The sun rose the next morning with a glorious array of colors that reflected in the cold morning dew present on the grass and leaves. The air smelled fresh, brisk, and it was bitterly cold. Ice was edged in the shallows of a nearby stream and shallow pools were completely frozen over.
After a quick breakfast Raena started for home. The trail she followed was faintly seen and in some places, not seen at all. Because it had been made by animals, it often backtracked and curved in the wrong direction. It still was the fastest way out of the mountains.
The Spine was one of the only places that King Galbatorix could not call his own. Stories were still told about how half his army disappeared after marching into its ancient forest. Misfortune and bad luck hung over the Spine like a cloud. Every time Raena thought that the Spine had given her all its secrets, something happened to upset her understanding - like the stone's appearance.
The leagues before her disappeared as she kept her fast pace and she soon arrived at the edge of Palancar Valley and the low rumble of the Anora river was heard. Raena set up camp near the ravine and fell asleep with the moon shining down upon her.
It grew colder and colder over the next day, and little wildlife was seen. Soon enough Raena made it to Igualda falls and Carvahall shown like a speck in the distance.
The sight of her village brought new energy onto her and she made her descent down the outcropping arriving at the bottom once dusk had fallen. Finally at the bottom, she ran the rest of the way to the village, its chimneys brought the smell of woodyness to her senses and filled her with warmth. She could not wait to sleep in her bed instead of the hard ground.
She made her way through the logged houses weaving in and out of the way of the villagers making their way back home for dinner, pretending not to see the disapproving looks or hear their muttered insults. After a little while Raena finally made it to her destination, the butchershop. The gush of warm air as she opened the door made her sigh in relief, but when Sloan, the butcherman's, twisted mouth came into view, the chill quickly grew back in her body.
" Well, the mighty hunter joins the rest of us mortals. " He looked her up and down, his eyes narrowing in disapproval as his gaze met her trousers and worn leather boots. " How many did you bag this time?"
" None," Raena replied curtly. Sloan had never liked her, he always treated her as something unclean. Though Sloan only cared about one person in this world, his daughter, Katrina.
" I am amazed," his eyes widened over exaggeratedly with astonishment. " And that's why you're here?"
" Yes?" Raena answered questioningly.
" In that case, let me see your money." Sloan tapped his fingers impatiently on the counter.
" Well, I don't have coin, but I do-"
" No money?" Sloan cut her off. " And you want to buy meat? Use your head girl, merchants don't just give their product away for free do they? Am I expected to hand you the goods without charge just because you come in here and flutter your eyelashes? Your mother seemed to get whatever she wanted, running around with different men, I should have known you would turn out exactly like her." Raena's cheeks grew red and her eyes narrowed in indignation at his insults but he continued without giving her another look. " It's too late for this, come back tomorrow with money. I'm closed for the day."
Raena's eyes were starting to water from her anger but she tried to ignore his comments and hold her tears back. She reached down to her pack at her feet and grabbed the stone setting on the counter. " Will this be enough?" She asked.
Sloan picked up the stone and ran his hands over it speculatively. He set it back down after inspecting the veins of white. " It's pretty, but how much is it worth?"
"I'm unsure", Raena admitted. " But no one would shape it so finely unless it was of some value."
" But how much value?" Sloan's patience was quickly waning. " You could find a trader who knows, or take my offer of three crowns."
Raena's brows furrowed, " It must be worth at least ten times that! Three crowns won't buy enough food to last for a week."
Sloan shrugged, " If you don't like my offer then you can wait until the traders arrive. Either way, I'm done with this conversation."
The traders might not arrive for a while and her family needed the meat now. " Fine, I accept." Raena spoke softly. Her body ached as it remembered the pain of hunger that she and her family would soon be experiencing again.
" Very well, I'll get you your meat. Where exactly did you find this anyway?"
" Two nights ago in the Spine-"
" Get out!" Sloan shouted and pushed the stone away from him off the counter. Raena quickly caught it before it hit the ground.
"Why?" Raena asked as she hugged the stone close to her protectively.
" I won't deal with anything from those damn mountains! Take your sorcerer's stone elsewhere." Sloan retreated to the end of the counter and started scrubbing old bloodstains from a knife.
