Finding Heathcliff

Thirteen

When Astrid opened her eyes at dawn, she was glad to see that Arabella heeded her plea and did not appear at her bedside. It would be too difficult to part from her now when she needed to be, or at least appear to be strong, while feeling more tired and confused than the previous evening.

She had never dreamed so much in one night, Astrid mused, trying to recall what she had dreamed about, coming up with broken shards of different dreams, which, put back together, didn't make any sense. After revelling in the warmth and comfort of her bed for a few more moments, wondering when she will get to sleep in a proper bed again, Astrid pulled herself up and smiled when her eyes fell on her bedside table-- Arabella was nowhere in sight, but she had brought her breakfast while she slept.

Eating quickly, only to please Arabella, Astrid scowled at the wan grey light fighting its way through the semi-darkness of her chamber. It was late; she didn't want Orion and the guards to have to wait for her. The moment she finished her rushed meal, Astrid ran into the bathroom, to a small table placed close to the window, next to her large, marble bath. It held an oval, silver framed mirror propped against the stone wall, an earthenware basin and a ewer filled with water. She poured some water into the basin and splashed her face, feeling properly awake only once the cold liquid dripped under the frilled collar of her night dress, making her shiver.

Finally, she returned to her bed chamber, approaching the pile of clothes she had laid out last night. Astrid dressed fast, and lightly, donning the guards' uniform over a thin cotton shirt. Since the last permanent ice of the Earth's poles and the highest mountain peaks had melted, Eurovea's climate was mild even in the middle of the winter. She wouldn't suffer from cold on this journey.

Astrid's mind strolled to what her tutors had told her about the unpleasantness of winters of the centuries past, about the damage snow and ice used to cause, and the huge number of lives frost would claim each year. Another memory followed, making her recall what she had read about winters in her novels, about the beauty and romanticness of ice-covered lakes and rivers, snow-buried fields, a pair of warm, large hands always eager to warm up the smaller, freezing ones, making a walk in the thickest snowfall the most pleasant event... Her novels usually claimed something completely different from the books she had had to study.

Sighing, Astrid shook her head, impatient with herself. Nothing of this was important now, she should concentrate on the present. She needed to decide how she would approach the... angels, what sort of treaty she would propose, and how to improve the current situation... Astrid had no idea what she could offer to them, but she would think about something, hopefully, along the way. She needed to find them first, and she didn't know how to do that.

Astrid had just pushed the last stray curl under the wide-brimmed, black hat of the guards when someone knocked on the door.

Avoiding looking in the mirror-- she felt like a heroine from her books, one of those novels where women disguised as men sometimes, for fun or adventure, or those, written in the more recent past where they wore men's clothes normally, and she didn't want the mirror to spoil that illusion by showing her that she really looked ridiculous-- she faced the door.

"Come in," she called, expecting Orion.

However, it wasn't her fiancé. A guard, not much older than herself, stood on the threshold when the door opened.

Astrid saw surprise flicker in the man's eyes as he took her in, and she smiled at him, shrugging in lieu of an explanation.

He returned her smile as he spoke, "I'm here to carry the bags for you, my lady. Everything is ready, Master Orion is waiting for you in the courtyard."

She gestured towards her saddlebags, then followed the youth who carried them without difficulty out of her chamber.

"Are you coming with us? What is your name?" she enquired as they walked down a torch-lit, deserted corridor. It was too early for her uncle's court to begin to stir.

"Yes. Rigel, my lady."

"Please, call me Astrid, Rigel. No, I insist," she added when she saw him opening his mouth to protest.

"As you wish, Astrid."

"So... how did Uncle Arcturus persuade you to come with us?" Astrid asked as they descended a flight of stairs, the flutter of their wide cloaks threatening to extinguish the countless candles, two of them burning on each step.

It had been at the back of her mind since she had woken up. The regent's guards lived in the castle, and despite not knowing why until the last night, Astrid knew that they were in the castle, all of them, each Black Night. They must have the right to the protection of its walls, just like the courtiers and guests. Forcing these five men to stay outside during a Black Night was, most likely, against her uncle's own rules.

Rigel gave her a sideways look as they headed down another corridor as if gauging how much she knew, considering how much he was allowed to tell her.

"It is our turn to run a patrol. You'll come with us across the Starfall Forest, we'll accompany you as far as the town of Vesper."

Vesper wasn't farther than a week's journey from Starling, she recalled. So the guards would only come as far as to have enough time to return before the next Black Night. Astrid nodded her understanding, wondering if Orion knew this, even as she preceded Rigel through an arched, open door into the courtyard.

The world outside was filled with a pearly grey light streaked with a shy pink and purple. Astrid could not see the sun through the tall walls encompassing her on all sides, but she was sure it had just risen, setting out on its journey across the cloudless sky.

The courtyard, like the castle, was empty apart from four guards ready to mount their horses, who stood huddled together next to the open gate leading to the drawbridge. And there was Orion, dressed in his usual finery, talking to a short, old man whom Astrid recognized as his father, in the middle of the large, cobblestoned yard.

While Rigel headed towards his friends to prepare Astrid's horse, she walked to her fiancé.

"Just... be careful, Orion, I do not have a good feeling about this..." the old man's words reached her ears as she approached.

Coming from her uncle's most trusted councillor, those words surprised her. But she didn't have time to mull over their meaning as Orion turned to her at that moment, and burst out laughing. The sound shattered the near-perfect silence filling the courtyard and ricocheted off the stone walls, scaring a handful of crows, and a pair of doves into flight.

"What is so funny?" she asked absentmindedly. The sight of the rare white birds added to her confusion caused by overhearing the old man's words, and she completely forgot what she was wearing, until Orion pulled at the wide rim of her hat. "Oh, just be quiet, Orion. I couldn't possibly travel in a gown. Sir Altair." Ignoring her fiancé, she smiled at the old man, letting him kiss her hand.

"My lady," the old man greeted her politely, then let his voice drop into a whisper. "I was just telling my son not to underestimate the dangers of this mission. It won't be easy..." He sighed, then continued in a more cheerful tone, "You two will succeed, of course, and we will see each other in a few weeks."

Sir Altair bowed again and turned to leave even as Orion offered Astrid his arm to lead her towards their horses. Sadness crept through her heart when she noticed, for the first time really, that there seemed to be less feeling and warmth in their relationship than in hers and Arabella's. Just who had started that nonsense about the nonexistence of love, how could people believe it, or at least act as if they believed it... Astrid shook her head to clear it; there was no time for this now.

"Sir Altair!" she called while she laced her arm around Orion's, making the old man stop and turn around.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Do you know where we could find the ang... those who we are looking for?" The word 'angels' was still too new to think, let alone to pronounce for her.

"I don't, my lady. No one does, no one around here... Maybe those who live farther away from the castle might help you..." he muttered.

It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Unlike Orion, who dismissed his father with an indulgent smile and a wave of his hand, Astrid was sure that there was a deeper meaning, and knowledge that the old man was not allowed to share in those words.

Sir Altair had told her as much as he could, she thought gratefully, allowing Orion to lead her towards the group of guards and horses waiting for them.