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(Chapter 2) V

The sun was hanging low in the sky when we made our way back home, the oncoming

dusk giving the light wind a cold bite. Kallie shivered beneath her mantle. Though her hood was

up, the dying sunlight still glistened off the dried rivers of tears that ran both her cheeks. The

occasional hic-up made her shake within my grasp as I clutched her close, staggering like some

four-legged beast toward the familiar threshold where Slania stood waiting for us.

“Where have you two been?” She asked in a voice whose snappy mask failed to hide

relief. Kallie broke out from my grasp and ran to her mother, nearly knocking her backward

through the door frame as she embraced her. “Kallie?” She went quiet as Kallie’s tears began

anew.

“Ma…” she spoke as she cried, “please, please don’t send me away!”

Slania gave Kallie a few pats on the back, but her eyes locked onto mine. She offered me

a look I had never seen her wear; a glare that the horrors of The Great Dark couldn’t match. She

didn’t say a word as she led Kallie by the shoulder into the house.

Staring at my boots, I followed suit in time to hear Jonne. “Now where’d you two run off

to? Must’ve been in quite the hurry – couldn’t even be arsed to start the sauna like I asked.”

“She knows, Jonne,” Slania spoke in a sharp voice.

“It’s true!” Kallie shrieked as I crossed the threshold.

“Aye, it’s true,” Jonne spoke as he took Kallie’s shoulder opposite Slania. “Guessing

Candas let it slip?”

“Don’t blame her,” Kallie said, tears coming to a halt. “I… forced her.”

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Jonne smiled at her, then to me. “Don’t worry, I don’t blame her. I’d rather have been the

one to tell you, of course, but it’s good you finally know.”

“Good?” Slania cut in. “Look at her; she is devastated, Jonne!”

Jonne jerked his head to his wife. “And she would’ve taken it on the nose if we’d just

lashed her to the wagon, Slan?”

There was a light creaking from the loft above me before Ronan appeared with a soft

thud, having bypassed the ladder. Kallie slid from beneath her parents grasp as they continued to

argue and ran instead to him.

“You knew too, Ronan?”

Ronan gave two slow nods as he took her into his arms. “Aye… Forgive me for not

telling you sooner.”

“Enough,” Jonne burst out. “How sounds we discuss this over dinner; food’ll take the

edge off.”

Slania shot him a hideous look, which she turned to me before rushing to grab bowls

from over the fireplace.

It wasn’t long before we were all seated at the table before bowls of stew. Only Ronan

and Jonne seemed to be eating. Kallie only stared into the collage of meats, greens and broth in

her bowl as her mother glared at me, knocking her spoon against the side of her bowl, each time

giving a wooden clack that was just buried under the men’s slurping.

I stirred at the stew before me with my spoon, bringing the chunks of fox meat and potato

to settle in the center. With Slania’s gaze on me, I brought a spoonful of broth to my mouth,

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blowing on it until the steam stopped rising before eating. It still had hints of salt pork, even

though it had been weeks since we added boar to the mix.

Jonne placed his spoon to his empty bowl with a clatter. “Well, Kallie,” he began, “I

believe we owe you an explanation.”

Kallie didn’t look up.

Jonne sighed, “Well, Kallie, there’s a group out there. The king puts up with them

because they keep the roads safe or some nonsense, but they…”

Kallie broke her silence, “I know about the Ironclad.”

Jonne’s eyes widened, “Oh? Guessing Candas told you about them as well?”

I sank deeper into my stool under Slania’s gaze.

“Then you understand,” he continued, “why we must send you north.”

“I understand,” Kallie conceded, “but I wish there was another way.”

“We all do, lillen,” Slania cut in, the softness of her voice not matching her eyes, “but

this is the only way we can be sure you will be safe.”

“But, I could keep it a secret! They haven’t found me yet, maybe they won’t…”

“Kallie,” I spoke, recognizing the faint scent of charred wood, “look at your spoon.”

She dropped it to the table with a clatter. Sure enough, her fingers left it blackened.

Jonne shook his head, “Two years ago now this started, and in those two years it seems

you are losing control more and more.” He gave a long pause before continuing, “Kenna …

Candas’s mother told me about her fire once, and, from what I recall, seemed much the same

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thing was happening to her around your age, and it only got worse in time. Wasn’t until she got

proper training that she could control it.”

My attention caught at the sound of my mother’s name but was lost once more as I

mulled this news over. I barely noticed Slania and Jonne had resumed arguing as I came to a

grim thought.