" You refuse to sell to me!" Her family was at stake of starving in the winter without any food just because Sloan was stubborn about what came out of the Spine.
" Unless you're going to pay with coins you will go or I will make you!" Sloan growled, pointing his knife at her in exasperation.
The door behind them slammed open and Raena whipped around preparing for more trouble. In stomped Horst and Sloan's daughter, Katrina. Sloan glanced towards them warily and immediately started to accuse Raena.
"Quiet, " Horst interrupted with his rumbling voice cracking his knuckles at the same time. He had an imposing figure, his many years of blacksmithing had given him strong muscular arms and a thick neck. " Sloan, what have you done now?"
" Absolutely nothing," Sloan gave Raena a murderous glare, " This . . . . girl came in here and started trying to take advantage of me."
" Is this true?" Horst demanded.
" No!" Replied Raena. " I offered this stone in payment for some meat and he accepted it. When I told him where it came from he refused to touch it. What difference does it make?"
Horst glanced curiously at the stone, then returned his attention to the butcher. " Why won't you trade with her, Sloan? If it's a question of the stone's worth then I will back it with my own money."
Sloan bit his lip then spoke, " this is my own store. I can do what I want."
Katrina stepped towards her father, pushing her auburn hair back. " Father, Raena is willing to pay. Give her the meat and we can go have supper." Her voice was soft and calming but Sloan's eyes narrowed dangerously.
" Go back to the house, this is none of your business. . . . Now!"
Katrina's face hardened and she marched out of the room, the door slamming behind her.
Horst tugged at his beard reproachfully and asked, " What were you going to get Raena?" His voice echoed in the tence room.
" As much as I could"
Horst pulled out a pile of coins. " Give me your best roasts and steaks. Make sure it is enough to fill her pack." Sloan hesitated, his gaze darting between Horst and Ranena.
" Not selling to me would be a very bad idea." Horst stated.
Sloan stomped into the back room with a sneer. They could hear chopping, wrapping, and cursing and after several stiff minutes he returned with an armful of wrapped meat. His face was unreadable as he accepted the money and he quickly retreated back to the end of the counter.
Horst grabbed the meat and walked outside. Raena followed him swiftly after picking up her things, not wanting to be in the butcher shop for any longer.
The cold air of the night hit her face fiercely when she stepped out the door, it felt strangely refreshing.
" Thank you, Horst. My Uncle will be glad to see meat on the table this winter."
Horst chuckled softly and gave her a small smile. " Don't thank me. I've wanted to humble that troublemaker for a long time. Katrina heard the yelling and ran to fetch me. A good thing too, it looked like Sloan was almost at blows. Unfortunately, I do not believe he will serve you or your family again, even if you offered him piles of gold."
Raena's face was grim, her brows furrowed in confusion. " Why did he explode like that? We've never had a good relationship but he's always taken my business. And I've never seen him treat Katrina that way." She opened her pack as she spoke.
Horst shrugged and slid the meat into the pack. " Ask your uncle. He knows more about it than I do."
Raena lifted the stone up to him once he had closed her pack. " Here, this is yours."
" You can keep your strange rock," Horst chuckled," As for payment, you can come around my house and help my wife around the house. Between me, Albriech, and Baldor, we can make quite a mess."
Raena smiled happily. " Thank you, truely, for everything you have done." She was glad there was a way for her to pay Horst. Uncle Garrow hated accepting charity.
Raena was about to make her way back home when she remembered something her cousin had asked of her. She turned back to Horst. " Wait. Roran wanted me to give Katrina a message, but I think it's best if Sloan doesn't see me for a while, can you get it to her?"
" Of course."
" He wants her to know that he'll come into town as soon as the merchants arrive and that he will see her then."
" That all?"
" Raena gave a smirk, " No, he also wants her to know that she is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen and that he thinks of nothing else."
Horst's face broke into a broad grin. " Getting serious, isn't he?"
" Yes, sir," Raena giggled, " Could you also give her my thanks? I hope she doesn't get in trouble for standing up for me."
" I wouldn't worry too much, Sloan doesn't know that she grabbed me so he won't be too harsh on her. Will you have dinner with us tonight?"
