by gmakalani
“Never.” She released her hold and stepped back. “I promise to never leave you,” he said.
“If we do leave, I want to marry first.”
He nodded and pulled her back against his body.
Iski sat in the tavern and tried not to think of his father. His fresh shirt was tight around the collar and he longed to tug at it but he sat still. He also longed for a decent drink but he was sure that wouldn’t help him at all.
Flare’s father, Robert, walked through the main door and straight to the bar. He glanced around the room and when his eye fell on Iski he gave him a questioning look. Iski gulped down the threatening bile and waved him over.
“You could have come to the house,” he said sliding onto the bench on the opposite side of the table. “You spend enough time there.”
Iski nodded and cleared his throat. “I wanted to talk to you alone, sir,” he said.
The man nodded. “I understand,” he said.
“You do?” Iski said, the relief relaxing his shoulders.
“Of course my boy, you’re family aren’t you? More or less our Flare’s brother.”
Iski opened his mouth but the man held up a hand with a friendly smile.
“You should have come to me sooner. But I understand that there aren’t many options for you in Muteguard. And that wood cutting is not really what you would want to do with your life. But lad, I know you are a good boy and I hope you will grow into a fine man.”
Iski stared at him across the table.
“You have the job. We need the help; you can start tomorrow.”
Iski pulled at the collar that rubbed against his neck. “I don’t want a job,” he stammered.
Robert’s eyebrows pulled close together. “Then why the trouble of meeting here?”
“I want to ask for your blessing,” he said.
“For what?” he asked still clearly confused.
“For Flare,” Iski said. “I want to marry Flare.”
Robert looked at him a moment longer and then burst out laughing. “You kids are always playing games,” he said.
Iski shook his head.
“But she’s your sister,” he said his face becoming angry.
Iski shook his head again. “No sir, she’s not.”
“But you have grown up together, spent all your lives together.”
“And that is why I know that I love her.”
“As a sister?”
“No,” Iski said, standing and pushing the bench back away from the table.
“I’ll not allow this,” he said thumping the table.
Iski pushed his way out of the tavern, gasping for air. Why did he think this would go his way? He came face to face with Flare, her face glowing, her smile just for him and his heart stopped.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the square along the path past the church and across the fields. It was only once they were under the dark canopy of the woods that he stopped and allowed himself to catch his breath. The soft smile Flare had for him gone and her blue eyes were overflowing. He pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head.
“They will come around,” she whispered.
He shook his head.
“Then we leave,” she said.
“Come on,” he pulled her along by the hand, deeper into the woods and beyond any sound of the village.
“What do you want to do?” she asked her hand tight in his.
“Just run,” he said and picked up his pace as they headed deeper into the trees.
He pounded along the path until it disappeared and they were just running through the trees, no clear path or idea of where they were headed. Flare’s hand was still tight in his and she kept up with him easily.
And then he stopped. The world strangely green before them. An unfamiliar sweet scent surrounded him and he unbuttoned his coat.
“How?” she asked but he only shook his head. Was it possible that there was another world out there beyond Muteguard where the snow didn’t fall?
Iski stepped forward from the snow onto the soft leaves that fell just beyond it. He looked back but Flare waited on the snow. He squatted down and picked up a leaf, feeling the strange smooth texture between his fingers and he held it out to her but she shook her head.
Standing slowly, he allowed the leaf to fall to the ground. He stepped further into the woods and looking up through the canopy he could see a hint of pale blue sky. He waved Flare over and she walked forward, her eyes only on him as though she worried what she might see around him. She only relaxed as she took his hand and they stepped forward together.
“This is too strange,” she said.
He nodded and ran his hand over the bark of the closest tree. “It isn’t even wet.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I love it,” he said, lifting her up and spinning her around. “No one knows this is here. If they did someone would have said something.”
“This doesn’t fix our problem.”
“No,” he muttered putting her back down on the ground. “Let’s see what else we can find,” he said looking out through the trees.
They walked silently hand in hand for some time. Iski pointed continually at the bright colours of the leaves, each one a different green. Flare stopped and sucked in a breath as a furry face squeaked at them from a branch. When Iski held out his hand it squeaked all the more and disappeared into the foliage, Flare laughed at the speed with which he pulled back his hand.
“This is a path,” Flare said, stopping between the trees and holding firm to Iski.
“Who comes this way?”
A few paces along the path they found a little cottage in a clearing as though it was just for them. Iski wanted to run towards it but Flare held him tight to the spot.
“Someone might live there,” she said when he looked down at her.
“Who?”
But they stood as they were looking over the cottage beyond the trees; searching for any sign that someone lived there, a bird called in the distance and Flare shivered.
“It’s late,” he said.
“We could knock.”
They marched up to the little cottage with a red door amidst the green trees and Iski knocked loudly.
