Mirror, Mirror

3.10 Little House

Warmth. That was the first thing Starla felt when she came to.

It was a family who had rescued them. She recognized the face of the person who had spotted them, a little girl with dark hair in two braids, wearing a night gown. There was a tall man and a small woman, who Starla assumed must be the parents, and several children of various ages, with the little girl as the youngest, and an androgynous teenager as the oldest. The eldest was doing their best to wrangle their younger siblings, who were all determined to goggle at the exciting scene unfolding in their home.

"Where's Rayvin?" Starla said immediately, getting clumsily to her feet. She was still in the little girl's room, a sopping, shivering mess surrounded by snow melting into the carpet floor.

"Right here," Rayvin said from behind her with an exhausted smile. He looked like a wet rat. She told him as much. He laughed. Starla guessed she probably looked similar.

It turned out that the family house home Starla and her partner in world-saving had tumbled into owned an inn. It was quickly arranged that she and Rayvin would take one of the vacant rooms, which was already prepared for guests.

"Thank you," Starla said, gratefully. "Thank you so much, and we're so sorry for this."

"No worries, no worries," the woman said, taking Starla's arm. The man took Rayvin's arm, and the four of them made their way to the room.

The parents didn't ask many questions, only reassured pair's apologies and ushered them to their room, which was small and cozy, with a single bed at the center.

"Please, make yourself comfortable," the woman said. Then, she and the man disappeared to herd their gaggle of bleary-eyed children back to bed. A moment later, the eldest kid popped into the room.

"My parents say there is fresh clothing and water in your room. If you need anything, holler. Our home is yours," they said. "We'll make food for you all tomorrow morning, but for now we can give you some leftovers from today." They handed Starla and Rayvin some bread. Initially, Starla was certain they were a girl, but now she wasn't so sure.

"Thank you..." Starla said, trailing off.

"Fox," the teen said. That didn't really indicate a gender one way or another.

"Thank you, Fox," Starla said. "And if it wouldn't bother you, could you bring us some warm water, in a bowl or bucket? Not too hot please." Fox nodded and disappeared.

As soon as Starla and Rayvin had the room to themselves, they didn't care about modesty. They stripped off their cold, soaked clothing and bundled into the new clothing provided for them.

A bit later, Fox returned with a bucket of warm water. They bid their good night and left.

"Fingers and toes check," Starla said sharply to Rayvin. She was already feeling the pain of the heat settling into the body. "And ears."

"I told you, I don't get frostbite," Rayvin reassured her. "At least not easily. I'm more worried about you."

"Still," Starla said, so Rayvin complied, and they did their checks for frostbite together. Luckily, Rayvin seemed to be right. His skin was fairly unaffected, albeit a little pink with frostnip.

"See?" Rayvin said triumphantly. "I'm all good."

Starla's fingers and toes on the other hand were definitely frostbitten, but they didn't have the dark tone of permanent damage. Or at least she hoped. It was hard to see in this low lighting. So, wincing, she sat at the edge of the bed and put her hands and feet in the bucket of water. Rayvin sat next to her, quietly. They were both dazed by how close they'd scraped by death. Rayvin must have dozed off because he leaned against her shoulder.

Finally, after Starla was properly pruned, she removed her hands and feet from the bucket. They still felt numb, but the water had gone cold. Rayvin startled awake as his temporary pillow—Starla—left the bed. She found a clean towel and used it to dry herself. Then, she pushed the bucket to the corner. She tucked her hands in her armpits and looked at Rayvin, who looked at her. He looked exhausted.

"Well?" he asked. "Are you good?" She didn't want to worry him, so she just nodded.

"I call the bed," Starla said primly, and Rayvin raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why don't we share?" he asked, but Starla brushed past him and tucked herself under the covers.

"If you have to ask, then you clearly haven't suffered being kicked all night," Starla rolled her eyes.

"I don't kick!" Rayvin protested.

But Starla was already asleep.

❖

The next morning, to Starla's dizzying relief, she could feel her fingers and toes again. They ached and were a bit blistered, but she could feel them again. She sent a grateful prayer to whatever cosmic being watched over her and promised to take better care of her body.

Everyone ate breakfast together. The inn was empty because it was the time of year when tourists didn't visit. Starla and Rayvin had picked just about the worst time of the year to stop in.

Fox did most of the chatting with them, as the parents seemed rather quiet. They asked about where they were from. They were very serious and straightforward. Starla wondered if they'd heard or understood her when she'd introduced them as the Ice Princess before passing out. She noticed that Rayvin didn't mention his status as royalty, so Starla took it as a sign to be vague about who they were and what they were doing here. She wondered if this far out people even knew about the Ice Princess, or if it was just a story to them.

At one point, the little girl, who had been openly staring at Starla the entire breakfast, whispered in Fox's ear.

"My sister has a question," Fox informed them.

"Go ahead," Starla said. Fox said something to their sister in a dialect Starla didn't understand, as if prompting her.

"Are you a princess?" the little girl asked shyly, with a bit of an accent. Starla didn't know how to respond. Kind of? It's complicated?

"Yes, she is a princess," Rayvin answered almost immediately. The little girl seemed delighted by this. Starla felt warm, and she didn't think it was from the soup.

❖

Finally, they finished breakfast.

Starla pushed away from the table. "Thank you so much for your hospitality. We really can't thank you enough. Unfortunately, we have an urgent mission to get back to. As soon as we get access to a map, we'll be on our way." The parents gave her a strange look.

"The storm is still going," the mother said. "You will die if you go out now."

"How long will it take?" Starla asked anxiously.

Fox shrugged. "Dunno. At least a couple days." Starla blanched.

"Rayvin, a word?" Starla said. "One moment, my companion and I need to chat."

She pulled Rayvin aside.

"Did you hear that? We're going to be stuck here for DAYS," Starla hissed. "We need to leave NOW if we want any chance of getting to the summit on time."

"I know," Rayvin said. "I hear you. But I think we're going to have to be late. Better late than dead. I can't risk my safety, nor yours, in that storm."

Starla still didn't look convinced.

"Plus," Rayvin said. "Did you hear about the hot springs they have here? Apparently, this town is built on top of natural hot springs. You can finally get that bath you wanted so badly."

OK, that was convincing.

"Listen Starla," Rayvin said. "Let's take a few days to get some rest, recalibrate, and, restock up on our resources. We'll be able to go twice as fast then. We won't take as many breaks. We can make it. I promise."

"Fine," Starla said. "As long as you promise to take a bath too. You smell awful." Rayvin smirked at her.