Mother’s abilities got harder to control with time. Could what happened at the inn happen

again? Could I start turning wood to sludge without even realizing it, like Kallie? Or worse,

could I hurt somebody?

Could I bring the Ironclad?

“Cand?”

I jerked my head up to see Ronan staring at me. Faint sobs told Kallie had started crying

again. “You all right?”

“I’ll go.”

Kallie stopped crying as all eyes turned to me. “Wh-what did you say?” she stammered.

“I … I’ll go with you to Ilindia. So you’ll have company.”

Kallie slid over on the bench we shared and wrapped her arms around me, crying once

more into my shoulder. “Thank-you!” she shouted between sobs “Tha-nk you, thank you, thank-

you!”

Jonne and Slania looked at each other, then to me. Slania’s face expressed something

between elation and concern, while Jonne’s was a cross of affection and disappointment. Ronan

just looked dumbfounded.

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A few moments passed before Jonne broke the silence. “I’m not sure if it’ll be that

simple, Candas. We already had to pay Davitt quite a bit to agree to one guest, let alone two.”

“I doubt it could hurt to ask,” I shrugged. “I can tail the wagon if need be; secrecy isn’t as

important for me.”

“But what would you do in Ilindia?” Ronan spoke in a soft voice

“My mother was from up there, could be I’ll find some of her family. Worst comes to it,

I’m sure I can get work on a town watch or something.”

Slania raised an eyebrow at me, “Kallie seems to agree to the company. Will admit, the

stew pot will wind up less full without you.”

I offered her a timid smile which she didn’t return. “It’ll encourage Ronan to work on his

aim.”

“Oh, shut it,” Ronan said with a half-hearted smile.

“Well,” Jonne spoke, seeming to let all his breath out on the word,” Kallie seems taken to

the idea, and you are of age now, so I couldn’t stop you if I wanted.” He gave a strange inflection

on the if and refused to meet my gaze. “Kallie, since you know, you’d best decide what to take

with you. Pack light and pack warm; it’ll like be the mid of winter when you reach Ilindia.” He

stood with a light groan, “Slan, I’m gonna go have a word with Fergus, see if he’s got that worn

axel on the cart replaced yet.”

Slania responded with a nod and placed a spoon to her yet untouched stew. Kallie as well,

seeming to take her mother’s eating as permission. I pushed mine aside and took to my feet as

the door slammed behind Jonne.

“Where are you going?” Ronan asked.

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“Gonna get some fresh air.”

“Mind if I join you?” He stood before I could answer.

“If you must.” I swung on my cloak before pushing the door open and striding outside.

The village was alive with people trying to make use of these final minutes of light.

Those who served at the lumber camp had returned, clapping splinters from their gloves and

shaking dust from their boots before they would allow themselves a moment of comfort.

Laughter from the trees told that many of the children were taking advantage of the fading light

to play a game of elf-hunt in the woods. Much as when me and Ronan were growing up, late

autumn still proved a wonderful time to be a child. With a lightened workload brought on by the

end of the harvest, and the fact the weather still hadn’t turned to the kind of cold that ate through

even thick clothing, there was no better time of year to play. A quick glance to the house across

from ours showed Lyndette, the spinster’s eldest, pulling clothes from the line beside it. Ronan

closed the door with a loud creak behind me, drawing her attention.

“Hoi, Candas!” she called, shoving a pale brown tunic into her basket.

“Hoi, Lyndette,” Ronan called back as she strode toward us, her long dark brown plait

swaying with each step.

She offered Ronan a rather curt nod but didn’t look at him. When she spoke, it was to me.

“Came calling for you yesterday, got those stockings fixed up for you.”

“Thanks,” I said, “I’ll be by to pick ‘em up tomorrow. Truth told, now’s not the best

time.”

Lyndette’s eyebrows threatened to disappear under her bangs, “You two off

somewhere?”

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“No, headed for a walk is all.”

She curled her hands at her skirted hips, “Surely then you have a moment for a quick

word. What’s wrong with your cheek?”

“Got a bad cut on a nail.”

“Oh.” She said. Three beats passed before she spoke again, “By the by, either of you seen

Armel?”

“Not since this afternoon, why?” Ronan asked.

Her face fell, but her voice was edged. “Oh, nothing, just he said he was gonna meet me

before nightfall to take me to his Da’s little social.”

