Page 42 of A Tale of Ice and Ash
“You always were excellent with the embroidery…” A few more moments ticked by. Marie snapped her fan shut. “I’m sorry, is that it?”
“What?”
“You’ve been gone forfive yearsand you show up, completely out of the blue, asking for my help to take down your evil stepmother, andthat’s it?”
Eirwen blinked. “What… what else did you want me to say?”
“Hmm, a simple, ‘how have you been, Marie?’ would be a start!”
Eirwen put her head in her hands. “Oh, you’re right. Marie, I’m so sorry. I don’t always know what I’m supposed to say.How have you been?”
“I’ve been… fine, I suppose. A shocking lack of things have happened, if I’m honest. I’ve read some excellent books lately, though. I imagine you could tell a more interesting tale?”
Eirwen shrugged. Marie groaned, loud enough to shake the carriage.
“Eirwen! Tell me what you’ve been doing!”
“Oh, right!”
For the remainder of the journey, Eirwen filled in Marie on what had happened in her absence, from fleeing the castle and finding the dwarves, to exploring Under the Mountain and the treasures she’d encountered, to bumping into Cole and what had transpired after.
“Wait,Coleknows you’re alive?”
“Yes.”
“And he hasn’t told his mother, who wants you dead?”
“Yes.”
“Well, colour me surprised. I always thought he was wrapped around her little finger.”
“Me too.”
“I… I can’t believe you’ve been alive all this time, and never told me.”
“I thought about it. Dozens of times. Particularly at the start when living like I was was a little… tough, to say the least.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I was scared. Scared of Bianca finding out. What that would mean for you.”
“I would have kept you safe.”
Eirwen shook her head. “You have an estate, dozens of servants. Too many people who might have sold me out. I feared her wrath far too much.”
“And now?”
“I still fear it,” she admitted. “But… I have to face it. Before things get worse.”
Marie sighed. “Ah, what an excellent story… Our brave heroine rises from tragedy to face a fearful villain for the sake of her people…” She leant back into her seat, fanning herself. “You don’t have a love interest, do you?”
“Why would that matter?”
“Stories like this always have a love interest.”
“I have not the time or inclination for romance, Marie.”
“A pity. For the story’s sake, at least. It’s not really my preference at all.”
