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He showed her the knife he used for whittling and for the first time she realized it was far superior to anything their current technology could produce. Just how long had this place existed? Even the technology to produce the smoothly cut and fitted stones that made up the walls was almost obsolete.
“Maybe I should take a look at this cave,” she said slowly. “Are there more supplies in there? Food supplies, I mean?”
He flushed and looked away, kicking at the floor.
“Don’t know. Can’t read.”
Her heart ached, but she suspected he would not accept her sympathy.
“If you ever want to learn, I’d be happy to teach you,” she said briskly. “I taught Merry, or at least I tried,” she added with a grin.
Her sister was a reluctant student at best. Not entirely surprisingly, that caught his attention.
“Maybe I could join you, just to watch and see.”
The suggestion surprised her. She hadn’t really thought about resuming lessons but really, there was nothing to stop her. As long as the snow lasted and they were snug in their shelter, she had plenty of time. Usually lessons took second place to traveling or setting up a stall, or whatever chores her father had assigned her.
“I think that’s an excellent idea, although I suspect Merry will not agree.”
She was quite right. As soon as she announced that she intended to resume their lessons, her sister’s lower lip poked out.
“But it’s the holidays.”
“Not yet. And we have lots of time until then.”
“You don’t have our school stuff.”
“Not all of it,” she admitted, a pang striking her at the thought of her lost books. “But I have enough. Johnny is going to join us,” she added casually before Merry thought of another excuse.
“Really?”
Merry’s protests stopped as she slanted a look at the boy from under her long lashes. He had been following the conversation, but when Merry looked at him, he muttered something and headed outside. Katerina sighed. Was it a mistake to let the children’s interest in each other encourage them to work together?
The thought continued to trouble her for the rest of the day and she ended up asking Jack about it that evening. All of the children were asleep. The snow had stopped briefly in the late afternoon and she had bundled them all up as best she could and sent them outside to run around and release their energy before calling them back in for hot soup and cuddles before bed.
The exercise had worked. All of them had fallen asleep soon after dinner and even Merry had climbed up the ladder to the loft with a sleepy yawn. Johnny was supposedly working on Lorna’s game, but his head was resting on the table. She grinned at his slumped figure as she quietly picked up a stool and carried it through into Jack’s room.
“Do you think it’s a mistake?” she asked him, sitting down next to the bed.
“I have no experience. Tandroki males and females lead very separate lives.”
“Really? Even if you don’t go to school together, what about dates, or social gatherings?”
“Amongst the Great Houses, social occasions are very… structured. Everything one does is observed and judged.”
“Great Houses?”
“The House of Frostulen has a long lineage.” His voice sounded strange. “I am not its finest son.”
She gave him an astonished stare. “I don’t believe that for a moment.”
A brief smile flashed across his face before he sobered and shook his head. “I am not a true Tandroki warrior.”
There was a wealth of meaning in his words, but before she could ask, he returned to the original subject.
“Although I do not have much experience with the interactions between males and females, I do have experience with young males. I believe that Johnny is an honorable male. I do not think that he would harm your sister in any way.”
“I’m afraid it might be the other way around. Merry is too young to understand how easily she enchants people.”
