The Misadventures of Annika Brisby (41 page)

When Annika and the others stepped outside, Justinian only took a few steps away from the house. He clearly had no intention of feeding the sheep a second time, either.

“I don’t wish to have this conversation, but it seems there is no alternative,” he said with all the leadership of a knight who had survived numerous battles. He turned to Yuri and Finn with a serious expression. “I thought your brother would come back with his head on straight, not pickled with fairy brandy.”

“He’s breaking up the morale,” Nikola pointed out. “I don’t think he has any intention of apologizing to Dardis. He would be better off entertaining wood nymphs at home.”

“How do you know those two, anyway?” Sariel asked Finn suspiciously. “I thought I’d met all of your family’s friends, though I never thought the Marinossians would be the type to associate with the Samodivi of the East.”

“I didn’t think we were the type to associate with them, either,” Yuri said, looking shocked at her brother. “I’ve certainly never met them before.”

“Well,” Finn stammered nervously, avoiding her accusatory stare. “Let’s just say they’re old friends, and I haven’t seen them in ages.”

“All the more reason for me to have met them by now, wouldn’t you agree?” Sariel insisted, but Finn refused to elaborate. It seemed like there was a very long, very juicy story he didn’t want to tell.

“Someone’s got to do something about Talvi,” Zaven said irritably. “How can I trust him to have my back when I can’t trust him to stay sober? He’s not thinking of anyone’s safety…not even his own.”

“It’s not an exaggeration when I say he’s going to get someone killed,” said Nikola, standing beside his brother for solidarity. “This is exactly what we do not need. Our numbers are already at a disadvantage, even with Ohan joining us.”

“I’ve never seen Talvi like this,” Finn said, quite disturbed. “I’m really worried about him, but I can’t seem to reason with him.”

“It doesn’t seem like that’s an option anymore,” Sariel concluded. She was frowning even more than usual.

“If he leaves now, he can probably avoid any major snowstorms,” Nikola suggested.

“You can’t be serious!” Annika said in Talvi’s defense. “You want to send him through the Mesoyadna Forest alone, when winter’s practically here?”

“What are we supposed to do with him? Leave him here?” the druid asked her, siding with the paladin. “He’s volatile, unpredictable, and sullen at best.”

“And,” Sariel added, “have you seen him with children? He wouldn’t last ten minutes if he stayed here with Aghavni until we came back.”

“You’re wrong about that,” muttered Yuri. “He wouldn’t last five.” Finn didn’t look pleased with the consensus, but he looked less pleased with his brother’s antics.

“Don’t forget that he saved Nikola from the sirens,” Annika reminded them, still shocked that they were actually considering such a drastic move. “And he cut me out of the bloodwood’s roots! And he’s a perfect shot with his bow. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“Yes, but I’m concerned that it doesn’t count for enough. He’s becoming a liability,” Justinian said, crossing his arms.

“Let Annika speak with him,” urged Finn. “Please. For the sake of everyone here, just give him another chance. And give her a chance to help him make things right.” Justinian frowned at him before looking at Annika again. “I’d sure like to see how you intend to fix this mess,” he told her. “I’ll give you until Ohan and Aghavni return to change my mind. If he can redeem himself in the next three days, I’ll let him stay. I hope you’re the miracle worker Finn thinks you are, young lady,” Justinian continued sternly. “I’m a hard fellow to convince once my mind is made up!”

Without knowing what she was going to say or do, Annika walked resolutely to the door of the house, where she heard peals of laughter coming from within. She took a deep breath and stepped inside, where the Samodivi of the East, Runa, and Talvi were uncorking the fourth bottle. The boys had been asleep for a while now, and Hilda and the fairies had just finished washing the dishes.

“Look who decided to join us,” Talvi hooted. Cherbi was hovering in front of him, playing with his messy hair. She turned around and gave Annika a nasty sneer.

“I’m not joining you for cocktail hour,” Annika replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “We need to talk, and I’d rather not embarrass you in front of your friends.”

