House of Winter

Chapter 28, Part 1

Ari was sick for days, so they had no choice but to stay in the crumbling fort. Sanna did what she could to make Ari as comfortable as possible, but she desperately wanted fire to make tea and hot soup, because she knew that would make Ari feel better.

"First we were surrounded by fire starrlings, and now when we need them, they're nowhere to be found," Sanna muttered to herself as she sorted through her pack of belongings, as if she would suddenly discover kindling for a fire.

Sigrún had gone hunting, while Warrah was sitting on the highest tower of the crumbling fort, staring out at the suns, which were hanging low in the sky. The dragon's long tail curled around the stone.

"Jinni," Sanna said suddenly, dropping the pack and looking up. "You're a fire tiger. You can make fire."

Jinni gave her a dubious look.

"I believe you know exactly what I'm talking about," Sanna said.

Jinni was curled up next to Ari. The tiger seemed to have a strange relationship with her. While she was like this - sick and sleeping - the tiger was protective of her. But when Ari was awake and talking, Jinni tended to stare distrustingly at her, as if he expected her to lash out at her.

Sanna pulled the little cooking pot from her bag and shoveled snow into it. Then she spent time gathering the smallest stones she could find from one fallen wall of the fort, and laid them in a circle. There was no wood to be found anywhere, but magic fire required no wood. The only problem was getting Jinni to cooperate.

"If you make a fire for me, I'll... brush your fur," Sanna said. She was already thinking how jealous Sigrún would be if she saw Sanna brushing Jinni's fur with her brush again.

Jinni huffed and closed his eyes again.

"Jinni," Sanna said. "If you make a fire, I'll..." she looked around for inspiration, but before she could make a decision, Sigrún returned. Sigrún lowered herself down next to Sanna and started cleaning her paws, which were bloody from whatever Sigrún had managed to hunt in this icy wasteland.

Jinni seemed annoyed by Sigrún's presence and wanted to show off. He got up and with a huff of breath, lit a fire in Sanna's makeshift firepit. Then the tiger pushed his way past Sigrún, out of the fort, and went out into the snow.

Sanna heated as much snow as she could gather for fresh water and then made tea, and as she was considering whether she could cook the biscuits in her pack with hot water to make some kind of vile soup, she looked up to see Jinni returning. He had a rabbit in his mouth, and he dropped it in front of Sanna with a look of satisfaction.

Sanna looked up at the tiger. "Oh you absolute show-off, Jinni. Look at you. See, Sigrún, why didn't you hunt anything for us?"

Sigrún was licking her paws, but she looked startled as she looked at the rabbit.

"I expect you never even considered it," Sanna said, grabbing the rabbit by its foot. "You've never had to hunt for me before. It would be a strange change in our dynamic, because I'm usually the one bringing you treats from the dinner table. It's been a long time since you've had to think for anyone but yourself, hasn't it, Sigrún? I don't blame you, of course. You know I feel precisely the same way."

Sanna had watched her father skinning moose and deer, and although she had never skinned or cooked a rabbit, she was determined not to be revolted by the task at hand.

Ari woke up to the smell of rabbit meat boiling in a stew. Sanna helped her to sit up and gave her tea. She saw Ari's hands shaking with the effort of holding a mug of tea, and she was scared she'd spill hot stew, so Sanna helped her with her spoon. Ari resisted momentarily, apparently embarrassed to be treated like a child, but eventually relented.