Good Morning, Little Ones!
Thank you to Mel and Jill!
.: Sjaután :.
It doesn't take too long to start to understand the rhythm of this place. Every morning, I help with the household chores before Eydís and I go to her workshop to continue our work there. In the evenings, we stop to come back to the house and prepare dinner for everyone. Sometimes after we eat, they will gather around the fire to tell stories. I don't know what the stories are about, but I enjoy listening to the rhythmic way they are told.
I'm particularly fond of when Edvard tells a story. His deep voice is hypnotic and smooth, and I'm immediately entranced when he starts speaking.
It's no easier being near him, though we don't have many opportunities anyway. Sometimes I sit near him at dinner; sometimes I'm at the other end of the table.
When they can, each family member tries to help me learn more of their language. Arni, Rúna's husband, has often tried to teach me words I suspect are quite rude because whenever he's caught, Rúna smacks him upside the head. He always laughs it off, and she never stays mad at him for too long.
My learning is slow, but I am learning. I've never tried to learn a second language before, and this one is so foreign that some days it feels like I'll never get it.
But hearing it every day, having to try to speak it and understand it, I'm getting there, moment by moment.
Eydís has also grown less hostile. Whether it's because she can now tell me what she wants me to do, or if she's just gotten used to me, I'm not sure.
Some days it's outright pleasant working with her.
I like learning about plants. I had no idea there was a world of healing in the beauty of nature. Eydís knows so much, and I want to soak in her knowledge like a sponge.
Working with her, I feel capable for the first time in my entire life.
Rúna is also quickly becoming a friend to me. She's kind and patient, and I adore her rosy-cheeked children. Foli is too busy to sit with us for long, but Katla will settle in in the middle of the day, her sleepy eyes blinking heavily as her mother sits and sews. Sometimes, Katla curls into my lap, falling asleep in my arms for a quick rest. Each time she does this, I see Rúna's face brighten.
I've not spent too much time around children. Babysitting in the tiny town I grew up in was competitive, and as such, I didn't get a lot of opportunity for practice.
It's surprising to see how much caring for Katla or tiny baby Hugi has come to mean to me. There is so much I don't know, but mostly, it's easy enough to sort out, even with the language barrier.
My evenings are spent still slightly separated from the family. I eat with them, though I get the impression from Eydís that I'm breaking some sort of rule by doing so. But every night, Rúna brings me to the table.
Though it also frightens me, my favorite nights are when I do sit near Edvard.
I am drawn to him, like a tiny metal shaving being pulled by an extraordinary magnet. I cannot help myself from gravitating toward him. I still don't know for certain who Eydís is to him, but the fact that I never see them kiss brings me hope. She does seem older than everyone else, a matriarch perhaps. I suspect that she is his mother, Josurr's as well, though Arni looks different enough from the other two men that I can't be sure he's another brother. I haven't yet learned the words for family relationships, but it is clear that these people are by one way or another, all family, and from what I've been able to observe, it is only Rúna and Arni that seem to be married.
It makes my stomach drop out from under me to think about Edvard being uninvolved.
It feels foolish to hope for something like that, especially when he so rarely looks in my direction, but I can't help it. I am a school girl, utterly infatuated with this large, terrifying man.