I heard rehearsing musicians first, followed by the chirping of birds. The smell of the baker’s bread and something sweet tickled my nostrils. Quiet murmuring like a hive full of bees grew louder—and all of that noise suddenly snapped into silence.
The carriage stopped. The door opened. A white hand extended inside. I grabbed it and pulled myself out.
Nearly the entire village was gathered in the knolls among the lily-strewn hilltops. There were chairs, benches, and blankets arranged into rows along either side of the dirt road into the village. Of course, the ceremony took place in the opposite direction of the castle. Too many girls and women would be watching to chance one glancing upward if facing east. At the top of the westernmost hill stood a wooden arch and Elweard, Vena’s unmasked husband and the tavern master, if only in name. He was the most popular choice for village witness to a union. It had to do with the discount you got on ale as a result. Vena liked to have Elweard feel important, as long as it didn’t interfere in the running of her business.
At first I didn’t see any of the faces I’d hoped to see. And then Alvilda, looking stunning in a red gown, jumped up from the front of the left row of chairs. “Noll!”
I saw a wooden duck-face and a beaming smile below a mop of bushy dark hair pop up on the chairs next to her. Luuk. Nissa.
Alvilda picked up her skirt slightly and ran down the hill toward me, not noticing or caring that she kicked up dirt in the nearest seated people’s faces.
She crossed the distance in mere moments, almost as quick as any of the specters could, and wrapped me tightly in her embrace. She pulled back only to kiss me atop the head.
“I’m so glad to see you!” She grabbed my chin in her hand and turned my face to and fro. The calluses on her hand irritated my skin like sandpaper.
“You look well fed.” She moved her hands down to meet mine and pulled my arms outward, observing my new garment. “You look like a lady. Elegant. Beautiful.” She leaned in to whisper, “And not at all like yourself.”
I smiled and squeezed her hands. “I’m so happy to see you, Alvilda. It’s been a long winter.”
Alvilda put her arm around my shoulder, guiding me up the dirt path and toward the arch. I heard the specters and the black carriage move behind me, but when I turned to look, they had only moved to the side of the path and were still close enough to keep an eye on me. Alvilda propelled me forward and kept her voice low, but countless pairs of eyes—human and animal-masked ones alike—drank in every movement we made as we ascended the dirt road.
“I imagine you’re anxious to see your father and your sister,” she said. “And Jurij,” she added in a lower tone. “But you’ve arrived mere moments before the ceremony is to begin. Come sit with Siofra, the kids, and me, and let’s surprise them.”
The kids jumped out of their seats and ran to hug me both at once, screaming, “Noll!” The duck beak on Luuk’s face poked into my chest.
“Careful, Luuk,” said Alvilda, gently pushing his shoulders back. “You’ll stab Noll through the heart with that beak.”
We laughed. I squeezed them both back, ignoring the poke. I tapped Nissa on the back of the head, and then bent one hand upward awkwardly to pat Luuk’s curls that stuck up and out above the duck mask.
“You’ve certainly grown!” I let my hands fall, feeling sort of stupid for petting the kid atop the head. Another half a yard, and he’d be as tall as his brother.
“Thanks,” said Luuk, tucking both hands into pockets in his fine dark trousers. Even through the muffled sound of his duck beak, I thought his voice sounded lower. And without so much as a hint of the quivering that used to accompany his every word.
Nissa, a little beauty in a cream-colored silken dress, put her arm through Luuk’s. “Isn’t he getting to be so handsome?” That made Alvilda laugh, but she was quick to bite her lip and cover it with the side of her hand, pretending she had a sudden itch beneath her nose.
“Yes, of course!” I’d have said I’d have to take her word on that, but I knew since he was still breathing that Nissa had never seen his face, either. Still, the way her young, dark eyes drank in the wooden duck, I might have been able to believe she saw beneath it to the wonder she thought lay inside. “And I love your dress, too.”
Nissa blushed. “I made it with Siofra.”
So they were on a first-name basis. I supposed it made sense since she was to be her future gooddaughter, the same as Elfriede. Nissa finally tore her eyes off of Luuk long enough to look at what I was wearing. “We made yours, too!”