Good Morning, Little Ones!
So, as some of you figured out last chapter Edvard called her Little One for the first time! My lack of translations is on purpose, but I promise it won't always be like this. There will be a time jump and Bella will pick things up.
Thank you to Mel and Jill!
.: Fimtán :.
After breakfast is eaten, the family splits up to continue their chores. I'm taken with Eydís into her herb storehouse. It's a relief as well as a small disappointment to be sequestered like this.
Eydís sets me at a small table with a bundle of herbs, and after I watch her wrap one bundle, I nod to her telling her I understand. She leaves me to it, and I carefully bind bundles of herbs. I assume, like the bundles that are already hanging from the ceiling, these will be dried as well.
Eydís doesn't talk; she doesn't even mutter as we work, and that in itself is the biggest relief.
Silence is a companion I know well.
Her workhouse is dusty and dry, and though it tickles my nose, there is something about the room that brings me immense peace and comfort. I know it's not Eydís, whose disdain for me is not a secret. It's something about the plants themselves.
I've never spent much time with plants. I'd grown up in one of the richest outdoor environments, but I had never stopped to notice anything.
I'm surprised by how many different types of plants Eydís wants me to bind, and I find that my curiosity is piqued. Are these used for food? Tea? What other use could a plant have?
I'm filled with a million questions, but as usual in my life, I'm unable to ask them.
Eydís and I work a long time, and as I transition from plant to plant, my curiosity grows deeper and deeper until I absolutely can't keep quiet.
"What is this?" I ask, holding up a yellow flower. It looks familiar to me, though I don't have a name for it, and I stroke the lacy leaves as I wait for Eydís to answer me. She looks over at me, her eyes flickering between my face and the plant. She looks suspicious.
"Vallhumall," she says finally, and I wonder if that's the name of the flower, or a swear she's trying to spit at me.
I repeat the word and she looks at me in surprise, nodding once. I turn back to the pile of flowers in front of me and whisper the word over and over until it feels natural.
Eydís appears by my side, and I look up at her warily. She picks up another plant from the table and holds it in front of me. It's silvery leaves are beautiful, and I reach out, wondering if it will feel as soft as it looks. As soon as I touch it, I realize that it's only the underside that is silver, and the other side of the lacy leaf is bright green.
"Malurt," she says.
I repeat the word. She nods and takes the plant into both hands. She points toward the fire then the plant, looking at me. "You burn it?" I ask. She points to the plant and mimes smoke rising off it. She takes a breath and I nod. "You smoke it?"
I'm not sure I'm entirely clear on the process of malurt, but Eydís nods. I hope that I'll get a demonstration of the use by her before I ever actually need it.
My willingness to learn seems to be the small crack I need with her. She spends more time telling me names of the plants on the table, and when she's able, she mimes what they are for. It's a slow process, but eventually, I start to pick some of it up.
I had no idea plants could be so helpful, and it makes me feel a little bit empowered to know that there is a world of aid available to me, now that I know how to look for it.