The Flame and the Arrow

  Chapter 16

  interlude

  The next week went by incredibly fast. With the number of guests expected, everything had to be polished and spotless, and as soon as a task was finished, ten more seemed to take its place. Ambrose had hired a cleaning service made entirely of brownies, who specialized in completing their work at night and dazzling their customers upon waking. However, Althea still managed to find things around the house that needed extra scrubbing and dusting.

  When she wasn’t feeding the horses or feeding her hosts, Annika was practicing her archery with the nymphs and showing Runa a few more kickboxing moves. Yuri had become less and less congenial to be around, but Annika chalked it up to nerves.

  At night she kept returning to the reading room to gaze at the remarkable painting and write in her journal, or read from the book of fairy tales. Talvi would join her after dinner, reading quietly in the chair beside her for a few hours before he went to bed, or engaging her in a game of reversi or backgammon. When she was thirsty, he would pour her a glass of water before she even thought to reach for the pitcher. When she got cold, he would shut the window and fetch her a blanket before she sat up to do so herself. He even turned down a couple visits to the Tortoise and Hare, leaving the others completely bewildered when he politely declined their invitations.

  There was something about those evenings that made Annika wonder even more about him. Did he always come here to read after dinner? Was he proving that he could be her friend after all? He made no more sexual references and kept his conversation geared towards refined topics like art, literature and music, but the most touching gesture he made was when he came to her with a comb and a pair of scissors.

  “Half an inch, just like you said,” he warned, “and not a bit more.”