Florian felt suddenly cold; he glanced at Rune, but she looked just as surprised to see him as he was. After a beat of surprise, to his credit, Kade lowered his head briefly toward Torsten before asking,
“Can I help you?”
“I’m here to talk to the Winter King,” Torsten replied brusquely. Kade glanced over his shoulder, frowning.
“Okay,” Florian said, his voice surprisingly even for how off-guard Torsten’s presence made him. “I’m here.”
Kade stepped aside, but Torsten only stared across the room at him, still standing with his arms folded. After a few uncomfortable seconds, he sighed and jerked his head, glancing back toward the main path.
“Come walk with me,” he said. That only made Florian more nervous, but he didn’t think he could refuse such an innocuous request from the kraken king, even if he was a king, too. Silently, he stood up and made his way to the door, despite a murmured protest from Rune; Kade’s eyes were concerned, too, but he walked up with as much confidence as he could muster.
“Relax,” Torsten grunted, more toward Kade than Florian, as he turned to start walking through the front garden. “I just want to talk.”
“It’s fine,” Florian said softly to Kade; only then did some of the tension leave his face.
“Be careful,” Kade replied quietly. “Don’t go too far if you can help it.”
Florian stifled a smirk. “I’ll do my best.”
Torsten had stopped at the edge of the garden and was looking at him expectantly, so he hurried through the door, catching up to the other man quickly.
They turned out onto the main path, and Torsten headed toward the hills, away from the center of town. Florian followed. For a long moment the only sound was the gritty dirt path crunching under their feet, though Florian barely heard it over the thrum in his ears as his mind raced. What did Torsten want from him? What was so important that he would come talk to Florian himself, alone? Had something bad happened?
“I wanted to... apologize,” Torsten blurted out, and Florian stopped in his tracks out of surprise. Torsten paused, turning back to face him. “About how I treated you before. My judgment was... clouded. I was worried about Rune, and I was letting myopinion of Jerah influence how I was treating you. But that’s not fair to you.”
They were both silent for a long while, then Florian offered, “Well, thank you. I, uh, I appreciate that.”
“I have to admit, I admire your tenacity,” Torsten continued, though his tone was pained as he said it. “I hadn’t realized you had so many of the Arrows. Rune tells me you got both out in the water, and now you only have one left. Is that true?”
Florian stared at him for a moment, trying to read his face. What was the point of this? Was he really just trying to apologize, or did he have some kind of ulterior motive?
But did it matter even if he did? Wouldn’t he be just the same as Torsten—and Tetsuo—if he met everything they said to him with suspicion and distrust? Florian had wanted them to listen to what he had to say and take him seriously, so shouldn’t he do the same to them?
Torsten was still watching him expectantly.
“Yes,” Florian finally answered, nodding once. “We have six now. The only one left is out near the Summer Court.”
Torsten’s only reaction was to blink. He stared at Florian for a moment longer, obviously thinking; but Florian forced himself to meet the older man’s gaze as steadily as he could, waiting for his response.
“The very center of the Blight,” Torsten finally said with a sigh. “Well, Rune has told me she intends to go with your little group when you leave, so if only for her sake, I want to help you. I heard you talking about the hag.”
Florian frowned. “How long were you listening to us?”
“Not long,” Torsten muttered, shaking his head. He at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed. “When we visited the hag all those years ago—the four of us—she gave us all a token that let us pass safely through the Blight for around a day without Jerah’s shroud.”
“The pendant,” Florian said, and Torsten nodded. “I saw my dad’s. It didn’t have any magic left in it.”
“What I’m trying to say is that if you think seeing the witch will help you, you should go to her. I think she could help you, too. Maybe she can give you more of them if you’re concerned about traveling to the Summer Court,” he said. “I know the fae are mistrustful of hags, and some shifters are superstitious about them. But not me. Old magic is dangerous, which is why it’s necessary to have people like the hags who understand how to use it safely, or at least as safely as possible. If she can help you, take advantage of it. God below knows you’ll have trouble finding help anywhere else.”
Florian could feel his eyes boggling as he stared at Torsten. How was this the same man who had told him to get lost the moment they’d first met? For the first time, a small frown twitched at the edges of Torsten’s lips, as he watched Florian stare disbelievingly at him.
“Don’t act so surprised,” he muttered, turning away to walk again. “I just want to make sure Rune comes back safely. This has nothing to do with you.”
That sounded more like what he expected. Florian stifled a laugh and followed Torsten again.
“Thank you,” he said. “I think that’s probably where we’ll head next, then.”
Torsten paused, turning to face Florian once more.
