Winter Swan

The servants giggled, making Ingrid grit her teeth in embarrassment and anger. As she walked away with a limp, the servants finally erupted into loud laughter. They were laughing at how Silje and Kail made Ingrid look stupid.

When Kail reached the top of the stairs, he gently let Silje down. Looking at him knowingly, she said to him, "Nice performance, but I can walk on my own, you know."

She raised her eyebrows at him. What happened so far was unforgettable. Kail smiled and hugged her quietly.

"Let's go to my room."

Silje glanced at him and as they started to walk, she said to him, "I can't breathe when you are hugging me this tight. Loosen up a little, will you?"

Kail grinned.

"Why aren't you asking me anything about what just happened?"

"I am curious, but it doesn't seem like you want to explain."

Kail nodded and Silje joked, "By the way, you seem like you get along very well with your stepmother."

At her sarcasm, Kail laughed again. They reached his room and he opened the door for her.

"Now, welcome to my bedroom."

Kail smiled, but his eyes looked serious as he studied her. In the perfect silence, Silje looked around and saw the dark wooden table, mid-century furniture, a gothic chandelier, and a black grand piano. Silje also noted a wooden birdcage, a white sofa, and elegant vases with willow tree branches.

"… It's beautiful."

She murmured as she stared in awe.

"It's an amazing room, Kail."

"I'm glad you like it, but I think you are even more beautiful."

When Kail spoke to her with adoration, Silje's cheeks reddened. To hide her embarrassment, she turned around.

"That's not fair. You can't say things like that without warning."

"Why? I want to tell you how I feel about you."

Kail lowered his face to kiss her. It was a quiet and sweet kiss like the gentle snow.

Music played in his room.

Solveig's song.

The clear melody filled the bedroom, making Silje feel mellow and emotional.

"Did you choose this song on purpose for me?"

Kail smiled faintly.

"Of course. It is to remember our time at the fjord."

Silje could see the quiet strength in him as well as the hurt in his eyes. She knew it had to be from being born into the Bruntland family. When she looked up at him knowingly, Kail kissed her hand.

Silje asked, "I like Solveig's song, but what will you do if I say I want to hear another song?"

At her challenge, Kail smiled. Continuing to kiss her hand, he answered in a husky voice, "I would prefer to play you. Play your body."

"… What?"

When she looked scandalized, Kail grinned.

"I'm kidding. I will play anything you want. What about Paganini's Devil's Trill?"

He never offered anything he couldn't give. Just as he promised, he picked up his violin and started to play the piece. The rough and fast music filled the room and Silje laughed. Smiling, Kail continued to play and whispered, "Paganini had many female admirers but the only person he loved was his son, Niccolo. He protected his son like a beast. The same animalistic blood runs in my veins, Silje. I will always love and protect you and our children with my life, just like a wild reindeer."

"If you are a wild reindeer, would that make me a reindeer as well?"

Silje felt hot listening to his love confession, but she tried to sound calm. Kail looked into her eyes again and kissed her slowly.

The fire was burning in the fireplace, making their kiss even hotter.

In a hoarse voice, Kail said to her, "I was always alone, but I think I'm okay now."

Was it because she was with him?

She knew what he meant, but Silje asked anyway.

"Were you lonely growing up in this house?"

Kail nodded and she asked him another question.

"Were you always cold here? For a long time?"

"Yes, until you appeared in my life."

Kail smiled.

A charming smile.

Kail asked, "Are you trying to console me? In your own way?"

"I guess you could say that."

Mesmerized, Silje murmured, "Kail… I think I want to rescue you from the evil witch. In my own way."

With that, she reached out to him. She put her hands on his lonely back slowly to give him a hug. Kail flinched, and before long, he took her to his bed and held her quietly.

They listened to each other's heartbeats as their souls became one.

They had an unbelievably peaceful time.

Looking out the giant window, they watched the snowfall. It was a beautiful scene as the snow danced in the wind like diamonds.

It was so peaceful and lovely that it felt surreal. In the room was the burning fire in the fireplace and the shelves were filled with books. Solveig's song was playing romantically.

Silje asked, "You have a lot of mystery books. Did you read Karin Fossum's newest novel?"

"Of course. It is below where your pretty finger is pointing at."

They talked about mystery novels and joked about different things. Things only they knew. Things they could talk about only when they were alone.

When she turned to him, Silje saw Kail watching her. In his magical voice, Kai whispered, "… The village lay in the bottom of a valley, at the end of a fjord, at the foot of a mountain, like a pool in a river, where the water was much too still. And everyone knows that only running water is fresh. The village was a stepchild of the municipality, and the roads that led there were indescribably bad. Once in a while, a bus deigned to stop by the abandoned dairy and pick up people to take them to town. There were no night buses back to the village."

Kail recited a paragraph from Karin Fossum's book "Don't Look Back" like a poem. He then continued, "I used to live in a town like that in the northernmost area of Europe. Lapland. I grew up among the Sami people when I was very young. Well technically, I guess I grew up isolated and alone. Where do you think you can see the aurora the best? It is in the wildest area of Lapland. I grew up eating wild berries and mushrooms. To survive the coldness, we had to hunt and eat reindeer. We sometimes visited the villages, but my maternal grandfather insisted on spending most of our time alone in an isolated area in our own tent. My father had snow-white hair and people called him crazy. Some people who saw him from afar even thought he was the Bigfoot. They called him the white-headed Larson and many feared him."

When Kail finished his story, Silje took a deep breath.

And silence fell.