“Runa,” Hilda said firmly, “Don’t you think we’d better turn in for the night? There’s much more work to be done tomorrow and a case of pixie flu isn’t going to help.” Runa looked like she would have protested if her sister hadn’t taken such a firm tone in her suggestion. She reluctantly got up from the table, pouting the entire way to the door as the fairies floated behind her. Hilda paused only long enough to tell Annika, “I’ll come by in a bit to check on you.” Annika waited until the door had shut before she marched over to Talvi and his old friends.

“Get out,” she said to the nymphs. They looked at her incredulously. “I mean it. Get out. Leave. This isn’t your house and you’re not welcome here!”

“Ooh, I think she’s upset,” Talvi laughed. Annika wanted to slap him, but she knew what would be a more painful blow to both him and his guests. She reached out her arm and knocked the two remaining bottles to the floor, breaking them and spilling their precious contents.

“Sorry. My hand must have slipped,” she said as coolly as he’d said those same words to Nikola back in the cave. Talvi muttered something in a low voice to the samodivi and they picked up their sashes. Noses in the air, they headed towards the door.

“Not so fast,” Annika said, pointing to Cherbi’s waist. “That can stay here.” The nymph glared at her, unbuckled it, and let it fall to the floor before they walked out, cursing Annika in their native tongue. She locked the door and stepped in front of Talvi. He gave her his most lecherous smile yet.

“Aww, you wanted me all to yourself, is that it?” he smirked. “So did they. You modern wood nymphs really ought to learn to share. It makes things
so
much more interesting.”

That was it. She let her hand fly across his face so hard that it throbbed from the impact, but pain never felt so good as it did at that moment. She had once asked him if anyone had ever managed to slap the grin off his face, and it appeared that she had done just that.

“They’re sending you home, you asshole! Everyone wants you to leave!”

“Surely you jest, you saucy girl,” he said, while tonguing the blood that had appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“You think I’m kidding? Justinian thinks you’re going to get us all killed! I’m the only one who stuck up for you.”

“Thassa load,” he challenged her. “You would never do such a thing.”

“Oh really?” She stared into his eyes and played back the conversation in her head, where Annika had been the only one to remind the group of Talvi’s merits, and even Finn had pinned his hopes on her, not on his own flesh and blood. His smug expression faded and his eyes transformed into watery pools of blue and green. He hung his head in shame as she fetched him a glass of water.

“What am I doing?” he said, looking up at her. She put the glass in his hand.

“You’re shitfaced, you don’t know what you’re doing. Now drink this,” she instructed. He gulped the whole glass down and she got him another one. “You’re going to be sorry in the morning if you don’t finish it. And don’t drink it so fast.” She collected the broken bits of brandy bottles onto a plate as he watched from his place on the bench.

“Why are you being so kind to me? Why are you doing this?” he asked. Even though he was horribly drunk, even though he had just said terrible things to her, his moist eyes seemed to plead with the utmost sincerity.

“Because no one else wants to,” she said, feeling cold. She was wondering how far back his friendship went with the Cherbi and Chabi. Then she changed her mind. She didn’t really want to know. She set the plate of broken glass on the table and tossed some towels on the floor to blot up the brandy. When she looked up at him, he was smiling with a dreamy look in his eyes.

“I really didn’t think they made girls like you…I love you, Annika…do you know that? Why, I love you so much it hurts. Especially right here,” he said with a bewildered expression, and touched his bleeding mouth. She flinched hard, trying desperately not to laugh.

“You need some sleep. Come on.” She held out her hand and led him to the massive sofa in the living room near the fireplace. She unbuckled his boots and slid them off before covering him with the warm wool blankets. She sat beside him, hunched over with her chin in her hand, staring at her feet while he settled in under the covers. She was lost in her mind, in her confusion, wondering what to say to make everything better.

“Why are you so sad?” he asked. She thought about everything that Finn had said, and about how not even an hour ago she was finally ready admit that she loved him too. But it didn’t matter anymore, not when he’d spent all day doing who knows what to keep warm, how many different ways, with two beautiful wood nymphs.

