During a rainy night in the cave, Yuila disappears.
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Edvard focused on Mina as she returned his attention. Had he really been staring that long at her? He cleared his throat. "Yes?"
"Can she go meditate?"
He looked to Yuila, feeling a little more than the fire's heat. "No. It's too cold outside."
Yuila pouted. "It's been—"
"No. Just cover up and do it in here," he said brusquely. When she started to protest again, he shook his head. "It's too windy, Yuila."
"Edvard, I haven't done a proper meditation in days!" The girl's voice ended in a squeak, and she looked defiantly toward the cave entrance. "I have to."
"No. And that is the last of it, Yuila," he said.
The girl said something under her breath and pushed her empty dish to the fire. "I'll just wait until you go to sleep and go out then."
Mina looked uneasily to him. "She won't, Edvard. She's just being a willful."
He shrugged, watching the Crone across the fire. "Then maybe I should tie her to you tonight, Mina."
Yuila looked troubled at the suggestion and moved closer to the older girl. "Don't let him, Sapo."
"Then I suggest you tell him you won't try to go out tonight," Mina told her. She set her dish to the side.
Yuila scowled at Edvard for a long moment, then groaned and unrolled her blankets near the wall by her drawings. When she was finished, she rolled up in her blanket, pulling it over her head, and turned her back to them.
Mina looked to Edvard and sighed. "I think you win."
"He's wrong," came Yuila's muffled voice.
Mina shook her head and gathered the empty dishes.
Edvard got to his feet. "Keep an eye on her for a minute," he said, then left the cave.
Mina put the copper kettle over the fire and filled it halfway with part of the water he had brought in from earlier. She listened to the wind howl outside, then looked to where the younger girl lay sulking She glanced at the mouth of the cave, and then turned her back on it.
The stone chamber had become more than comfortably warm, and the layers of clothing she wore were stifling. After all, she had on nearly every article of clothing she possessed. With another look to the cave entrance, she slipped off the jade green blouse and then the sable brown skirt, glad at having shed what she felt was a layer of winter skin. She debated removing the grass green overdress, then decided to. She didn't want to have to stumble around in the dark later that night trying to remove it when it got too warm.
She rolled the three items into a bundle and put them in her pack, then smoothed the half slip beneath the loden wool overdress. Beneath both was the flannel chemise, and she figured they were enough layers to stay warm for the night. When she and Yuila had first changed that morning, she had agreed with the girl about wearing nearly their entire wardrobes, but now was different. She didn't know if it was the wine or the fire, but she was plenty warm.
She spun around as Edvard stomped his feet from the cave entrance, sending a few splats of water on the stone floor.
"Are you done?"
She giggled and tried to quell a blush. "Yes."
He looked to the maize flannel and sea foam green skirts dropping below the darker overdress. "Do you think you've got enough on?"
She knelt to the fire. "I think so." She positioned her blankets near Yuila and straightened her socks. "She won't try to go out tonight, will she?"
He dropped an armload of grass in front of the horses and mule. "I don't think so. I hope not." He shrugged out of his coat and joined her at the fire, and sorted through the packs for his own bedroll.
"What's it like outside?"
Edvard looked to where Yuila was squirming out of her second blanket. "Windy, but not raining. Looks like it might later. I'll get that," he said as she moved to lift the copper pot from the fire. "Where do you want it?"
"Near the wall. I just need it for the dishes."
He watched her set about washing the few dishes, cups, and the few eating utensils. She propped them against the wall to dry, and he dumped the hot water outside.
It took a few moments for each of them to settle in for the night. Mina pushed Yuila's stray leg off her blankets, making the Crone only mutter in her sleep. She crawled beneath the thick layers, tucking her skirts into place.
Edvard built up the fire, the flames sparking as some of the greener wood met the heat. He lay down at an angle from Mina, trying to pick a location where Yuila would have to climb over him if she did decide to leave the cave.
"She'd have to crawl over both of us if she tried to go outside," Mina said quietly.
He crooked his arm under his head, looking to her. "So, you're the mind-reader now?"
A small smile lent her features. "What would you be doing now, Edvard? If you weren't taking Yuila home."
He thought for a moment, watching her. "Hunting, I suppose." And watching Elian collect his tribute, he added silently. "We'd be receiving guests for Elian's feast week."
"His birthday." She frowned, lowering her voice as Yuila stirred. "It's a pretty big celebration?"
"The largest we've had, except when my father married his second wife, but I was only two then, so I don't remember."
"Oh." She fidgeted with the blankets for a moment. "It sure got warm in here."
"Yeah, but it'll cool down some soon." He watched her sigh and roll on to her back, her eyes following the dancing shadows the flames made on the stone ceiling. For a few moments, silence lay over the cave. "Uh, Mina, we might have to go back to camp, in the valley, before I can take you home."
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