" I'm sorry, I can't. Uncle is expecting me. I don't want to get him worried." Said Raena as she tied the top of her pack. Horst helped her as she hoisted it onto her back and she started down the road. Before she turned the corner she raised her hand in farewell and then took off in a run.
Her heavy pack slowed her down but she was eager to be home. The village ended abruptly and its warm lights stayed with it, the only light left to guide her path was the pearly moon that peaked over the mountains. The grass got longer and longer until it reached her waist. The grass almost hid the small path up the hill from view and the long shadows of the elm trees blocked the moonlight making it hard for Raena to see in front of her. She didn't need to see. She knew the path and her feet carried her forward.
Once she got up the hill she was greeted by the gentle light shining from her home. It bathed her heart in a comforting warmth.
The house had a shingled roof and a brick chimney. Split wood stood stacked on one side of the porch, ready for the fire. On the other side, farm tools jumbled in a clutter.
She reached the porch, the wood creaked noisily as she walked to the door. " She knocked briskly on the door. " Uncle, it's Raena. Let me in." A small shutter slid back for a second then the door swung inward, screeching in age.
" Roran's sleeping." Garrow spoke as he saw Raena's eyes roam around the room searching for her cousin. She gave a nod and set her pack on the table taking out the meat.
Garrow's eyes narrowed as he saw the wrapped packages. " Did you buy meat? Where'd you get the money?"
Raena took a breath before answering, " Host bought it for us."
Garrow's face paled in irritation and anger, "You let him pay for it? I told you before, I will not beg for our food. If we can't feed ourselves, we might as well move into town. Before you can turn around twice they'll be sending us used clothes and asking if we'll be able to get through the winter."
" I didn't accept charity," Raena snapped, a headache was starting to brew in her head, it had been a long day," Horst agreed to let me work off the debt. Elaine needs help around the house."
" And where will you find the time to work for them? Are you going to ignore all the things that need to be done here?" Asked Garrow, forcing his voice down.
Raena hung her bow up by the front door. " I don't know how I'll do it," She said irritably. " Besides, I found something that could be worth some money." She set the stone on the table.
Garrow hunched over it and moved his hand over its smooth surface.
" You found this in the Spine?"
" Yes," Raena answered and explained her trip, though she left out the explosion that happened before the stone appeared.
" I lost my best arrow, I'll have to make more before long."
" How's the weather?" Her uncle asked, lifting the stone.
" Cold," Raena replied shortly, " everything's frozen but no snow."
Garrow's face grew worried. " Tomorrow I will need you to help Roran finish harvesting the barley. If we can get the squash picked, too, the frost won't bother us." He passed the stone back to Raena. " Here, keep it. When the traders arrive, we'll see how much it's worth." He gave a short pause, " Why did Horst pay for the meat?"
Raena explained her argument with Sloan. " I don't understand what angered him so much."
Garrow sighed and explained how Sloan's wife went over the Igualda Falls and that Sloan refused to have anything to do with the Spine since then. " But that's no reason to refuse payment. I think he wanted to give you trouble."
Raena thought about questioning Garrow about what Sloan meant about her mother being with different men but decided not to when her body began to sway with exhaustion. " It's good to be back. " She yawned and Garrow nodded, his eyes softening. Raena stumbled to her room, placed the stone under her bed, and collapsed onto the mattress.
She was nearly asleep when a soft knock came upon her door.
" Come in," She groaned deliriously.
She opened her eyes briefly to see her cousin enter the room. Her eyes closed again, she had no energy to keep them open.
" Uncle said you were sleeping" She grunted, her tired brain was barely able to form the words.
" You know I can't sleep when you're gone," He sat down on the floor next to the bed, " I get too worried. Anything could happen to you out there."
Raena hummed in reply, a small smile settled on her face.
" I don't want you to get hurt. You may be my cousin, but I've always thought of you as my little sister. I don't know what I would do If you got hurt." Roran waited for her sarcastic reply but it never came.
He looked up at her bed and gave a soft chuckle. Raena lay there, asleep, her boots still on and her hair in shambles around her head. Roran shook his head with amusement and made his way quietly back to his room. All three occupants of the house slept soundly that night.
It would be one of the last sound nights they would have for a long time.
