Page 65 of Prince of the Northwest Forest
Kalle reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. He doesn’t let go. I don’t want him to.
But we can’t dawdle if we’re going to get Kalle his communication ability—and bride—back. And I’ll never find my memory if we stay here. Even though I could see myself living out my days in a little tree cottage like this.
“Can we help with the dishes?” I ask. Only then I look around and realize that everything is already spick-and-span.
Yinok shakes their head. “No, there is no need. Things get clean on their own here.”
“Food that appears when you ask for it and self-cleaning dishes. That’s amazing.” I whistle.
“That’s forest magic,” Kalle agrees.
“Is there anything else I can provide you two?” Yinok asks.
“No, we have burdened your hospitality enough. You will be remembered at court,” Kalle says.
“Before you continue on your journey,” Yinok says, “I must give you each a gift.”
I start to wave Yinok off, but then they hand me a bundle of cloth. “What is it?” I ask.
“A cloak. You will need it, because it will be cold in Icedonia. Also, the cloak will protect you from the flames of the Fire Realm, should you go there.”
“I’ve always wanted to explore the woods while wearing a cloak,” I say in awe, as I drape the garment over my shoulders and look down at my arms covered in thick green wool.
“You look very handsome,” Kalle says. Then his ears turn pink.
That makes me smile almost as much as the cloak does.
“And you may need light in the darkness.” Yinok opens a cupboard and pulls out a lantern. Lighting it with a match, they hand it to Kalle along with the box of matches. “Just in case.”
“I’m going to look like a lyktgubbe,” Kalle says.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“A lantern man or will-o’-the-wisp. They guide travelers in the dark. They’re in the Fae Realm, though. Not here.”
“Huh. You’ll have to tell me about them.”
“A lyktgubbe is the troubled soul of a dead person who cheated someone out of their land. They’re forever walking the boundaries of the land they stole. If you’re lost, they can help you find your way home … or they can make you more lost than ever.”
“I’m not sure I want to run into one of those,” I admit.
“I’ve never met one,” Kalle says. “But I’ve always wanted to.”
Kalle and I give Yinok hearty thanks, and then we, along with Hazel and Martin, are transported back to the spot in the woods where Yinok first appeared.
A light snow is falling, but the cloak is doing what it’s supposed to do: keeping me warm. So, in short, we’re wearing hooded cloaks and trudging through the misty forest, looking for a princess. This is my favorite role-playing game—only it’s real. Kalle seems like he’s part elf. Like he’s made of air and the songs of the forest. He’s strong, but his feet fall very quietly.
“How can I repay Yinok’s kindness?” I muse a little bit later, when Kalle and I are making our camp. He did not want to risk alerting any firecats by building a fire, which means we’re cold. And that means that we’ll have to snuggle close together in the tent I’ve just set up by lamplight. Gosh darn oops.
“You really can’t. But I will make sure they are well taken care of when I return to the castle. I think this should be our last night before we reach Icedonia,” Kalle says, sitting beside me on a log while we eat some of the bread Yinok insisted we take with us. I glance at him. Under his hood, Kalle is brooding. I can’t see his eyes or much of his face. The cloak makes him look like such a badass. “It’s taken longer than I’d hoped to get there.”
“Where is the portal to the Fae Realm in relation to where we are?” I ask.
“It’s just inside the border of Icedonia, in an ice cave.”
“And when we get to the Fae Realm, how will we find Princess Eleanor?”
“I don’t know,” Kalle admits. A lone owl hoots overhead. Wax drips down the side of the lantern.