I shook my head with a slight smile. “I’m sure he’s just running late, as we are, so pray

excuse us.”

She shrugged and returned to her clothes as we strode toward the forest. Ronan gave a

hearty yet forced chuckle. “Her and Armel. Who’da thought? Feeling jealous, Cand?”

“Hardly,” I laughed, “besides, would’ve thought you’d be the jealous one.”

He winced. “You aim low, Cand, picking at one’s first throb.”

“Sorry, but you stepped right into it. Anyway, thought your first was Rosa?”

I regretted mentioning the name as Ronan’s face fell. Still, he offered a forlorn smile.

“Aye, Rosa, that’s right. Gods give her rest.”

As we neared the path which led through the woods toward the lumber camp, a tiny

figure darted out from the trees. I recognized it as Matheu, one of the lumberjacks’ kids, as he

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hid behind a rock just off the trail. He raised a finger to his lips, and whispered, “Don’nae tell

Liza I’m ‘ere.” I smiled at the little play-elf, and we continued our way into the woods proper.

Ronan looked as though he was bursting to say something, but it wasn’t until we were

well out of ear shot that he spoke. “It’s right decent what you are doing for Kallie.”

“Aye, I’m hoping it’ll ease her burden, though your ma seems disappointed she knows at

all.”

“Yeah, I have no idea what her plan was, but I for one am glad she knows.” He took a

deep breath before continuing, “Though I know you aren’t going only for her sake.”

“Oh?”

“I know it’s about what happened at The Goblin.”

I sighed, “You caught me. I want to know what it was I did, and I don’t want to risk it

acting up the way Kallie’s is, whatever it is. Ilindia is home to some of the most learned

regarding the mysteries of the world; if none of them know what this is, no one does.”

Ronan nodded slowly. “How long has it been now that we’ve known each other?”

I raised an eyebrow at the question. “Give or take twelve years now.”

An odd, remembering smile crossed his lips as he stared into the darkening trees, “Aye,

twelve years since your ma brought you for that week-long visit. Da told me once that he knew

from the moment he saw us playing together that we’d be thick as thieves.”

A flush crept to my cheeks. “Ronan, what are you on about?”

“I don’t know.” His voice wavered slightly—seeming to switch between breathy and

wispy with each syllable. His gaze moved to the ground as he rolled a loose rock about with his

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foot. “Just that all these years, you’ve been like a sister. I’m still coming to terms with the fact

you’ll be leaving, and like as not I’ll never see you again.”

A cold shock started at my chest and dissipated outward to my fingers and toes. “Bit of a

dire thought, that.”

His eyes locked to mine. It hadn’t struck me before how green they were; not as deep

jade like his mother’s, rather the earthy green of a birch in spring. “Always thought we’d be

together, y’know: the laughs we’ve shared, the trouble we got in…”

“Like the time you left the coop open?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “As I remember, you left it open.”

“No, you were the one who snuck in for eggs to lob at the Senn’s house, I only took the

blame. Your Da had a few more qualms about knocking my teeth about than he would’ve yours.”

He offered a smile, showing the fruits of my selflessness. “Oh, yes, that’s right. Only

made you apologize to everyone in town who had a time corralling the hens again. But what of

the time I took the fall after you and Anais smashed that stew pot?”

“Fine, we’re square on that.” My eyes sank along with my smile, “Guess we won’t be

there to get each other out like that soon.”

“Guess not.”

The silence between us stretched for a long time. Crickets too stubborn to succumb to the

chill called to each other from within the brush as the shadows of the trees seemed to stretch and

merge into a single veil of darkness. “Y’know,” he said, “Rosa wasn’t my first throb either.”

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The whites of his eyes seemed all the whiter as he flushed. I took a couple steps

backward, towards the village. “It’s getting dark,” I said, “we should get back while we still

have some li-“

Ronan cut me off as he rushed forward. In a quick, clumsy action he moved in close,

gently grabbed me by the back of the head, and he kissed me.

My first instinct was to pull away, but a strange bliss pushed that idea aside. I closed my

eyes and returned it, part of me wishing the moment could’ve lasted forever, even as another

screamed to stop. He pulled away from me not long after, looking just as shocked as I felt.

“Candas, I…” he began.

My cheeks grew warm as I nearly drowned in those big, green eyes of his again. As

though snapping from a trance, I shoved him away, spun on my heel, and set off at a brisk stride

back toward the village.

