The Goblin's Heir

Chapter Thirty: Mistakes

Early morning sunlight cut through the numerous holes in the roof above my head, nearly blinding Knut's eye the second I woke up. I pressed the heel of my hand against the closed lid, waiting for the burning to ease. It was a wonder Knut didn't squint more during our travels outside of The Underground. His eye was so sensitive to light. I lay there for a few minutes,  letting his eye adjust. Slowly, the pain ebbed and the overly bright vision darkened and sharpened as the two very different eyes worked in tandem, my own overpowering his once again. 

The murmuring of soft voices drifting up from below drew my attention. I moved closer to the edge of the loft and peered over. Down in the kitchen, Floki and Cerise spoke alone. They stood together by a table layered in flour. They both leaned against it, their backs to it. Floki gripped the edge of the table while she kept her arms folded across her upper stomach. They stood so close, their sides touched, an ease residing between them. At first, I thought I should go back to sleep for a while to give them some privacy, but it didn't last long. It was murdered rather quickly by my nosiness. 

Their conversation didn't hold the amount of flowery romance one might expect by their closeness. 

"I don't know what to do with her," Floki said in his low, gentle rumble. "Frit and Odd want to send her home and I know it would be safer for her than with us when we do find Magni, but I'm also afraid of what she'll do to herself if we're not there to watch her. You heard what she said at Athane's."

"She'd be with Ib. He'd look after her." Cerise replied solemnly. 

"He's just one person. He can't watch her all of the time."

"Then I'll go with her."

"I hate to put that burden on you." Floki sighed, running a hand back over his hair and down his long braid.

"It's not a burden." Cerise downcast her eyes. "Your mother's been depressed for years and I think she's finally reached her limit. She's at a place I once reached myself. The least I can do is help her through it. Maybe that's the reason I'm here, to begin with." She said, absently touching her neck.

He glanced toward her, admiring her profile. Tova had once mentioned that Knut had a way of looking at me when he knew I wasn't paying him any attention. I imagined that it looked something like the way Floki looked at her,  so full of unspoken affection and warmth. "You're a very kind person, Cerise." He said. The look turned into one of bashfulness when she looked his way. 

I felt a pang of guilt for the way I'd reacted when he'd named her as his choice of bride. There was an innocence to the way he acted around her and yet I couldn't write his feelings off as a mere crush. It was more than that and not so simply branded.

"I'm none of the sort." She said, frowning at him. "I'll talk to her, Floki, but I don't think It'll have the same impact as it would coming from you. You're her favorite child, after all."

He shook his head in dismissal. "I'm afraid I'm only in second place. Magni's the favorite. Or at least he was back when he was dead." That stung. It stung very badly.  He pushed off of the table, starting to move away. "I'm going to see if the others need anything. Thank you for your help, Cerise." 

"Stop." Cerise grabbed his wrist and pulled him to a stop. "Why can't you talk to your mother, Floki? What are you so afraid of?"

His gaze lingered on her small hand wrapped around his thick wrist before slowly lifting to her face. "You don't understand." He mumbled, his voice like that of a very young and docile child. "There are just some things that we don't talk about in this family, not with her. Mama has to deal with enough. We don't need to make it worse. I'm sorry to depend on you like this, but it'll hit her different coming from you than it would from us."