I wanted to stay and stare at Fell, but also, I wanted to run as far away from him as I could get.“I will attend,” I said.
And that’s how I ended up sitting in on my first court hearing.
I sat with King Arik and Jorn in a sparsely furnished hall where they received those in need of a king’s opinion.I was to the left of the king which felt… select.I’d not been part of many decision-making meetings in my youth (indeed, none), but I could sense that sitting next to the king as people approached and nodded their heads and presented their cases meant something.They looked at me in a way that felt frightening but also a little delicious.If I frowned, it would make their hearts flutter, I was sure of it.
Most of the conversations were dull, having to do with disagreements over property lines and herds of animals.There was one interesting fellow who’d been counting mushrooms at the king’s behest.He had thirteen chests full of different types of mushrooms.There was a captain who’d returned from a quest assigned to him with a small box full of black stones, a second box full of scrolls and the words: “The mine is dead,” which, at the time, I assumed was another Norsern phrase.There was also a pirate hunter with a collection of fingers from his latest success, but the king suggested I look away when the fingers were revealed, so I didn’t see them.
Between every visitor, there was time for Jorn and the king to discuss what had just happened or what might happen next.Jorn read each visitor in the same way I’d read the tapestry for the king, sharing his sense of them and their intentions.He would sometimes mention the stars, which King Arik did not seem to put much stock in, and occasionally, he pulled a stone to make his point stronger.I was asked to contribute whenever I had something in my mind that hadn’t yet been said, but the only thing I added was that the black stones brought by the captain who’d “killed the mine,” looked very much likedewerath—a stone widespread in my home country to which many ballads had been dedicated.Sometimes visitors commented on my presence, asking if I was the woman from the Land of Mud and Mist.King Arik would always say something like: “Never you mind her,” which left me feeling guarded and safe.
Captain Flojer passed through the hall just before midday.Even if the king hadn’t raised his hands and shouted joyously, “Ah!Flojer!”I would have known the man was important.His eyes were the emerald green of moss back home, shimmering and dancing, and I liked him immediately.He wore a fox fur coat, and though his face was relaxed and unexpressive, I had the distinct feeling that he was smiling.
“Your mood has much changed since I saw you last,” Flojer said with a teasing laugh.
The king sighed.“What does the sea think of it?”
Flojer laughed again.“He thinks you are a hungry man.He thinks this hunger is beautiful.Useful.”
“And what doyouthink of my changed mood?”
“I…” The man halted entirely, turning his head slowly to me.A shock began in my heart and rushed through my blood, leaving my fingers tingling.If you have not made eye contact with a truly holy person—someone who devotes everything they are to a god or temple or cloud—you cannot understand the feeling.
King Arik’s voice was teasing.“I thought you might like to meet her.It is just as much your doing that she is here as Fell’s.”
His gaze unsettled me—it almost seemed like he was listening to someone I couldn’t hear tell him things about me; things he found amusing.“Tell her it is a pleasure to meet her.”
“You can tell her yourself.”
Flojer’s eyebrows raised.“You speak Norsern?”
I nodded.
“Did you know it before you came here?”
I shook my head.
“So a quick learner then.”Flojer laughedginnaungand then turned to Jorn.“Herskaelscreams, no?Have you looked at her palm?”
Jorn nodded, but not with enthusiasm.I was quickly coming to realize that he was the best at hiding his inner world out of everyone at court.
Flojer took a step toward me.He was tall and thin and as warm as a person could be.His face held lines from smiling around the mouth and eyes.“May I see your hand?”he said.
My eyes flicked to King Arik, who nodded.“If you wish.”
I held my hand up, palm toward Flojer and watched his expression—the slow spread of a smile across his face.He looked at Jorn.“You have seen this?”
“I have already said as much,” Jorn said, crossing his arms.
Flojer turned to the king.“Jorn has told you about this?”
King Arik grinned.“He has.”
And then, just as I was about to ask what they were talking about, Flojer turned back to me and smiled softly.Kindly.“You will always find your way.Do not let any moment in your life lead you to believe otherwise.You always know which way to go next.The way is always changing.Still, you always know it.”
King Arik cleared his throat.“Now Flojer, let us speak of the ship on the mountain, are we at peace with one another?”
Flojer smiled wryly.“Were we ever at war?”
The king’s brows rose.
