AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stand there with Tapio and his wife and daughter, watching them go up the floors until they disappear from view. In the distance, I hear the sound of his chamber door shutting.
“Something seem strange to you?” I ask Tapio, keeping my voice low.
I expect Tapio to brush me off or make some flippant remark about how my family is always strange, but instead, he leans in slightly, speaking in a hush. “If it’s alright with you, Tuonen, we’ll be heading back this evening to the Hiisi Forest.”
I look at him in surprise, that strange foreboding wrapping around my chest like a snake. “Why?”
He tugs at his beard and shakes his head. “I really can’t say, but I think it’s for the best. We don’t want to overstay our welcome.”
“You wouldn’t…” I begin.
Tapio gives me a steady look. “Your father and Hanna seem like a match made in Amaranthus,” he says, a stony edge to his words. “I am curious what brought on that snowstorm earlier. He’s been a great mood this entire evening, until then.”
That’s what it is, what was bothering me. Tonight was a big night for my father, something he’s looked forward to for a long time. It went great. He seemed more in-tune with his wife than ever. They made their first public appearance. They impressed the citizens of Inmost. So why did the weather change to something so cold and drastic?
What happened when he was in the dungeons, coming out with a wound that healed itself? And what changed so that by the time we got back to Shadow’s End, the storm subsided? I know if I looked out the window right now, I’d be looking straight at the Goddess Kuutar on the moon through a clear sky.
“Please take no offense,” Tapio says to me. “And please take care of yourself, Tuonen. I have a feeling I can’t shake and need to council with the other gods.”
“What is the feeling?” I ask, almost pleading.
“I can’t put it into words any more than you can,” he says and gives my shoulder a squeeze again. “But if it all ends up being nothing, which it very well may be, I’ll make sure my son gives you and your sister some relief with the ferry boat. I believe he will treat it like an honor and give him purpose where he hasn’t had much before.”
“And if it ends up being something?”
He gives me a grim smile. “Then perhaps the ferry boat is the best place for you to be. You know where to find me.”
He walks off, his wife and daughter nodding their solemn goodbyes as they head back out the doors and into the night.
I sigh, standing in the middle of the great hall, wondering what the hell I should do. There’s no way I can go tosleep, especially now that Tapio seems to have confirmed that something is wrong, even if he doesn’t know what it is either.
But it’s enough for him and his family to leave Shadow’s End late at night, after an already long day, and that’s enough for me.
I decide it’s time to tell Sarvi. The unicorn is nothing if not loyal to my father, but they’re also logical to a fault. They’ll be able to tell me I’m overreacting, or that Tapio was foolish to leave like he did. They know my father better than anyone at this point.
But as I roam the halls of the castle, I can’t find Sarvi anywhere. I suppose it’s possible they went to bed too.
I go upstairs, checking the guest bedrooms where the Forest Gods would have stayed before I head to my own bedroom. Despite thinking I’ll spend the whole night awake, I fall asleep almost immediately.
I wake up to hear my father screaming in rage.
I immediately spring to my feet and run across my bedroom, opening the door to see my father walking out of the guest bedroom, shaking his head, his hands in his hair, muttering angrily to himself. He’s shirtless and barefoot, wearing low-slung pants.
With a knife in his hand.
I shrink away from the door a little and watch as he disappears down the hallway.
I glance out the window at the night sky. Though some clouds have moved in suddenly, it’s still dark out, and I think dawn is a few hours away.
He must have discovered that the Forest Gods had already left.
But why would he sound so angry and feral, a sound I rarely hear from him?
A sound that’s too familiar for some reason.
And why would he have a knife?
What did Tapio know?
