Chapter Ten
There was a long silence in which they all stared at me. I hadn't any idea myself why I decided to tell them that particular story. I hugged my knees and waited for their reply.
"How ironic!" Perry broke the silence, "That's just like us!"
Warryn punched him in the shoulder, "No, it's her you fool!"
Perry grew wide-eyed.
"That girl was you?" Samsen's voice asked softly. I slowly nodded.
"You really have an evil stepmother?" Daran asked sharply. Again I nodded in silence.
"Why didn't you tell us about yourself before?" Alberic stood up, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"I guess it was because all I wanted was to forget about it," I answered quietly.
"Then why tell us now?"
I told them quickly of my encounter with the prince that afternoon.
"Do you love him?" Samsen gave me a look of pure understanding and sympathy.
"I.Well, I've.I suppose.I guess I do." A lump grew in my throat, not because of the prince, but because my thoughts drifted to my father. He seemed so distant in all these months of being lost. They all gathered closer to me.
"Now we shall tell you a story," Alberic sat down again beside me.
"You know the gravestone of Theodore Ewen II?" he asked. I nodded, wiping my eyes on the blanket.
"Do you know anything about the gravestone beside it?" he said. I remembered the other grave that was too worn away to read the inscription.
"That gravestone," Alberic continued, "is of Theodore Ewen's wife, Felicity. Never was there ever such a woman as she. There was no one kinder, prettier or clever."
I had no idea where this was going, but this dwarf woman intrigued me.
"There was a great controversy when Theodore decided to marry her because she was part elf. Her family threatened to disown her if she decided to marry into the dwarf clan. Yet she did anyhow. So if you can imagine, poor Felicity with no one but Theodore by her side, otherwise completely alone. You can see, we dwarves are quite accustomed to taking others not of our kind into shelter." Alberic chuckled at this point. "Felicity and Theodore had nine children, which is actually quite few for dwarves, but four of them were killed by a witch, the same who would end up killing Theodore and Felicity herself. The second of their children, Avery, was Perry, Gareth and Martin's father." Alberic gestured to Martin sitting next to him; the three of them nodded solemnly.
"Who is this witch you keep talking about?" I interrupted.
"Well, no one actually knows her current whereabouts but she has lived for hundreds of years. Witches are particularly hard to kill off. This witch is the only witch left, the only evil one that is, and the only reason we are not going off to try and kill her is that for one, we do not know where she is and two, she is much too clever to fiddle with. For fifty years, she has been silent, so we will continue to keep it so as long as possible. This witch has cast so many evil spells that have killed so many of our kind, Lady Snow. You know not her terrible character."
"And you are not all brothers?" I asked.
"No," Alberic shook his head, "Daran and Samsen are my brothers and Martin, Gareth, Warryn and Perry are my cousins. My father was Avery's brother, Amos."
"My father," Warryn interrupted, "was Ewen, the youngest of Theodore's sons, and he was killed by the witch before I knew him."
"There are two remaining sons and one daughter left of Theodore Ewen's children," Alberic explained, "My father, Amos, and Avery and their sister, Fera. They live on the opposite side of the country. We hardly ever see them. They are nearing three hundred years of age."
I raised my eyebrows.
"So that is a narrative of our history, miss. We hope certainly that you feel a little bit more at ease than before now that we have shared so much of ourselves as you have done. You are the first to know of our past and I have a feeling we are the first to know yours. In that we are connected."
I smiled at this statement, feeling indeed greatly comforted by their tale.
"I do not know what I would do without you all," I said, brimming over with tears of mirth. They grinned bashfully at me and gave me hugs before venturing off to bed. Before he turned to go up the stairs, Samsen turned and took my hand in his small one.
"I'm very glad you came to stay with us, Lady Snow," he said softly, "I hope you stay for a long time."
"Me as well," I squeezed his hand.
"Alberic has never opened our doors to strangers before you know," Samsen explained, "You must be very special."
He turned and climbed the stairs, looking back under the stair rail before going up to bed.
