The Love That Bonds Us

Chapter 36 : The Girl Who Lied

IDUNA

"Is there something you want to tell me Iduna?"

No ...

No.

No no no!

This couldn't be happening!

I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. But somehow I managed to resist the urge.

Instead I grabbed a ceramic dish from one of my shelves and dropped to my knees, gathering all the broken glass and ice into the small bowel, hoping it hadn't startled Cricket awake. Halima slept like a log so I was pretty comfortable that she'd still be asleep.

"No." I said calmly, internally cursing myself for not burning that dress the moment I'd arrived in Arendelle. I suppose I'd been too distraught to even remember I still had it. The only reminder had been that bandage wrapped around Agnarr's head the day I first talked to him, but then I'd forgotten again almost immediately because I became so charmed.

All I could remember about the bag at all was how I'd haphazardly thrown it into my wardrobe after taking out everything but my clothes. I knew I'd have to abandon my old wardrobe because it would only be a matter of time before someone recognised the garments as Northuldran; I'd been lucky Halima didn't. But I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them for good, so I'd hidden them, hoping no one would find them.

But here I was, kneeling before the one person I'd ever loved, clearing up a mess which made me look guilty, pretending that he hadn't just found a stash of Northuldran clothes when he would surely recognise them as such because he'd been to the Forest before.

"No there's nothing to tell. Why would you think so?"

"Well you see, this bag isn't an Arendellian satchel, or even a Coronan one. It's like nothing I've ever seen. So I have no idea where you would have got it."

I knew that wasn't why he thought there was something to tell. I could hear it in his tone. Did that mean he knew? Had he put it all together? I tried to calm my panicking mind and said, "I was gifted it when my parents took me on an expedition somewhere. We came across this little tribe and they gave it to me, but it was so remote that I forget what it was called." I waved a hand dismissively, returning to my feet and placing the dish on the tray beside the forgotten glasses of orange juice, carefully avoiding eye contact with Agnarr should it give me away.

"Was the name perhaps Northuldra?" Agnarr pushed.

I shrugged, trying to seem like I genuinely didn't know, "Like I said, I can't remember. It might well have been."

"Huh."

I didn't think Agnarr believed me but I was sure he couldn't contradict me either; I'd fought to make my voice sound smooth so the words tumbling out of my mouth didn't sound anything like the vile lies they were. In the few years I'd been in Arendelle, I'd practically mastered the art of lying, realising that if I didn't then I'd surely give myself away.

Agnarr suddenly pressed something into my hands and my eyes misted with tears when I realised it was the dress I'd used to make his bandage all those years ago. The concern for his well being came flooding back along with thoughts I tried to convince myself of: he couldn't possibly recognise this as the same fabric; it's surely impossibly for him to remember it because he'd been unconscious when I used it.

A doubtful idea then surfaced - had he actually been unconscious the whole trip back? Was it possible he'd woken up sooner than I'd thought? Had he seen me?

The desire to scream came back and I bit my lip hard.

"This is ripped." Agnarr said matter-of-factly, but casually too, "What happened?" there was hidden concern dripping in his voice, but it was for show, I knew it.