Silence in Sagas

18

The wood opened into a clearing with thin birch trees replacing the thick, heavy branches and bushes they had been trudging through for the last hours. In the middle of the clearing was a large rock, and on the rock sat a woman—some years older than her and with long, long blonde hair that lay out over the rock. She was clad in some kind of leather gear, black and tight fitting. It contrasted her pale skin.

Beside the rock stood a man around the same age as the woman. It looked like he had been speaking to the older woman next to him. She had to be his mother, Oliwa reflected. They shared the exact same light-brown skin tone and curly hair. Only difference was the length. Where the man had short-cropped hair, the woman's reached her shoulders. She had sharp eyes. She reminded Oliwa of a raven. Why did everyone here seem to remind her of birds? She saw Denevon, and her lips parted. An action that shortly morphed into a grin. "Denevon, oh the years have not been kind on you. Come here, you look about fifty years older than the last time I saw you."

Denevon did not smile as the woman pulled her into a hug. "And I see you have brought Arlos... Last time I saw him, he was no more than a little kid."

Arlos smile a tight lipped smile. "And it looks like he's headed for his fathers look."
She did not elaborate and looked at Oliwa. "Who do we have here?"

She lost the mask of a grin and looked directly at Oliwa. "Are you a new addition."

Oliwa could feel that someone was about to step up and explain who she was, and on a whim, she got the feeling that she wanted to introduce herself instead of having someone else do it. "I am Oliwa—the Queenling of Notteny, all though I never got the chance to enter the Tournament, by which I am glad."

Many words flew out of her mouth, and Oliwa convinced herself she wasn't rambling. She stopped herself before she said more. Perhaps having other people introduce her was all for the best after all.

"How can you trust her?" asked the woman.

"Levlia, stop that." Denevon said with some pent up anger. "We have already made sure that miss Oliwa is trustworthy enough, and she can help us."

Oliwa was not sure she could, but she tried looking confident.

Levlia nodded. "Well, a friend of yours is surely a friend of mine."

Ismina snorted.

"Ah, and who might this lovely beauty be?" said Levlia and took no notice of the snort.

"I'm Ismina."

There followed a silence. "It is nice meeting you, Ismina." Her smile seemed real, and Willa wrinkled her forehead.

"As it goes for this Oliwa girl, I suspect we should really keep an eye on her. We do not want a reprise of what happened last time."

Denevon smiled tight lipped. "I can assure you Oliwa will do no such thing."

Oliwa could assure that as well, all though she had no idea what they were talking about.

"Nice to see you again, Kavi," said Denevon, directed at the man who looked to be in his early twenties. He had a lot of freckles, Oliwa could see, and he was awfully tall. Oliwa heard the clearing of a throat and looked at Arlos who seemed to be fuming. He met her eyes and sent her a glare that made her turn away immediately. Something was up there.

"Everyone, this is Alivita," said Kavi and gestured towards the young woman.

"Our disgrace," mumbled Levlia.

"What was that, Mama?" grumbled Kavi and glared. He did not get an answer.
"We've come a long way," said Denevon. "How about we set up a campfire."