Page 22 of Polar Destiny

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Bertrand gets up and motions me to follow him into the kitchen, but from the corner of my eye I see Arnold exchange a tower with a rook on the chess board. I wonder if his partner will notice he cheated. But somehow, I doubt this will change Arnold'sfate.

"Where are the guys?" I ask Bertrand while he takes a massive sandwich from the fridge. Looks like they already made some food earlier for theothers.

"They needed to shift. Torben insisted on staying but I managed to convince him that you're safe with us." He hands me my plate and puts the kettle on. "They seem very protective ofyou."

I shrug. "I almost wish they weren't." No, I don't. I love how they all care for me. But I won't admitthat.

"It's very sweet. I remember when Arn and I were like that... young love... it's beautiful." He sighs and I'm glad he turns around to make the tea so he can't see me blushing. Young love?Seriously?

"How did they findyou?"

"I ran away from home and managed to get to their island. They took me in and gave me a place to stay while my ankle healed." I don't tell him that it was their fault I injured it in the first place. "Then our house was damaged in a storm so they decided to leave the island earlier than planned. I'm very glad we managed to find this place... I didn't even dare to hope that there may be friendly people living onInchbrach."

Bertrand nods. "Not many of the islands out here are inhabited. People left when the land became too boggy to be used for farming. We're lucky that we're not human. We can hunt without the need for weapons and ammunition. It makes living off the land a loteasier."

I imagine him as a panda, running over the hills of this island and have to hide a smile. "I didn't know pandashunted."

He smiles sadly. "In times of need, we all do things we usually wouldn't. But don't let that worry you. For now, here's some human food and the most amazing Earl Grey tea. I can't stand that jasmine stuff. Thirty years of living with Arn and I still haven't got used toit."

"Have you always lived on thisisland?"

"I think we've been here for two decades now. it was actually a peninsula when we first moved here, although that changed of course. We're lucky that the village was at a good altitude so it wasn't destroyed in the Drowning like so many others. Still, most people left until it was only Arnold and me. We've never been very social people, but it does get a bit lonely heresometimes."

He shrugs and pours us three large mugs of tea. "But it's made me very good at chess. Arn, not so much. Want to head back to the living room? It's warmer by thefire."

He gives my nightgown a pointed look, but it's not like I have any other clothes to put on besides the ones that urgently need washing. I follow him, noticing that my limp is almost gone. Finally. Although I'll miss being carried by theguys.

We sit down on one of the sofas and Arnold joins us, sighing in disappointment that he's not getting any jasmine tea. Seriously, what is it with these men and tea? For a panda and a spectacle bear, they are certainly veryBritish.

We sip our tea in silence, the sound of the crackling fire the only thing distracting me from my thoughts. I can't imagine living in one place for twenty years like these two have. I've always wanted to travel, to explore the world and discover new places. Meet other people who might be more open and friendly than the folks on Salvation Island. And escape my uncle's reign, of course. I'm pretty sure that even if he hadn't forced a marriage on me, I would have run away at some point. But I didn't want to leave the people of the island without a healer. I wonder if my uncle is looking for a replacement for me. I'm not sure how he'd go about that, though, although I wouldn't put kidnapping pasthim.

I'm so glad to be away from him. I can make my own decision now. Like travelling with four bearshifters.

"Do you know when they'll beback?"

Arnold checks the clock on the mantel piece. "Shouldn't be long. They've been out for quite some time now. I think their bears were hungry and demanding to be let out. Running over the ice is not the same as running on land forfun."

"Do I get to see you two shift?" I blurt out and immediately curse myself. That wasn't very polite. But luckily, they seem to be amused rather thanoffended.

"We no longer need to shift as often as your companions, but yes, I'm planning to go for a run tonight," Bertrand says with a smile. "I might be able to get us some meat fordinner."

I'm still having trouble imagining a hunting panda, but hopefully I'll get to see him in action latertoday.

"We've already spoken to Torben about what happens next. You're welcome to stay with us, but the house is rather small and you might want some privacy. Two of the houses in the village are in good condition, so you might want to move into one of them for as long as you stay on Inchbrach. When they left, many people didn't take all their belonging with them, so you might find some useful stuff there aswell."

"Aye, there used to be two sisters living in the pink cottage, the furthest one from here," Arnold adds. "They left some clothes, but as we didn't have use for them, they should still be in theirwardrobes."

"Thanks, I'll take a look," I say, already excited about it. Sounds like a proper treasure hunt. But I better get dressed first, it looks cold outside and more snow has fallen overnight. Walking around in a nightie is definitely a bad idea, no matter how pretty itis.

* * *

"Ithink you should wear this."

Húnn is holding a little black dress that makes me shiver even from looking atit.

"Have you looked outside recently? It's winter, I'm not walking around in that... rag." I put my hand on my hips to reinforce the message. Sometimes I have to be firm with the bears. What am I saying, sometimes? Always. Especially when they're rummaging through a woman's wardrobe, trying to persuade me to put on the flimsiest clothes they can find. And the worst is that they've started to gang up on me. All four bears insisted on coming with me. They seem to see it as a shopping trip. I see it astorture.

"How about this?" Húnn hands me a red dress which has holes in some very inappropriate places. Strangely enough, it looks like it's supposed to be like that. And that neckline... let's just call it aboobline.