The door swung open and they peered into the small, dark room. Iski stepped over the threshold and Flare followed. A small table surrounded by four chairs sat in the middle of the room, an old kettle and a basket all that sat on it. Flare moved straight to the stove and opened the little door revealing dying coals. Iski peered around the thin curtain that hung across the room to find a small bed on the other side. It was neatly covered with a worn quilt but there was little else in the space.
“It looks like someone lives here, but at the same time like no one does,” Iski said, handing more kindling to Flare as she blew softly onto the coals. He stepped back to the table and searched through the basket.
“You can’t do that,” she said.
“I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry but this is someone’s home. We can’t stay here.”
“Do you want to go back?” he asked, his voice far less steady than he intended.
She shook her head and gave him a little smile that lit up the room. And then it slipped. “They will think we have run away,” she whispered.
“Then they might realise we are serious,” he said standing taller.
“Iski,” she scolded. “We can’t leave them. What will your mother do?”
“Complain that I was never what she wanted in the first place,” he said and sank down into a chair.
Flare poked a log into the stove and then another. “That will warm us up,” she said. “And whoever lives here when they return.”
“You don’t want to stay,” he whispered.
Flare looked to the little window and then sat beside Iski at the table. “It’s too dark to go anywhere now, we’ll get lost.�
�
He nodded slowly watching her as she swept her hair behind her ears and as it sprung back, she tried again and again. A movement she only did when she was nervous. “We could stay,” she whispered. “It might be nice to stay.”
He grinned then and she smacked at his arm and he laughed comfortably, reaching out for her hand. With a sideways grin he nodded towards the curtain. Flare’s face flushed to the same colour as her hair but she nodded and still holding his hand she stood up from the table.
Flare padded around the curtain the next morning to find an old woman at the table tapping her fingers. She stopped and stared and the woman gave her a small smile.
“I am so sorry,” Flare said quickly. “I didn’t know there was someone here.”
“You found a way to reach me.”
Flare wondered why she thought they had tried to find her. “We were walking and got lost and when we found the cottage there was no one here.”
“Do not fret child, I don’t mind. I see why you want to hide your love in the woods.”
Flare looked at her closely and then sat where the old woman indicated. Iski snored softly beyond the curtain. “We aren’t hiding. We want to get married.”
“Twins?”
Flare watched her closely and shook her head.
“But you were born together.”
“We are not twins,” Flare said standing up. “How do you know we were born together?”
“I see a lot from here, dear. Sit down. There is no need to be concerned.”
Iski pushed around the curtain to stand behind her, his hand on her shoulder.
“I see why you love him so,” the old woman said smiling between the two of them. “Such a handsome young man.”
Iski took Flare’s hand as she started to push the curls behind her ear and they sat together, his hand still firm around hers. “We are sorry to intrude,” he said politely. Flare studied him. When did he ever sound like that?
“I don’t get many visitors out here now. It’s nice to see some young people,” the old woman said. “My name is Edris.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Iski said holding out his hand and again Flare took a double take. “My name is Iski Wildewick and this is Flare Molven. We got lost.”
“So Flare was telling me,” she said sweetly. “Would you be kind enough to fill the kettle for me, dear, and lift it onto the stove?”
Flare nodded and quickly filled the kettle from the pail by the little sink and put it onto the stove. “Can I do anything else for you?” she offered.
“Not at all, dear. Sit please. Have you come far?”
“We’re from Muteguard,” Iski said.
Her smile appeared a little more forced as she nodded. “Well my dears,” she said reaching out and taking each of them by the hand. “Twins or no, you can visit whenever you like.”
When they got to the edge of the woods Iski gave Flare a little nudge with his shoulder and she lifted herself up onto her toes to kiss his cheek before heading along the path ahead of him. He walked slowly appreciating the way her skirt moved about her long legs as she strode confidently ahead of him. Her thick shawl was pulled close around her shoulders, despite the warmer temperature between the trees, and her loose hair flowed behind her. At the edge of the forest she turned to wave, he smiled and waved back and as she disappeared from view he headed towards the sound of the woodcutters.
Robert stopped mid swing as Iski approached, gave a small nod and resumed his work on the tree across the ground before him. A strong hand smacked Iski on the back and he hoped they had made the right decision, to wait before running.
“Come on,” Billy said. “You can work with me.”
Iski followed him towards another tree lying prone in the snow. The trees appeared to have lain there for some time. Frosty, black trunks yet pale and dry where they were cut. Billy handed him an axe, pointed to part of the tree and then resumed his own work, swinging the axe into the wood. He worked it loose and swung again.
“Is there not an easier way?” Iski asked.
Billy laughed. “This is our lot,” he said. “I thought the two of you had finally joined as one and disappeared.”
Iski paused only briefly before swinging the axe.
“The two of you have run everywhere together since you could stand,” Billy continued. “Never see one without the other.”
