterblue turned her own rings on her fingers, Giddon studied her troubled face, guessing what she must feel about that. “Surely not,” he said quietly.
She lifted serious eyes to his. “We need to find out.”
“We will.”