“Annika? Why won’t you speak to me? Are we playing that bloody ignoring game again?”

“It’s not like you’re going to remember anything I say, so why should I waste my breath?”

“Tell me anyway,” he begged. “Come on…come on!”

“I just don’t understand how you can be so cruel. I can’t believe you brought those girls here after you…whatever. You have no idea how much it hurts inside, right now.”

“I know,” he sighed. “I’m such an idiot.”

“No you’re not. You’re really smart; that’s why it’s so frustrating to see you do stupid things.”

“I
am
an idiot,” he insisted, sitting up and trapping her in his arms. “I want you more than anything right now, but I can’t think of a way to make that happen.” Annika’s jaw dropped in revulsion. She tried to push him away, but he held onto her tightly.

“How can you say you love me right after you nailed Cherbi, or Chabi, or whoever?” she asked angrily, still squirming in his grasp.

“That was almost a hundred years ago. But if you think I fell for their tricks again, you’re quite mistaken.”

“So nothing happened today?” Annika asked. She stopped trying to escape him as his words sank in.

“No, but oh, how I thought about it!” he sang playfully in her ear. “Don’t you know the best way to get over a woman is to get under two more?”

“Well why didn’t you? They look like your type,” she said, appalled at his rationale. He snickered again and nuzzled into her neck. Despite herself, she felt shivers run down her arms.

“I told them that I was supposed to be getting married to a little red-haired samodiva in a few days,” he sighed in her ear. Another round of shivers broke out over legs as he went on. “They were so bloody brassed off when they saw I wasn’t lying. They thought they might change my mind with enough fairy brandy, but I think the joke’s on them!” He was now covering her neck with soft, wet kisses, which made it impossible for Annika to think straight. Then he fell backwards onto the massive cushions of the troll-sized sofa, pulling her down with him.

“You smell so good Annika. I love the way you smell. I love the way you feel. You’re so soft. You’re so sweet,” he said urgently, as he rolled on top of her and pressed himself against her body. “And I
love
how you taste.” His hand groped between her legs and he moaned in hunger. “Isn’t this how you want me to be? Your personal slave? Isn’t that how you put it?”

“Talvi, don’t.” She tried to push him off of her, but he was too heavy, too powerful. He drove his knee down between hers, forcing them apart.

“It’s not as though you’ll be wearing white on our wedding day, my little bride; you might as well let me have my way with you now,” he sighed while covering her face and neck with blood and alcohol-laced kisses. “Blast, my mouth hurts…why won’t you kiss it better?”

“Talvi, stop!” she tried to shout from under his weight.

“Don’t you want me?”

“Not like this!” she said as he pressed his forehead against hers almost as hard as he was pressing his hips into hers. His eyes were wild and possessed.

“I’ve known about you for my entire life…did you know that?” he confessed. “I used to think about you when I was a young lad, hundreds of years before we met. I wondered if you would be dark or light, short or tall, kind or cruel. And I’ve loved you ever since the day I saw you with that ridiculous book in your hand. Our souls were betrothed before the stars were born. Don’t you know that? Didn’t you even read my letter?”

“If you remember this conversation when you sober up, I’ll look into it,” she agreed, pulling his groping hands away. What the hell was he talking about?

“Mmm hmm. I’ll never forget it. I’ll never…ever…” he lay on his back, gave a content sigh, and promptly passed out.

Half an hour later, just as Annika was dozing off next to him, she heard Hilda slip into the house with Finn. She pretended to be asleep as they put another log on the fire. The sound of their quiet footsteps approaching made her shut her eyes even tighter.

“How do you think it went?” she heard Hilda ask Finn from above.

“Dreadful,” he chuckled. “A total disaster.”

winter wash day

Talvi stirred in his sleep as Annika left his side and joined Yuri and Hilda for breakfast the next morning. She fixed herself a little meal and sat at the huge kitchen with her friends.

