Ice-Bound Promise [Wattys 2023 Shortlister]

9

9

By Únik's estimation, they still had over a day before they reached the river, perhaps longer. The Fae, Shihiri kept up a fast pace, urging them to hurry with silent, irritated waves of her hand. The Fae girl moved along the changing landscape like a cat, slinking from one side of them to the other as she kept a wary eye on the way ahead and behind them. She never appeared to stop moving, even eating as she walked.

Hatyara walked beside Barsa, making an occasional scratch of his head which Barsa appreciated more than Únik cared for. She had had Barsa for years and a few days in the presence of the diminutive Ice-Kin had Únik thinking the dog preferred Hatyara's presence to her own. She didn't like that, at all. If Barsa preferred the company of Hatyara, she could have him. Únik needed no-one and no dog. It still rankled, however.

The further east they travelled, the more the ice and snows began to fade. In deepest winter, the snows would reach, and cover, much further inland. At this time of year, as the world turned, the snows would recede until only a few miles of the coastline would still sit under its frigid blanket. Here, trees became more frequent and ground foliage became far less sparse, with long grasses and bushes appearing more often in their path.

By the end of the day, the Fae girl had led them to the edge of a sizeable green wood, the tall, thin spires of needle encrusted trees pointing towards the skies. Before settling down for the night, Shihiri continued on into the woods until they reached a clearing where four, large boulders sat almost at each point of the compass, leaving a small area within, hidden from prying eyes.

Únik saw the remains of a fire, long since extinguished, in the centre of the clearing and she presumed that Shihiri had used this hidden place more than once in the past. Pointing to the ground, the Fae disappeared, back out into the woods, returning a few minutes later with an armful of twigs and branches. She soon had a fire burning before disappearing once again and returning with an armful of ferns, which she built up, using thick branches as a scaffold, to place atop the fire, dissipating the smoke.

"Your friends, the children and Nassrid? Will they be alright?" Warming herself before the fire, Únik tried to engage Shihiri in conversation. "I'm sorry we disrupted their lives. And yours."

"Yes." Without looking towards Únik, Shihiri inspected the fletchings on her arrows, one-by-one.

Únik didn't know which question the Fae replied to, or whether she acknowledged Únik's apology instead. It didn't appear that the Fae would say anything more, only making occasional glances towards Barsa, as though worried the big dog would attack at any second. Twice, Barsa took notice of those looks, wandering over to the Fae, sniffing at her deep, reddy-brown, vine-like hair before wandering back to sit between Únik and Hatyara, ignored by Shihiri.

"It must feel good for a Fae to be back among the trees." Now Hatyara attempted to converse with the Fae. The Ice-Kin glanced up to the top of the trees. "I know I always feel more comfortable when I return home."

The Fae had moved on from checking her fletchings and now studied the heads of the arrows. She had several, different shaped arrow heads. From simple metal tips, to long, armour piercing bodkins, to broad heads and barbed edged heads. Únik wondered how the girl could choose which arrow to shoot without looking every time. She looked up at Hatyara's words, followed her eyes to the trees and then shrugged, returning to her arrows.

Únik didn't bother to continue trying to engage with the Fae. She preferred silence, herself, and it was only through the presence of Hatyara that Únik had found herself speaking more words the past few days than she had spoken in years. At first, she had spoken much like the Fae, in stuttered, short sentences. She had noticed her conversations become longer the more time she spent around the Ice-Kin.