The candles were lit. It was a dark evening, and the fireplace and candles were the only light they had this evening. There was no snow, and what little starlight they might have had was blocked out by the rainclouds.
General Mattias sat by the fire. He had no interest in leaving its warmth, even for dinner, and Halima was an excellent cook. Thirty-four years with no buildings or houses like this had made him long for something as simple as sitting on a chair by the fire, with glass windows between him and the driving rain outside.
"Here, Destin, I made beef stew," Halima said, bringing over a small table and then setting his bowl and spoon on it. She understood.
"Thank you," he replied, taking a deep breath. It had been something he gave no thought to in his youth, a simple beef stew, but now he could appreciate the delicate taste, so different from game meat.
When he and the other troops had first gone up north to the Enchanted Forest, the wild foods had been novel and interesting, and they'd make a game of trying increasingly strange local specialties. But after they were trapped inside, those foods quickly became the only food they could eat. By the end of the first winter, the novelty of the foods was revealed for the dire necessity that it really was in that environment.
A light flickered in the corner of his eye, and he turned to see Halima carrying a candle over to join him.
"Would you like me to read while you eat?" she asked him.
"What do you have?"
"A new Danish story."
"Does it have a happy ending?"
"I haven't read it yet," she admitted.
"You read it first, then let me know," he told her, quickly returning to his stew.