“Candas!” he called after me, though he didn’t follow. “Candas, please stop!”

I didn’t break my pace until I was back at the house. Feeling unable to face Kallie and

Slania, I instead found my way to the window of the small nook which served as my room,

pulled out the shutters, and squeezed my way inside. Something ripped as I fell from the sill onto

the rough straw pallet which lay on the floor.

I stared into the dark confines of my pillow, a stray feather poking into my face as I

relived that moment again and again.

Twelve years… How many of those has he felt this way, and why tell me now, of all

times?... That jackass.

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These thoughts churned my mind as I pressed my face harder into the pillow, not even

bothering to kick off my boots before sleep claimed me.

Chapter 3

I

I awoke the next morning to a draft. My cloak almost choked me as I rolled over to find

the shutters left wide open. I stood and slammed them shut, noting a slight throb of pain in my

leg. The source was apparent: my trousers were torn open at the knee, with a thin series of scabs

marking up a scrape on the skin beneath. At first, I couldn’t remember how it happened, but soon

the memories of the previous night came flooding back. I slammed a fist on the wall with a loud

thud as I stepped off my pallet with a crunch of straw.

“Candas, that you?” came the voice of Kallie from somewhere beyond the hanging cloth

which separated my nook from the common room.

“Aye,” I called out, waving my hand to rid the new soreness from my knuckles, “sorry.”

I elected not to get changed yet, rather stepped through the divider to find Kallie sitting at

the table, scraping at a block of wood with a small dagger.

“Would never’ve thought one who sleeps as much as you could have eyes that dark,” she

said, putting the knife down. “You all right?”

I nodded, though a slight throbbing in my skull told of an imminent headache. “Didn’t

sleep that long, did I?”

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“Long enough you missed Ronan and Da head out to hunt.”

I cocked an eyebrow to mask a twitch at his name. “They went without me?”

“Aye. Da wanted to wake you, but Ronan insisted he let you sleep, said you ‘needed it.’”

I hid a yawn behind my hand as I went to grab a bowl of stew and a chunk of increasingly

stale bread.

“Where’s your Ma?”

Kallie’s face fell, “She’s making use of the sauna. Said she wanted to bathe alone, though

we can use it after she’s done.”

‘After she’s done’ proved to be a short time. Not half an hour had passed before she

reappeared at the door, black hair shining and clothes looking slightly damp. “Best get to the

sauna while it is still hot,” she said in an odd voice, a touch slurred and lacking her typical

warmth.

Kallie hopped into action, leaving her whittling at the table as she rushed to the door. I

was somewhat slower on the uptake.

“You coming, Candas?” she asked from the doorway.

“Gonna grab some fresh clothes,” I said as Slania climbed the ladder to the loft with

something less than her usual grace. “You go on though, I’ll meet you there.”

She closed the front door as I pushed my way into my room once again and walked to the

chest to the left of my mattress. Throwing open the lid, I found myself greeted by a single

shining, black button-eye. Andro the Rag-doll had seen better days: with his missing eye, stained

doublet, and tiny felt sword creased at the middle. Still that stitched face of his smiled up at me

from beneath his tilted feathered cap, as I’m sure he smiled at my mother before. Odd that he had

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found his way to the top of the chest. I carefully picked him up and put him to the mattress

before searching for something to wear. After settling on a grass green tunic and a pair of

somewhat ragged trousers, I closed the lid and made for the common room.

Except the way was blocked by Slania.

“It is your fault, you know.”

I was taken aback at the statement, slurred and sad, though her eyes flared. “What’s my

fault?”

“What do you think?” I could smell the whiskey on her breath.

“I can’t take back what I said, but is it not best that she knows?”

Slania shook her head. “Don’t you get it?”

“No, I really don’t know what you are on about.”

Slania pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. “Gods, girl, and I thought you were

clever.”

“Pray, tell me what I am missing!”

I thought she was going to slap me, but in a blink her face gave way to tears. “I wanted

her to hate me.”

I stepped back a pace. “Pardon?”

“I wanted her to hate me!” she yelled through a sob. She walked into the room proper and

seated herself on my mattress. “I wanted her to not want to come back; to think that we had

abandoned her, that she might accept her new home more easily.”

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Not knowing what else to do, I put a hand to her shoulder. She batted it away. She

reached her left arm out, and, with her right, pulled back the long sleeves. Shining, white scars

ran the length of her forearm. Not incidental wounds, but deliberate lines that formed odd,

angular runes.

