Part Four:
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
'The curse is come upon me,' cried
The Lady of Shalott.
--Alfred Lord Tennyson--
Chapter Twenty:
A Feast for the Soul
Cole returned to the camp just as night had fallen. It was ablaze with light. A great bonfire was burning in the centre, Merry and some of the rebels were roasting a hog in a covered area to the side, and torches were lit throughout the clearing. Music was blaring. Fine, rousing tunes, fast pipes and hard strings. People were laughing and dancing, the twins running about like wild things, painting people’s faces with old dwarven markings.
Garnet bustled towards him and placed a tankard of warm, spiced cider in his frozen hands. “Drink up, lad, it’s going to be a cold night.”
A thick frost had settled on the ground, and snowflakes were beginning to fall. It didn’t seem to bother anyone, didn’t deter any of the dancers.
Eirwen was among them, twirling in a breezy white gown, her cape long since abandoned on a log nearby. Her cheeks were red, her face beaming and giddy.
He had never seen anything quite so perfect.
“I know that look,” said Garnet.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Did something happen between you two whilst you were Under the Mountain?”
“Um…”
“That’s a yes, then.” She chuckled, patting his arm. “Onyx already have words with you?”
“Yes. Very stern ones.”
“Well, mine won’t be. You make her happy.”
Cole’s heart thumped in his chest. “Did she say anything to you?”
Garnet shook her head, making his heart sink. “No. But she doesn’t need to. I haven’t seen her like this in a while.”
“She… she wasn’t happy earlier.”
“No, she wasn’t.” Garnet sighed. “She doesn’t have the heart for all this killing, you know. The stomach, maybe. The head? Definitely. But not the heart.”
“What do you mean?”
“When she first came here, Onyx was insistent that she earn her keep, so Wren took her out into the forests to learn to hunt. She’s got a good aim with a bow, but the first deer she downed didn’t die immediately. She took her dagger and slit its throat. Wren was impressed, but later that night, I found her sobbing behind the barn. She was just trying to spare it any further pain. She begged for something else to do, so Onyx took her Under the Mountain. Taught her to fight shades. They don’t scream when you cut them. Eirwen… Eirwen can’t stand to see anyone in pain. That’s why she’s doing this, but it’s hard to carry all of that burden yourself, when everyone’s pain is yours…”
Cole thought about how she’d been when he’d been shot. She’d made no secret of her dislike for him, at least back then, but she looked after him nonetheless. And the night she’d overheard his mother, when her own heart must have ached, she’d come for him, to see howhewas.
He liked to think he would have done the same for her. He certainly wouldnow.But for anyone? No. Eirwen was different. A pure heart indeed.
“She’s… a good person.”
“The best,” Garnet agreed. She looked at him sharply, and he half expected some kind of warning, but instead she tugged on his chin. “But you might just be worthy, giant boy.”