The Timeless House 3

Likn left soon after the kiss we shared was over. Truthfully, I wasn’t much conversation, I was stricken from the sudden kiss. He apologized for it and before I could respond he was gone. I don’t know what I would have even said if he had stayed it was never consideration of mine for him to be a love interest. Likn was just like my brothers, and I thought I was just like a sister to him too. So the idea that he thought of me like that was certainly baffling.

I thought that I could not bear what had befallen my person that night, yet over the years I have found that I am stronger than I ever could imagine. That night was the first of similar days, days of extreme pain but with silent insufferable happiness to accompany it.

I did not take long  to fall asleep that night, I curled into a ball on the floor next to the empty air that the heat of fire still inhabited. My dreams that night were certainly a marvel that was foreign to me at the time, and is still a mystery to me today.

***

The next morning I awoke to a morning filled with dew, my head was still swimming in congestion from crying the night before. The commotion that  woke me was the sound of my youngest brother, Máni, bounding in the room. (To add to that pleasure, I had, as one may recall, fallen asleep upon the floor which lead to extreme soreness.)

“Frida! Wake up!” He shouted beyond any reasonable volume, he also managed to spew buckets of saliva in my ear.

“Why are you so excited this morning?” I asked truly not recalling the reason for his elation.

“You don’t remember!” he said continuing to shout as though I was a mile away. This shouting drove spike through my skull bringing my poor brain to a higher level of conscious, that it most certainly did not want to be at.

Much to my displeasure he decided not to tell me what he wanted of me. He instead forced me to stand and follow him. This at least got my blood to course through my veins, the more steps I took the more awake I became. He lead me out into the forest to the clearing where we had been recently taking the trees from.

Shortly before our arrival to this area I had figured out where he was taking me, also taking note that the only thing he had remembered to bring for this task was me.

“Máni?” I asked swallowing my small amounts laughter.

“Yes” he asked back practically bouncing on his toes as he walked.

“Where is the ax?” I watched as the realization dawned upon his face.

“OH! I will go get it!” and before I could add to get the wheelbarrow he was beyond the reach of even my shouts.

When he came back I had already chosen which tree we were going to start with for it was probably the easiest to chop. Yet as the day wore on I quickly figured out that it didn't matter which of the trees I had chosen this child was planning on giving me issues.

Mani was not actually bad after we had done most of the work and were loading the wood onto the wheelbarrow (which he had gone back for).  He offered to take the wood back after stating that I might want to talk to the man who had been watching us for a while.

“Mani! Why didn’t you say something before.” I said knocking him on the back of his head, though I didn’t mind  because the man was just Likn.

I went over to Likn and found him smiling, it was a mischievous smile that I hated. Yet, it always seemed to make me smile too.

“Why are you here?” I asked trying to sound annoyed.

“Because you are so beautiful I couldn’t stay away.” he said jokingly.

“Stop! What if someone hears you?” I said actually angry this time.

He turned red and his childish smile was quickly wiped off of his face, “I’m sorry for last night I shouldn’t have kissed you...”

“You’re right you shouldn’t have!” I started to yell, realizing my volume I added quieter, “I mean my father could kill you for less.”

There was an awkward silence that followed. The silence seemed to be driven by Likn’s sudden interest in his own shoes, and the red tint that was now the dominant shade his face.

“I know, and I wanted to apologize for that.”  he said to his shoes.

“You already did.” I said in a tone that was slightly harsher than I meant it to be.

“I mean for everything, for putting the burden of my feelings on you, for tarnishing your honor, and for making you deal with more than what you already have to with Groa.” He said only breaking eye contact with his shoes when he said Groa’s name.

I could see it in his eyes that this was all very painful for him to say. I opened up my arms and walked into a hug, that was returned after a few moments. I started to say goodbye when he stopped me.

“That wasn’t the only reason I wanted to talk to you.” he said letting his mischievous smile return to his face.

“Oh, well, what other reason did you want me besides gazing upon my astonishing beauty?” I said with a laugh.

“Oh, yes you are indeed the most beautiful troll I have ever seen, you could almost be a human.” he said teasing me back.

“Ah so I am a troll now am I? I didn’t realize you had an interest in such barbarians as I.” I said in an off handed tone.

“Of course not but I thought I would just be polite.” he said turning to start walking.

I was only slightly offended, but I punched him in the shoulder in the shoulder anyways. I hadn't done that I awhile and it made me notice how hard his muscles had gotten. I looked at him more closely and he was definitely a man now.

I knew that he wasn’t a boy but before now he he never looked like a man to me. Now I saw that his jaw was strong and defined, I looked at his face and noticed the stubble that dotted across it, realizing that he was in dire need of a shave.

I looked down at my self looking at my narrow waist and pronounced breasts, that this is what he now saw of me. Not the golden haired little girl who was his playmate. I realized why he had kissed me, and I wanted to kiss him now too.

Thinking back now upon that day reminds me of something I heard in a movie many centuries later,  “From such children comes other children.” Sadly that is not what happened for I would be telling a very different story, and would have lead a much simpler life than what I was fated to lead.

“So where are we going?” I asked trying to expel the thought of a kiss from my head.

“It’s a surprise.” He said kicking a pebble in front of us.

“Um...Ok?” I said trying to think of something to say, but I didn’t so we just walked in silence till he stopped in front of a beaten path and gestured for me to go down it.

“If there is a picnic at the end of this road I will kill you, just so you know.” I warned, and Likn just laughed which worried me.

Luckily there was not romantic surprise for me at the end of the trail. There was however a large stone building that seemed to be of some importance considering that Likn had to find a hidden door to get inside. He spent a few moments looking for it, and once he did he gestured for me to go down the stairwell that lead inside. I happily obliged not realizing that I was going to be walking into a room filled with weapons.

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Sorry that I haven't added on to this in a while life has been busy, also I was so exited that I got down to writing something it is very likely that there are editing mistakes so please let me know if you find any.