There was a long silence in which they all stared at me. I hadn't any idea myself why I decided to tell them that particular story. I hugged my knees and waited for their reply.
"How ironic!" Perry broke the silence, "That's just like us!"
Warryn punched him in the shoulder, "No, it's her you fool!"
Perry grew wide-eyed.
"That girl was you?" Samsen's voice asked softly. I slowly nodded.
"You really have an evil stepmother?" Daran asked sharply. Again I nodded in silence.
"Why didn't you tell us about yourself before?" Alberic stood up, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"I guess it was because all I wanted was to forget about it," I answered quietly.
"Then why tell us now?"
I told them quickly of my encounter with the prince that afternoon.
"Do you love him?" Samsen gave me a look of pure understanding and sympathy.
"I.Well, I've.I suppose.I guess I do." A lump grew in my throat, not because of the prince, but because my thoughts drifted to my father. He seemed so distant in all these months of being lost. They all gathered closer to me.
"Now we shall tell you a story," Alberic sat down again beside me.
"You know the gravestone of Theodore Ewen II?" he asked. I nodded, wiping my eyes on the blanket.
"Do you know anything about the gravestone beside it?" he said. I remembered the other grave that was too worn away to read the inscription.
"That gravestone," Alberic continued, "is of Theodore Ewen's wife, Felicity. Never was there ever such a woman as she. There was no one kinder, prettier or clever."
I had no idea where this was going, but this dwarf woman intrigued me.
"There was a great controversy when Theodore decided to marry her because she was part elf. Her family threatened to disown her if she decided to marry into the dwarf clan. Yet she did anyhow. So if you can imagine, poor Felicity with no one but Theodore by her side, otherwise completely alone. You can see, we dwarves are quite accustomed to taking others not of our kind into shelter." Alberic chuckled at this point. "Felicity and Theodore had nine children, which is actually quite few for dwarves, but four of them were killed by a witch, the same who would end up killing Theodore and Felicity herself. The second of their children, Avery, was Perry, Gareth and Martin's father." Alberic gestured to Martin sitting next to him; the three of them nodded solemnly.
"Who is this witch you keep talking about?" I interrupted.
"Well, no one actually knows her current whereabouts but she has lived for hundreds of years. Witches are particularly hard to kill off. This witch is the only witch left, the only evil one that is, and the only reason we are not going off to try and kill her is that for one, we do not know where she is and two, she is much too clever to fiddle with. For fifty years, she has been silent, so we will continue to keep it so as long as possible. This witch has cast so many evil spells that have killed so many of our kind, Lady Snow. You know not her terrible character."
"And you are not all brothers?" I asked.
"No," Alberic shook his head, "Daran and Samsen are my brothers and Martin, Gareth, Warryn and Perry are my cousins. My father was Avery's brother, Amos."
"My father," Warryn interrupted, "was Ewen, the youngest of Theodore's sons, and he was killed by the witch before I knew him."
"There are two remaining sons and one daughter left of Theodore Ewen's children," Alberic explained, "My father, Amos, and Avery and their sister, Fera. They live on the opposite side of the country. We hardly ever see them. They are nearing three hundred years of age."
I raised my eyebrows.
"So that is a narrative of our history, miss. We hope certainly that you feel a little bit more at ease than before now that we have shared so much of ourselves as you have done. You are the first to know of our past and I have a feeling we are the first to know yours. In that we are connected."
I smiled at this statement, feeling indeed greatly comforted by their tale.
"I do not know what I would do without you all," I said, brimming over with tears of mirth. They grinned bashfully at me and gave me hugs before venturing off to bed. Before he turned to go up the stairs, Samsen turned and took my hand in his small one.
"I'm very glad you came to stay with us, Lady Snow," he said softly, "I hope you stay for a long time."
"Me as well," I squeezed his hand.
"Alberic has never opened our doors to strangers before you know," Samsen explained, "You must be very special."
He turned and climbed the stairs, looking back under the stair rail before going up to bed.