My only refuge was Alvilda’s workshop, as far west from the castle as one could get, short of living in the commune.
Alvilda’s trade had once been secondary to Father’s, considering she took it up only after refusing her Returning. However, since my mother’s illness, Father was less inclined to work than ever and only did so when Mother was conscious enough to remind him. Alvilda stepped right up to fill in the void, and she got most of the real work these days. At least Father was too far gone to care. In fact, he helped her from time to time. Or just gave her a tool he no longer felt he needed. Mostly because he no longer felt like working.
I knocked and let myself in at the usual call of “No masked men here, come in!” Master Tailor sometimes visited his sister, and he could take his mask off in front of her.
But she failed to warn me that an unmasked man was there.
“Noll! What brings you here?” Alvilda looked up from her work—an ornate bed headboard, I believed. The smile that flashed over her features was genuine, although she couldn’t be torn from her work for long.
Jurij and Elfriede were seated at the small dining table, eating. The table was covered with a thin layer of sawdust that belied how often Alvilda really used the table for its intended purpose.
Elfriede laid the rest of her crispel on the table and wrinkled her nose. “Good day, Noll.” At least I think that was what she said. Elfriede’s gentle voice and Alvilda’s tools running across the wood made for a bad combination. If I care to hear what she has to say, anyway. I shook my head. I was being awful. It wasn’t so bad when we were home without Jurij and she could tell me how happy she was that “my man” had found the goddess in me. But whenever Jurij showed up, I felt like there was nothing but frost in the air between us.
I’d spent the morning in the garden, trying not to think about anything, to little avail. I saw Elfriede leaving with a basket, and I figured she was off to fetch her man. I didn’t figure on encountering them here.
It’s almost like she knows what you told Jurij. She probably did.
“Good day,” I said at last. “Didn’t know you were here.”
“Gideon sent us on a quest,” said Jurij as he shoved the rest of the cheese in his mouth.
Alvilda laughed as she ran her file back and forth against the large rough edge that remained on the future headboard. “Not one of those monster-hunting quests, is it?”
It was my turn to smile. “No, we haven’t been on one of those in a while.”
Elfriede spoke at the same time, and rather loudly. “I always thought those games were rather stupid.”
I opened my mouth to point out that her “beloved” enjoyed those games she found rather stupid, but I thought better.
Jurij looked first at Elfriede and then at me. I was surprised he was able to tear his eyes off her for someone as unimportant as me. He stretched and stood from the table, strolling over to examine some of the pieces of wooden art that lined Alvilda’s walls from one side to the next. Jurij pointed to one of the pieces. “Have you ever seen this one, Noll?”
He’s talking to me. I watched Elfriede out of the corner of my eye as I came up behind him. She seemed bored, more concerned with straightening imagined wrinkles in her skirt. But then I stood on my toes and put a hand on his shoulder in order to get a closer look. Elfriede got up at once and made her way to stand beside me.
I pulled my hand back immediately. He’s just your friend. He’s her man. I thought you’d gotten used to that. I focused on the carving. It showed a little girl smiling with a triumphant look on her face. She held a long tree branch—Elgar—high above her like it was the mightiest blade in the land. Beside her—but a little behind her, I took note—was a heroic-looking diminutive retainer wearing a kitten mask. I spun to face the artist. “Alvilda! Is that Jurij and me?”
She grinned. “It is indeed.” She paused to wipe her brow with the back of her arm.
I laughed and exchanged a smile with Jurij, forgetting for just one moment that there was anyone else with us, that there was anything but happy feelings between us.
The chirping bird cleared her throat. “I’ve asked Auntie to do one of our Returning.” “Auntie.” Of course. She’ll be one of the family soon.
My smile faded and I stepped back. Elfriede stepped in immediately to intertwine her arm with his. Jurij smiled peacefully and tilted his head so that Elfriede’s golden curls caressed his cheek.
Alvilda appeared behind us, wiping sawdust from her hands with a rag that she carelessly tossed over the fireplace mantle once she finished. “I’m definitely looking forward to carving that.” She focused her dark brown eyes on me, and I saw something in them that made me wonder just how much she meant her words. “But first, I’m a little busy with a special gift here.”