“How did you manage to get rid of Cherbi and Chabi so quickly?” Yuri asked. Annika smiled a little.

“I hit them where it hurt the most.”

“You punched them?” Hilda asked, rather surprised.

“No, I threw their brandy bottles on the floor. Talvi’s the one I smacked. I got him good, too.”

“Ah…so
that’s
what that purple stain on the floor is,” said Hilda.

“Good on you,” Yuri told her. “I hope you knocked some sense into him. I don’t think he’s ever deserved it more in his life, after the way he’s been lately.”

“I guess time will tell.” She grinned at Yuri and finished her breakfast as the samodivi began another round of laundry. She took the water pitcher and walked back into the living room. Talvi was awake, still curled up in the blankets, staring at nothing in particular. Annika poured him another glass of water and sat down on the large sofa, but his hollow gaze didn’t waver.

“How are you feeling?”

“Wretched,” he mumbled. She smiled sympathetically.

“You’ll get over it. You’re just hung over.”

“Barely. I feel more wretched that no one wants me around. Justinian hates me. Nikola hates me. I don’t even know why you’re here. You should hate me the most of anyone here. You’re so strong. No one else stuck up for me; hell, I wouldn’t have stuck up for me. But you did.”

“You remember that?” Annika was surprised. She hadn’t expecting him to remember anything. “You were pretty bombed last night.”

“How can I forget this?” he said, tonguing the corner of his mouth. “I keep touching it so much, it will never heal at this rate.”

“I didn’t think I hit you that hard.”

“I’m certain I earned it, with flying colors.”

“You don’t remember why I hit you?”

“I only remember bits and pieces. I don’t care to rehash them over in my mind.” He still couldn’t look her in the eye.

“Sooner or later you’ll have to get up and deal with things.”

“Why
did
you come to my defense? I don’t deserve to have you in my life. I don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as you.” She brushed his hair out of his face, but he just closed his eyes as if her very touch caused him pain.

“Stop being so melodramatic. I did it because I know you’re better than what we’ve seen lately. Now if you want to make it up to me, you’ll prove Justinian wrong.” She picked up her journal from the floor beside the sofa and was about to head towards the kitchen when he stopped her.

“Annika…” She turned around and looked down at him. He looked into her eyes for the first time that morning, with nothing but regret. “Even if I spent the rest of my life making it up to you, it would never be enough for what I’ve done.”

Annika returned to help with the mountain of housework. Yuri and Hilda were now scrubbing the walls while Runa and Sariel were wringing the piles of rinsed laundry.

“So, do you think he’s going to survive?” Hilda joked.

“I think so,” Annika said, putting away clean dishes. “He feels really bad.”

“Who wouldn’t after a blackberry brandy bender like that?” Runa said as her tongue twisted over her choice of words. “I know I would have a terrible pixie flu as well.”

“He thinks he slept with Cherbi and Chabi,” Annika couldn’t help but to smile. “But I’m not about to tell him that he didn’t. Not yet anyway.”

“He certainly gave that impression last night.” Hilda set her cloth into a nearby bucket of water and turned around. “How do you know if he did or not?”

“It’s just a feeling I have,” Annika grinned. “Maybe women’s intuition? The things he said last night, they were too outrageous to be lies. You know what they say…in vino veritas.”

“What did he say?” Runa asked. “Did you talk about his letter?” Annika scrunched up her face.

“He mentioned it. But I didn’t know what the heck he was talking about.”

“He said he gave it to you. He wouldn’t sign it until Finn and I had both read it. He said it had to be perfect. He’s been working on it for a long time; since before we left his house!”

“When the heck was this? I think I’d remember a letter.” She scanned her brain, trying to recall the last letter she had seen.

“It was on the ship, of course,” said Hilda.

