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Einar’s deep laugh sounds beside me, drawing my attention back to the moment.
“Amazing,” he says softly.
“It was. I’ve never seen anything like it.” I glance at him. “Jokith just keeps on surprising me.”
He nods, and a smile tempts the corner of his mouth as he hands me his stein of eiswein.
I debate for a split second before deciding to go for it. If ever there was a time to celebrate with a drink, it is on a night like tonight. Besides, it may be fascinating, but it is still freezing.
We lay there under the lights, watching them dance for us for several more hours.
The lights never fade, but they grow even brighter and more spectacular, as does the canopy of stars behind them. Some people around us eventually make their way into their small huts for the evening, while others continue to sip their wine and enjoy the heavenly phenomenon.
It isn’t long before I’m yawning, my eyelids becoming too heavy to appreciate the beauty above us any longer.
“Come, wife. We should sleep.” Einar stands and, with no notice, lifts me up onto my feet next to him.
My heart beats a heavy rhythm in my chest, and I blame it on how quickly he moved me.
Khijhana yawns and stretches next to us, then heads into the small igloo without any coaxing.
Einar scratches his head and chuckles. “She’s a smart one, isn’t she?”
“Indeed,” I add with a smile.
He holds out a lantern and gestures for me to follow her into the small frame. While I’m warm enough with my fur-lined clothing, I’m not sure sleeping in the snow is sounding all that appealing…until I see what’s inside the small frozen hut.
While the exterior is pure snow and ice, the interior is something else entirely. The lantern shows a small shelf where our eiswein has been stored and a small basin of steaming water with a bar of soap for cleaning up. It is being heated by a single tiny crimson rock.
I marvel at the detail of the engravings on the dome above us. The lantern’s subdued flames highlight a story that has been carved into the icy snow.
People gather to watch a dragon soaring through the stars. If I follow the story around to the other side of the igloo, it appears they are begging for its blessing and finally receive it at a cave in the mountains.
An infinitesimal part of me wonders if these designs are in every igloo here, or only ours. It warms my heart that whoever made this hut for us was thoughtful enough to show me the history of the festival. History I was able to be a part of tonight.
An ache in my chest forms at the thought, and I push it away.
Several furs and pillows lay at the center, forming one gigantic bed. Or, it would be if it was only for me. I swallow hard, realizing it will be the first time Einar and I have slept in the same room, let alone the same bed.
Images of our first night together come rushing back, and I’m grateful for the fading light. Red floods my cheeks as I remember standing only inches away from him, naked. I could feel the heat radiating off of him then just as it is now, and I wonder if he isn’t remembering that moment, too.
Though, I also vividly recall the rejection from that night.
Does he regret that now? Do I?
Khijha paces back and forth before settling on the spot directly in the entrance. I can’t be sure if she’s standing guard, watching the lights, or giving us privacy, but her distance leaves only the two of us on the makeshift bed that is far more comfortable that it appears.
Einar lays back with a sigh, his bulky frame taking up more than half of the space. His hands are resting under his head, and his eyes are closed, but he can still somehow sense my hesitation.
“I won’t bite. Not hard anyway,” he assures me, and the corner of his mouth tilts up.
Heat floods my entire body from what has to be embarrassment...
“I’m not altogether certain I believe you.”
“That’s fair,” he adds with a sleepy sort of laugh that makes my chest tighten. “But what if I promise?”
I bite my lip and shake my head in resignation before deciding to settle in next to him.
