Hila was trying to slow herself to a walk, but the hill was so steep that she skipped and skittered a long way down.
Meanwhile Kia kept running, as if she had not seen the stranger at all.
“Kia!”
“What?”
“Stop!”
Kia stopped, but she did not turn around. Hila sighed and trotted after her.
“Who’s that?” Kia asked.
“I don’t know! That’s why I told you to stop, i-di-dot.”
A tall figure had climbed over the low wall and was walking directly towards them. If it was a man, there was no danger, for he could not have seen or heard them, but he was walking with the grace of an elf.
Hila did not know him. Few elves lived on this side of the lake, and there were scarcely any males over the age of fourteen. Those who managed to live that long usually crossed over to join the rebel lord Lar and his band as soon as they were old enough to fight. They did not survive long if they did not.
Therefore when one of them showed up in the girls’ village, it could only mean One Thing, as their big sisters said. Hila and Kia did not know what the One Thing could be, but they supposed it was a bad thing, since it required packing up the little girls to hide with the grandmothers. Also, their mothers had warned them never to go away with a big boy or a grown male, and especially never to play any games they might propose.
Hila looked up at Kia, and with a glance they reminded each other of all of this. They were wary and ready to refuse.
But Kia, as usual, was also ready to show off. She crossed her arms and tilted her curly head back, ostentatiously nonchalant.
“Hel–lo there!” she chirped when the big boy had arrived before them.
“Hello, girls,” the boy said. “My name is Surr.”
“My name is Kia, and this is my friend Hilla.”
Hila had known she would say that. “Hila!” she corrected.
Surr smiled at her. “Hilla’s funny,” he said, whereupon Hila liked him even less.
“Where do you live?” Kia asked him.
“I live across the lake, in a tower above the tree tops.”
“Liar,” Hila muttered in English.
“We live beneath the lake, in a castle made of cheese,” Kia said.
“Ohhhh, I see.” He smiled indulgently.
Hila decided she could not stand him. “What do you want?” she snapped.
“I just want to talk to you girls. Are you coming from that castle over there?”
Kia’s nonchalance was shattered. “What’s it to you, mouse-ears?”
“Don’t worry!” he smiled. “It’s not bad or anything. I was just wondering.”
“Well, we were ‘just going home’ but we didn’t interrupt you to tell you about it!”
Hila giggled. She did not know where Kia found the courage to taunt a big boy who probably only wanted One Thing, but she was certainly glad Kia was there to find it.
“Sorry, sorry, I’ll let you go in just a second. But listen – did you know there are some half-elf boys over there?”
Hila tugged frantically on Kia’s sleeve, but Kia was already saying, “Maybe we do and maybe we don’t.”
“Well, did you know that one of them is the son of the elf Lar?”
“No way!” Hila cried. “You don’t know anything! That Night-man is their father.”
Kia jammed her elbow into Hila’s side. Hila realized too late that she had just said too much.
“No, he’s the father of one of the boys,” Surr said. “The other one is the son of the elf Lar and some woman.”
“How would you know that?” Kia challenged.
“I know because the elf Lar is my friend.”
“You liar!”
“He is! I see him almost every day. I eat supper with him almost every day.”
“Aw, right!” Kia said. “That’s right! You live in a tower like the great lords, and you eat supper with Lord Lar every day, and probably have cheese and bread every day, too! I-di-dot!”
“And ride a horse!” Hila added.
“I do! Well, except for the cheese and bread,” he laughed. “We have fish pretty often. But listen, girls – the elf Lar is my friend. So I want to meet his son.”
“Why?” Hila sniffed.
“Because! I want to take him to meet Lar. Lar never saw him before.”
“So what?” Hila asked. “I never saw my father before.”
“I know, but that’s different. Where I live, every elf sees his father, if he’s still alive. You should come live with us.”
That sounded very much like an invitation to go away with a big boy. Hila and Kia exchanged a grave nod.
“So, what do you want us to do about it?” Kia asked airily.
“Don’t they ever go outside of the castle sometimes to play?”
“Only with their father or someone.”
“But don’t they know how to sneak?”
Hila snorted and Kia laughed. “They sneak like bears through wet bracken.”
“But couldn’t they get out of the castle?”
Kia shrugged. “Don’t know. Never tried.”
“Couldn’t you help them?”
“Don’t know. Never tried.”
“Well, listen, girls. You play with them most every day, don’t you?”
“I guess so,” Kia shrugged.
“So, let’s say on the afternoon after the full moon, why don’t you ask them to follow you out into the woods to play? And I can wait for you here, say… or by the wall back there. And I’ll bring my horse too.”
“Do you really have a horse?” Hila asked wistfully.
“Of course I do. I’ll even let you ride him. You can come with us if you want. I’ll bring you back after.”
That was definitely an invitation to go away with a big boy. As much as Hila dreamt of horses, she still feared One Thing. She would simply have to keep hoping that Wulf or Gils would someday contrive to let her ride one of their ponies.
However, to her horror, Kia was already agreeing.
“All right,” she nodded firmly. “We’ll tell them.”
Hila gasped, but Kia twisted her body around so that Hila could see her back – behind which she had linked her thumbs. All elven children knew the gesture meant that everything she said should be negated.
“You will?” Surr asked eagerly.
“Sure! We’ll tell them you seem nice. And we’ll tell them they should go with you if they meet you.”
“And you’ll bring them out after the next full moon?”
Hila linked her own thumbs behind her back and wriggled her fingers for Kia’s greater amusement. “Sure we will! Do we look like liars to you?”
I'm up in the wee hours, too. Given how different out time zones are... it's probably morning where she is.
Chapters
This was definitely an interesting insight into elven society. Oh but I really hope the girls don't somehow end up helping Surr. And Surr you big knucklehead... stop trying to be evil. I will be seriously upset if he actually does become evil
. I really hope he doesn't go through with what Dre wants... it is so horrible.