“He said you never came to him, and that’s what broke his heart the most,” Runa explained. “He waited and waited for you to come and talk to him, but you never did! He thinks you’d rather be with Nikola. That’s why he rescued him from the sirens that day on the ship. He told me that if it wasn’t for you, he wouldn’t have risked diving after him.” Annika’s jaw fell as she recalled a tiny note he’d put in her hand many weeks ago. When she’d heard the word ‘letter’, she pictured an elaborate envelope with a red wax seal like the ones he’d given to Yuri so long ago. But those letters hadn’t been from Talvi; they were from Konstantin and Pavlo.

She walked to the table and reached out for her journal, which was never far from her side. She felt her stomach twist into an anxious knot as she pulled it out of the leather case and banged the flap hard against the table top. Out fell a dime, a pressed flower, and a small folded up piece of paper with lint stuck along one side.

“That’s it!” Runa cried.

“I never read it.” Annika unfolded the little square until she was looking at a sheet of paper covered in the loveliest handwriting. It looked like it had been folded and refolded a hundred times or more.

Dear Annika,

I told you I would tell you when the time was right. ‘
Mo reis to comp anya vlatzee
’ can only be described as something lovely and magical. It’s something true lovers say when they cannot be together. Like flowers on opposite ends of a meadow, they send bees back and forth to one another as messengers of love that are capable of crossing the greatest distances. I promised that I would tell you what it meant, but Runa beat me to it. I only hope that she did an outstanding job, because it doesn’t translate very well. It even comes off as sounding a bit vulgar.

I used to think that this type of true, pure love was a lie, or at best, a myth. It was prophesized before my birth that I was destined to marry a girl from a distant land with the blood of a samodiva, but I refused to believe in this type of love. When we first kissed, I was expecting your soft lips, but I wasn’t prepared for the image of me putting a ring on your finger. This is the vision that startled me so. I wonder if you remember that day. I’ll never forget it.

I knew I adored you from the moment we met, but with each passing day I end up loving you more than I did the previous one. There is nothing I can tell you that conveys the thoughts I experience or the way I feel when I’m in your presence. I was so certain that I was immune to this mythic love, and I was so certain that my heart would never be the one to break—only I suddenly find that I have been reduced to a mere shadow of myself because you claim you have nothing to give. I’m not certain if you ever wanted me as much as I want you, but hopefully I am wrong. I have never wanted so desperately to be wrong in three hundred years. I know you’re afraid of something that is more powerful than you are. It scares me too, but I get the impression that the fear only exists because what can be gained is too tremendous for either of us to comprehend.

You said last night that you might marry me if I were human. I cannot change what I am, or what you are, but I will gladly spend the rest of my life trying. We are meant to be together, I just know it. If you feel the same way, come find me as soon as you read this. I certainly won’t be hard to find. This boat is not that big.

Forever and ever and then some,

Talvi

Annika’s heart was racing as she scanned her eyes over the script one more time before folding it and putting it back in the flap of her journal. She felt like an idiot, having this confession literally sitting under her nose every day for all this time, and not even knowing it.

“I had no idea…I…I feel so terrible that I never read this!” Annika stammered.

“Better late than never, in matters of love,” Hilda said with a sympathetic smile. “I learned that lesson the hard way.”

“I should have known,” said Annika, burying her face in her hands, although she didn’t cry. She was more frustrated with herself than anything. “Talvi tried to say things to me and I would shut him up. Even though I liked him, I always thought there was a chance that he was lying to me. I know he does it all the time.”

“Do you want to know a little family secret, Annika?” Yuri whispered with a sly smile. “Do you want to know how to tell when he’s lying, even when he’s pissed on fairy brandy and high on pixie dust?”

“Of course I do.”

“There are only two times when he fusses with his hair. One is when he’s actually fussing with it. The other is when he’s lying.”

“But he’s constantly messing with his hair! Does that mean he’s always lying?” Annika hissed, hoping Talvi couldn’t hear from the other room. Yuri’s smile did not falter.

“You should know by now how vain he can be! When he’s simply fussing with his hair, he does this…” She ran her fingers twice through the same spot in her hair. “And when he’s lying, he does
this
.” She ran her fingers through it again, but this time they paused in one particular area, catching a lock of hair and playing with it.