Iski shrugged and swung again, the sound echoing through the trees.
“Are you going to go?” Billy whispered, his eyes unfocused on the tree before him.
“Essie left over the hills; do you hear from her?”
Billy shook his head and swung the axe with such force that it bit deep into the wood and it took him a few moments to work it free. “Don’t hear from nobody that left,” he said.
Iski sighed. “Do you want to leave?”
“Where would I go and who with? There’s no pretty red head running behind me.”
Iski laughed.
“You did ask?”
He nodded then, the laughter dying and he hit the tree again.
“He said no,” Billy whispered.
“They think we are the twins of the old stories. And they won’t think of us any other way.”
“What good would the twins do us anyway?” Billy asked, leaning on his axe and wiping at his face. “The witch has been gone for generations. The whole world is snow.”
Iski nodded and swung his axe. He didn’t want to be responsible for anything but Flare.
As the grey sky darkened Iski put the axe over his shoulder and followed Billy along the path towards the village. Just before the path emerged from the trees, he found Flare waiting with a basket. She nodded at Billy as he continued towards the village and stepped in front of Iski to block his path. He leaned in quickly to kiss her forehead and as her whole face lit up with a smile, she tilted her head towards the trees.
He allowed her to lead the way back into the woods, watching her body rather than where they were walking. Maybe the woods were a safe place for them; a place where they could be hidden away in a little house of their own. He could work with the woodcutters and Flare wouldn’t be too far from her mother.
When they reached the red door, Flare stepped forward to knock and again it swung open easily. “Good evening,” she called. “I brought you some bread.”
The fire in the stove crackled in the warm room. Iski leant his axe against the wall and sat at the table but there was no sign of Edris. Flare reached into the basket and placed a large chunk of bread before him. He could smell something unusual and looked up to see a skinned rabbit in her hands.
“Flare?”
“Shh,” she said. “You worked all day, let me cook for you.”
“Meat?”
She smiled warmly and took a pot from the wall, placed it on the table and tenderly laid the animal in it. “I wonder if she has vegetables?” she mused, looking over the baskets on the shelf.
“The meat is enough,” he said.
“I will make a terrible wife,” she muttered opening the stove and pushing the pot in beside the flames.
He was up and standing behind her with his arms around her waist. “You are a perfect wife,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss her neck. “You have provided a house and meat for my dinner.”
She laughed, trying to shrug him off.
“Do you think we could do this? Build a house of our own in the woods?” he asked and she stilled in his arms. He closed them around her, holding her close. “Flare?”
She nodded but said nothing.
“Is this what you want?”
She turned in his arms then and wrapped hers around him. “Of course,” she whispered. “But we will be married.”
He breathed then. “We will travel out beyond the woods, beyond the snow and find a priest to marry us.”
“You don’t need to go so far, my twins,” the old woman said, walking back into the cottage and peer
ing into the basket on the table.
“Why don’t we have to go far away to marry?” Flare asked.
The old woman smiled and shook her head. “So much to learn little ones.”
“We are sorry for intruding,” Flare said.
“Nonsense girl. I said you could come at any time. Stay if you wish. I was out collecting mushrooms in the woods. You could have some with your dinner. I have to travel further afield. Stay the night, if you wish, I won’t be back ‘til morning.”
“What business would take you out in the night?” Iski asked and Flare pinched him.
She left the basket of mushrooms on the table and headed back towards the door. “Sleep well,” she said and giving them a little smile, she left.
Flare pinched Iski again.
“Hey,” he said.
“You don’t ask what’s important,” she snapped.
“She is an old woman travelling in the night,” he said, indicating the door. “It is strange.”
He stepped back from Flare and looked at her seriously. But she shook her head and reached around him for the mushrooms.
“What if she is the witch?” Iski whispered.
Flare froze and then smiled at him. “You nearly had me there,” she said. “Now you can set the table.”
How far would they need to travel for a priest? Iski struggled to remember the last time someone wed. As he pushed the empty plate away, he stretched his arms out and rolled his shoulders and yawned before he could stop himself.
“Is this every day?” she asked.
He looked at her closely. “What do you mean?”
“Is this what we are to do every day? You work, I cook and then we sleep.”
“No one mentioned sleep,” Iski grinned across the table.
But as they climbed into the little bed Iski found his eyelids pulling against him and as he tried to focus on the woman in his arms, he found she had already drifted off to sleep against his shoulder.
When Iski woke it was still dark and the room had cooled. He shivered despite Flare’s warm body beside him and the quilt that covered them. He moved quietly to the stove and discovered there was no wood beside it. He was sure that it was piled up high last night. The remains of their meal were still on the table but that didn’t appear right either; as though they had sat there for days. He shook his head but he was still so tired and foggy. Working with the woodcutters was harder work than he realised and he hoped Flare’s fears weren’t founded, that they were slipping into the life he dreaded.
