Page 62 of North Is the Night
“Thatisa question I want answered,” she counters.
I match her glare for glare. “Listen, witch, I would only tell you my name if I were dispatching you to Kalma in the next breath. Ask me a different question.”
She holds my gaze for another moment. “You were attacked yesterday by a pair of trappers. How did you survive?”
“How do you know about that?”
“I’m asking the questions.”
“They wanted something from me that I wasn’t willing to give,” I reply. “So, I killed them.”
She raises a brow. “You killed them?”
“Yes.”
Lumi doesn’t look convinced. “Youdid? This weak, half-
starved girl before me with a festering neck wound? You killed two grown men all on your own?”
“You doubt me? Give me back my bow, and I’ll show you.”
Lumi leans across the fire, her wolfish eyes alight with eagerness. “And where is the bear?”
I blink, heartbeat stuttering. “What bear?”
“Don’t play games with me. Some of the men saw you approach our camp in the company of a bear. Where is he?”
A tense moment stretches between us. There’s no point in lying to this witch.
“He won’t hurt you,” I say. “I swear, so long as you don’t hurt me, he’s no threat to you. Let me go, and we’ll both leave you in peace.”
Lumi’s eyes glitter in anticipation. “You have no idea how long I have waited for that bear. Lead me to him, and I will give you anything you want—food, supplies, weapons.”
I consider for a moment. “And if I don’t lead you to him, what will you do? Kill me?”
“Not at first,” she replies honestly. “Maybe your slow death will lure him in. At this point, I’m willing to try anything.”
“What can you possibly want with a bear?”
“You know as well as I that the bear is the key to finding Väinämöinen. I’ve been trying to follow that bear to him for longer than you’ve been alive. You have no idea what I’ve sacrificed... what I’ve lost.”
She blinks, her golden eyes refocusing on me. “Now I find that the bear has volunteered to helpyou, a nameless, talentless, mortal girl. Do you have any idea how maddening that is?” The flames dancing in Lumi’s eyes give her away.
“Wait... did those trappers work for you? Did you send them out to look for the bear? Did they craft that pit too?”
Her eyes widen in surprise. “Ahh, soyouhelped him out of the pit. I’ll have you know that was a year’s worth of planning, wasted.”
“I’m not sorry. May Otso strike you down for hurting his child.”
“You don’t even know what you tangle with,” Lumi hisses. “You’ve stumbled into a magic you can never understand. Give the bear to me.”
I remain unmoved.
She watches me with deep intensity. “Whatever you need, whatever you seek from Väinämöinen, he will not agree. He is selfish and lazy and scared of his own shadow. He will rot before he lifts a finger to help you.”
I glare, unwilling to reveal that Tellervo already told me the same thing. “And what makes you think I can ever trust you?”
“I pay my debts,” she replies, holding out her hand. “Make a vow with me, and I’ll not break it. I will help you to whatever end you seek.”
