Page 14 of Spoils of war
I hesitated. The box looked like it came from a shop with glass counters and city prices. I wasn’t sure I could accept it.
“Open it,” she repeated.
Inside, nestled in tissue paper were white skates with pink laces, sparkling like fresh snow. I didn’t know what to say.
“Oh, what a lovely gift,” my mother said over my shoulder.
Licia grinned. "Try them on! I hope they fit.”
I dropped to the floor and started lacing them up.
“Not on the wood!” my mother snapped.
We burst into laughter. I slipped on my boots and wool coat, grabbed the skates, and we took off through the snow, heading for the lake. Licia did her careful routine while I sat on a log, lacing the ice skates, which fit like they were made for me. Licia helped me up and showed me how to keep my balance, but it was harder than I thought. She just made it look easy, but it wasn’t. I fell, day after day, but I kept trying. Kept getting up.
One afternoon, as the snow glittered like stars beneath the setting sun, I was attempting small spins on the ice, while Licia worked on jumps and one-legged turns.
And then, we heard voices.
“Over here, this is perfect,” someone called, and two boys stumbled through the trees, laughing like idiots.
Will and Aran.
Everyone knew them. You couldn’t grow up in Novil and not know them. They were the kind of boys who turned boredom into chaos and never seemed sorry after. Climbing roofs, stealing produce, always daring each other to do something dumber than the day before. Einar had warned me more than once to stay away from them, they were nothing but thieves and liars, he said. Trouble. He wasn’t wrong.
Aran was trouble, he always had that glint in his eye like he was seconds away from doing something he shouldn’t. But Will... Will was different. He followed Aran’s lead, but it never felt like his heart was really in it, and his soft smile made my heart flutter.
Aran had an axe slung over one shoulder and a saw in the other hand. Will carried two fishing rods and a small tin of bait. His brown hair was a wind-tossed mess, clinging to his forehead, and his blue eyes stood out against the red in his cheeks.
“What are they doing here?” Licia muttered.
Her movements turned stiff, her jaw set. The lake was hers. Ours. She didn’t want anyone else there. Didn’t wantthemthere.
“Come on,” she sighed, already skating toward them.
I followed, my legs steadier now but still unsure. Will looked up as we approached and his eyes locked on mine.
My heart hiccuped, and I looked away too quickly. Aran raised the axe and brought it down hard against the ice with a sharpcrack.
“What are you doing?” Licia demanded.
Aran didn’t even look up. “What’s it look like?”
“Ice fishing,” Will explained. “We thought we’d catch something.”
”Yeah, something big,” Aran said, squinting at Licia’s skates. ”Hey, give me one of those.”
“What? No,” she retorted. “Why?”
“It’s sharper.”
“You’ll just destroy it.”
“I won’t! I promise! Please?”
”You’re dumb,” she muttered, yanking off one of her skates and tiptoeing on the other foot to keep her balance.
I think we both liked them, though we would’ve never admitted it. Every time we ran into those boys, something thrilling happened. Whether they dared us to cross an old bridge, or steal a bag of coin from a merchant, whatever it was, it made adrenaline pump through my veins. And we were drawn to their chaos like moths to flame.