“Do you know what this is?” she asked in a shaky voice.

I shook my head.

“It is Daedish script. Dy’iskal Urra. In Low-Roshen it means Invader’s Whore.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear this story. “I should probably get to the sauna, Kallie will

be wondering…”

“Not many customs survived when we fled to the woods, but there are two edicts the

Daedish hold dear: that young girls have their ears bound into points, and those who commit a

crime against the tribe be marked and exiled by the chieftain.” She punched at the mattress. “My

own father carved these words and cast me out, all because I fell for one from outside the tribe.

One who still holds a torch for another, despite all I’ve given up for him.”

I tried to walk away, but Slania reached out and grabbed my wrist. “I see it in his face

every time he looks at you. He wanted your mother. but he got me.” Slania looked ashamed for

the briefest second. “I hate my father… I hate my tribe… And that made his shortcomings easier

to accept. That is what I wanted for Kallie; to leave and never look back. With no regrets.”

I felt I should say something, but words simply wouldn’t come as Slania stood, gave a

sniff and walked toward the common room, stopping as she reached the divider.

“Remember, when she is unable to look forward for what she left behind... it will be your

fault.”

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An unnatural silence seemed to fall on the room as she left, broken only a few seconds

later by the creaks of the ladder as she climbed to the loft. The last bits of adrenaline shook their

way from me as my knuckles loosened themselves from my spare clothes. It wasn’t until the

creaks from the upper floor ceased that I made my way out of my nook. The faint sound of sobs

came from above as I pushed through the front door.

II

A short, familiar walk down that overgrown path found me once again outside the sauna.

After scanning the area for animals and wayward villagers alike, I shed my days-old clothes. The

day seemed unseasonably warm as I folded them up and placed them along with the fresh set

atop a rock near the entrance to the sauna. I went to step inside but stopped as I noticed a bucket

sitting beside the door.

Kallie must’ve left it there for me to refill, I figured. I filled the bucket quickly but

couldn’t help but feel a touch self-aware in my nakedness as I carried the to the sauna even

though there was no one to watch me, save a few straggling ducks floating lazily in the algae

spotted pond.

“You got more water!” Kallie shouted with glee as I closed the door behind me, leaving

her illuminated by the faint light of the coals and what little sunlight pushed its way through the

gap just below the ceiling. “Was worried this dry heat would shrivel me up.”

“Could’ve always got it yourself.”

“Aye,” she said, leaning back on her seat and placing her hands behind her head, “but

Gods if it isn’t so nice in here and so chilled out there.”

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My eyes rolled as I took a seat across from her. “Least you could do is throw it on the

steamers.”

She nodded, hopped to her feet with a groan and walked to the stove, sweat glistening in

the faint light of the embers within. The first beads of sweat emerged to cleanse my weary body

as I closed my eyes and a crack and hiss told that Kallie had tossed a ladles worth of water on the

rocks above the oven.

“Candas?” Kallie spoke as I heard her return to her seat.

“Aye?”

“Did… did something happen with Ronan last night?”

My eyes snapped open. “No.” the word tumbled out.

Kallie’s eyes narrowed, “That so? Well, something’s on his mind in any case. Haven’t

seen him as forlorn since that time you and the other girl got the pox.”

“Y’mean Rosa?”

“You are dodging the question.”

I sighed. “Well, there is your leaving…” She cocked her brow. “Also,” my mind raced

for an answer, “we ran into an old throb of his. She was meeting up with someone else.”

“Lyndette?”

I nodded.

She relaxed her face a bit, “Oh, guess that’d do it.”

I groped beneath the bench to find one of the birch bathing whisks, but instead found an

empty flask leaning against the wall.

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“Kallie, you got…” A rustling sound marked something light hitting my back. I shot her

a glare as I got back to my seat. “You could have just handed it to me.”

She smirked as she leaned her head back in her hands. “I wonder if they’ll have these up

north.”

“These?” I started beating my back with the whisk.

“Saunas, I mean.”

“I would hope so; it is an Ilindian custom.”

Kallie looked at me with wide eyes, “How’d you know that?”

“My mother was from Ilindia, remember?” I said.

I shivered with nervous energy as I looked at the odd brick building nestled beside the

river. Thin wisps of smoke snuck through the cracks, giving the air a scent of burned wood. Ma

smiled as she took me by the hand, “It’s a good heat, lillen. I promise.”

