The Winter

Chapter 8

SEXUAL CONTENT WARNING
At end of chapter so you can skip if you don't like to read that sort of thing!

Hoping to get back to weekly updates now, but I might jump around in which story a bit. I plan to start posting the new Way of the Woad, and another story I've yet to choose...

So if you had a choice for the new story, would you want:

Another Werewolf story?

Another Vampire story?

Something new...possibly with Dragons? 😉

Or something pure historical fiction, with no magic or anything really supernatural in it?

Pronunciation/translations:

Cuimrigh - Wales (Coom-ree)
Annwn - the afterlife ruled over by a Welsh God Arawn (Ann-oon)

Chapter 8

The door to Hati's room shut with a gentle click, casting us into darkness. The fire was nothing but smouldering orange embers in the far wall, but with that I could see well enough as Hati released my arm and stalked over to the fireplace to grab pieces of flint. He lit one candle, and his stern face was illuminated in the flickering glow. He looked me over once before he began to move around the room to light the rest of the candles.

Silence and tension reigned between.

I stood awkward and unsure. This was his space, not mine, and with his anger simmering in the air, I almost felt like an intruder. Had one little promise of trying to communicate with Bruadar really infuriated him so? Surely what I did with my own cursed gift was entirely up to myself?

Indignation swelled and I opened my mouth to start the brewing argument myself, but when Hati froze with his back to me, something about his stricken posture made me pause. I sighed instead, lifting my heavy skirts to make for the hearth. There was no point in us fighting in the chill.

The stone was still warm to touch as I knelt beside it. I lifted the metal poker and stoked charred lumps of wood with small flames fighting to find fuel beneath. Broken twigs and leaves from the basket next to me soon brought it back to crackling life, and once the heftier logs were carefully placed, it would go for hours.

"You don't need to do that," Hati murmured from behind me. "You'll get ash all over your dress."

Settling back on my knees with a shrug, I peered at him over my shoulder. The side of his face was lit by the fire, catching tones of honey gold and near white blond in his hair. He set a candle down in the middle of the small table beside him before lifting his gaze to mine. Intense eyes were hard and reproachful, maybe even with a glint of disappointment. That made me swallow. Hard.

"You've given Cerri false hope." The statement was simple but the depth of his voice showed how not simple it was. "After I told you to say nothing, after I warned you. . . Whatever you're thinking, whatever plan you've conjured up, forget it. Now."

"I might not be able to bring her any peace," I agreed, keeping my tone soft and even when it would be easy to lose my temper. "But if I can do this, he might be able to tell me who the killer was, or something about their scent, what they wore, or why he was outside the stable walls. Any small detail could give us enough of a clue to finding them."