He focused his turyn once more, strengthening his legs and lungs, but it took longer this time. Even his turyn seemed sluggish, unwilling to respond, though he wasn’t sure why. Fatigue eats away at your will even faster than performing magic, said his inner advisor. Was that something his grandfather had told him before, or was his imagination working overtime?
Gritting his teeth, Will kept moving. “I don’t need your advice,” he told himself.
If stubbornness was the same as ‘will’ you’d have nothing to fear, boy, but it isn’t, said his grandfather’s voice in his mind.
“You should know,” answered Will, his voice raw from the freezing air.
You’ll die if you don’t find shelter.
“If you cared then you shouldn’t have left me alone.” He tried to spit to clear his mouth, but it was too dry.
Sometime after midnight he drew close to the crest, the high point of the path between mountain peaks. His thirst was intense, but when he tried to get water from the skin he carried he discovered it felt like a rock was inside. The snow had melted at some point and then hardened into a solid piece of ice. Ignoring his better judgment, he scooped up some snow from the ground and put it into his mouth.
It didn’t help much with his thirst, but he felt better anyway. He ate some more and then decided he should take a short rest. His body was so tired that a nap sounded like a perfect remedy. He wasn’t that cold anyway. He found a rock jutting up from the snow and sat down, putting his back against it. His eyes closed almost immediately.
Wake up, dumbass!
“Leave me alone.”
You’ll be as dead as that frozen lump of fat you call a brain if you don’t get up, said his grandfather.
Will smiled. “You used to have better insults.”
That’s because I’m a delusion. You’re too stupid to come up with a decent impression of me, said Arrogan. Get up!
Despite thinking it was a bad idea, Will tried. His eyes wouldn’t open, and it took him a moment to realize they had frozen shut. He rubbed at them with his hands, but that didn’t seem to work, so he gave up on it. He struggled to get to his feet but promptly fell over. “I can’t,” he mumbled into the warm snow.
Then call her!
“Who?” asked Will.
Who do you think? Never mind, just forget it. You’re doing the world a favor by removing your stupidity from it.
Will giggled. “I was just teasing. I know you meant Tailtiu.”
Say it again.
“Tailtiu,” he whispered. “Your daughter is really beautiful, even if she’s my aunt.”
Once more.
“I’ve had some really naughty dreams about her. You’d be so mad if I told you,” said Will.
Say it, you demented half-wit!
“Tail—” he began before drifting into a warm darkness.
Chapter 32
The first thing Will became aware of was a red glow that seemed to suffuse everything around him. In fact, it was the only thing around him. When he opened his eyes, nothing changed; there were no shapes or anything else, other than the red glow.
“You called, yet you say nothing when I appear,” said a soft, feminine voice.
It sounded like Tailtiu, but Will wasn’t sure. He might be dreaming. As far as he could tell, he no longer had a body.
“If you won’t speak, I’ll leave,” she warned. “This is boring.”
Will tried to answer, but the only sound that came out was, “Grhk.” That answered the question about his body, though. He must still have one if he could make sounds.
“You’re awake,” she said, sounding surprised.
“Helphh,” he managed. The words got easier as he moved his lips more.
“Why don’t you look at me?” asked the fae. The light grew brighter for a moment. “Oh. Your eyelids are frozen shut. Why would you do that?” A warm wind caressed his face, and after a few minutes he felt his lashes come unstuck.
The red glow made more sense after he cracked his eyes open. A bright light hovered in the air above Tailtiu’s head, but it had seemed red as it filtered through the lids of his eyes. “I’m dying,” he told her, his voice thick but intelligible at last.
The fae woman cocked her head to one side, reminding him of a curious dog. “You’ve been dying since you were born. Is this a riddle?”
“Too cold,” he said. “I need help.”
Tailtiu frowned. “Why don’t you just use your magic to warm yourself?”
Will groaned. “I don’t know how.”
Arrogan’s daughter laughed as though he had told a joke. “That’s ridiculous. Father could do it. You’re just like him; you should be able to do the same.”
Even exhausted, Will found her tone irritating. “Tell me how then.”
His aunt shrugged. “I don’t know how human magic works. Mother does, but you called me. Besides, that sounds like a favor, doesn’t it? We haven’t made a bargain. I could warm you myself if you like. Would you like to use one of the unbounded favors to ask that of me?”
As foggy as his thoughts were, Will still knew that was an unbalanced bargain. “Service for three days,” he declared, although it came out as more of a mumble. “One favor.”
Tailtiu smiled slyly. “Service? What sort of service do you require?”
Will felt a faint tugging lower down. He struggled to lift his head and managed to catch a glimpse of her hand unfastening his trousers. “Not that,” he insisted. “Any service. Warm me up, help me travel.”
She paused. “Any service should include sex, though.”
He wanted to shout at the stupid fae, but that was beyond his capacity. “It does, but I don’t intend to ask for that.”
“It’s gone,” said Tailtiu, staring at his lower body. “Oh, there it is. Oh dear, how sad.”
“Three days’ service,” he repeated. “In exchange for one favor.”
“Shouldn’t it be one favor for each day?” she countered.
Since the favor was unbounded there were no strict limits—Will knew that much. “Would you prefer three years for one favor?”
Her face went sour. “Three days then. Deal?”
“Deal,” he answered. “Can you warm me up?”
Tailtiu exhaled, and a warm rush of air flooded over him, but unlike normal breath it lingered, wrapping itself around him and lifting his body from the icy ground. It felt as though he was in the softest bed imaginable. The warmth sank into him, and soon he began to feel uncomfortably hot. His arms and legs began to tingle and burn as though he had put them too close to a fire. “You’re burning me,” Will complained.
“You’ll have to bear it,” said his aunt. “The air is still cold.”
Will tried to refasten his trousers, but his fingers refused to work. “Can you help me with this?” he asked at last.
“You humans and your fixation with clothing,” said Tailtiu. She closed up his trousers and retied the laces, then fixed his belt. “Although, in your case I suppose I can understand. It’s so small. It must be embarrassing for you.”
He would have blushed if his cheeks weren’t still so cold. “I was freezing to death,” he insisted. “What do you expect?” It was then that he noticed the fae woman was nude, as usual. “Aren’t you cold?” he asked. She didn’t even have shoes.