“She always said these southern saunas paled in compared to a proper Ilindian one.”

“Well, guess we’ll be able to judge that together, eh?”

I nodded, and again closed my eyes as I continued patting myself with the whisk.

A few minutes passed in silence, save for the light sizzle of water from the steamers,

before Kallie next spoke. “I wanted to thank you again.”

“Think nothing of it.”

“But it is not nothing! You are giving up your life here for me… but…”

“But, what?”

“I know there’s more to it than that.”

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“How so?”

“Candas, I’ve spent most of my life with you. Do you think I don’t know your tells, bad

as they are?”

I pulled my hand from my ear. “Fine, there’s more than I’m letting on.” My voice

sounded harsh even to my own ears as I shook the whisk at her. “Suppose you won’t let me leave

it at that though, eh? Gonna throw more fire in my face ‘til I talk?”

Kallie looked as though I had slapped her across the face, “I said I was sorry about that. If

there was more I could do to prove it to you ...” Her head drooped as would a wilting flower. “I

won’t make you say anything.”

Shame crept at my mind as I itched my cheek, accidentally knocking loose my bandage.

Kallie looked up and grimaced at the bared wound.

“Does… does it have something to do with that?”

I thought for a few seconds as I tried to replace the stained flax, then gave a couple quick

nods as I gave it up. “Tell me,” my eyes fell on her hands, “how did you learn about your fire?”

She offered a queer look, seeming a touch taken aback by the abrupt question. “Was

about two years back, Ronan was teasing me about the spots that started showing up on my

face.” She paused for a brief second as she rubbed her front two fingers against her forehead as

though making sure no more had sprouted up. “Well, he was quite relentless about it. I was

carrying firewood, and I got mad and… They caught in my arms. Ronan rushed over and helped

me stamp them out, shrieked at me if I was all right.” She sighed, “It ruined one of my favorite

dresses, as I recall, but I wasn’t burned at all.”

The silence was thick for a few seconds as I mulled this over.

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So, it is probably something mystical I did… awakened by my distress, perhaps?

“You all right?” Kallie asked, looking concerned.

“Aye,” I said. “Can I tell you something Kallie? On the hush: not a word to your Ma and

Da?”

“Of course.”

I breathed the smoky air deep. “I had something similar happen to me at Yrenna when I

got this,” I gestured at my cut.

“Similar, how?” she leaned forward, staring at me through the wisps rising from the

steamers.

“Similar in that something happened when I touched my attacker.”

“You burned him?”

“No, no. I’m not like that, fire still burns me, after all. It was more like the skin … died

where I touched him.”

Her eyes widened, “You mean like the Chi’run?”

I offered her a confused look, “The what?”

“The Chi’run,” her eyes widened as she spoke, “You know, the creature from the

Daedish bed-tales Ma used to tell.”

I shook my head, “I was a touch old for bed tales when I joined the household.”

“Well, the Chi’run was a creature like a lanky bird person, with a pure white beak and

down as black as the sky on a moonless night. It appeared in a lot of the tales Ma told, and in

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many roles, but one thing was always the same.” Kallie gave an excited shudder. “Its touch

brought death and decay to all that displeased it.”

“Huh… I suppose all stories have a touch of truth, as it sounds like I have the touch of

this Chi’run. But I’m hoping I can find answers bred in knowledge rather than Daedish bed-tales

up north.”

“I’d imagine,” Kallie said as she poured more water over the steamers, and continued in a

snippy tone, “and that explains why you were so willing to come north with me.”

“Don’t be like that, Kallie.”

She snickered, “Only joking, only joking. Gods, Candas, you can be too easy at times.”

She shot me a warm smile, “I really do appreciate the company. Hopefully it’ll ease…” her smile

wavered, “ease the pain a bit.”

We didn’t talk much for the rest of the stay in the sauna, our breathing only accompanied

by the odd snap and hiss of the steamers, the rustle of the bathing whisks, the light pats as they

hit flesh and the occasional light steps as one of us left to cool off in the lake. I went through

three cycles and Kallie four before we decided to leave. Kallie tossed the remaining water in the

stove, and I stashed the whisks back beneath the benches, careful to leave her mother’s flask

untouched. The final plunge into the lake following a stay in the sauna was always a bit

unpleasant at first, especially this late in the season, but when the time came to get out and dry

off neither of us wanted to.

I could never have expected just who I would find wandering around the village upon our

return.

Callaghan21