“There’s barely any difference at all!” Runa gasped. “How can you notice that?”

“When you’re a twin, you just do,” said Yuri with a bigger smile. They started laughing and looked up. Talvi had just stepped into the kitchen. The girls tried to hush, and returned to their chores.

“Good morning,” Hilda and Runa chirped.

“There’s not much good I can find about it,” he said abruptly, not looking anyone in the eye. He glanced at the table where he’d left his belt the previous night, and looked away quickly.

“Are you hungry at all? Do you want something to drink?” Hilda asked. He shook his head and sat down at the table. Hilda set a cup of tea and some toast in front of him anyway, which he sipped in uncomfortable silence.

“Talvi, what’s got you so down?” Runa asked innocently as she set a basket of clean, wet laundry down next to him.

“You look like your best friend just died,” Sariel commented with a wry smile. He sniffed, blinking back tears.

“I would apologize to all of you for the way I’ve behaved over the past few weeks, but any words that come from my mouth are rubbish.”

“They’re not rubbish,” Hilda said, hugging him against her chest. “But you really need to avoid smoking pixie dust when you drink. Those two substances do
not
mix well with you. You know that.”

“It wasn’t my intention. You know I try not to indulge in both vices at the same time anymore,” he said, and closed his eyes.

“Do you mean they slipped it to you?” Sariel asked, looking very angry. “Those Samodivi of the East are not to be trusted!”

“Don’t you know they kidnap men?” Hilda told him as she smoothed his hair gently. “You’re lucky you only ran into two of them. Any more than that, and they would have carried you off. You wouldn’t believe the outlandish tales I’ve heard.” Talvi’s face crumpled a little as Hilda held him closer.

“Those outlandish tales are true,” he said, and looked at Annika with deep remorse. Runa stepped close to him and dabbed at the dried blood at the corner of his mouth with a wet cloth. At that moment Finn pushed the door open, whistling a happy tune, but it faded as soon as he saw the girls fussing over his good-for-nothing brother.

“You look comfortable,” he smirked. Talvi turned his head to the side, not looking at him. “Here I’ve been busy all morning mending that fence with Zaven out in the snow.”

“He just needed something to warm him up before he helps me hang the laundry to dry,” Hilda defended. Finn rummaged in a pile of Ohan’s tools, finding a set of chisels. Then he walked very close to Hilda, and leaned down to speak in her ear.

“Perhaps I should go on a drinking binge. I would love for you to warm me up the same way,” he winked at Hilda and walked back outside. The girls all looked at Hilda, and she blushed brightly, releasing Talvi from against her chest immediately.

“What can I do to make Justinian see that I’m serious?” Talvi asked quietly. “I can’t go back home like a coward. Do you really want me to leave?”

“We don’t want you to leave, but no one cares for the version of you that was here last night,” Yuri said, crossing her arms. “I don’t want that person coming back. That’s not my brother. My brother would never call Dardis a fly. He would never say such things to someone he loves so much.” He nodded, and finished his tea.

“I can do that. I’ll tell her I’m sorry. But I don’t know what else to do.”

Sariel put her hands on the basket of wet laundry and looked him square in the eye.

“You can start by helping with some chores. Hang this up to dry with Annika. I think you’ll feel a lot better if you do.” Her lips hinted at a smile and he looked at her curiously before stuffing his toast in his mouth and washing it down with the rest of his tea. Then he took the basket and let Annika open the door for him, wincing in the bright light of day. A few inches of snow had fallen overnight and most of it had been trampled upon, but there was a place behind the home where the clothes line hung, and the pristine white ground had been left untouched. There was a nice flagstone path to the door now, and Finn and Zaven were working on one side of the house, fixing the fence that protected a large garden. Justinian and Nikola had led the boys into the woods to chop wood and bring back water. The stillness that the blanket of snow had created was a welcome break from the noise of seven troll sons’ shouting and brawling. Talvi was silent as they walked behind the house. He set the basket down and helped Annika pick up a large sheet.