Stupid, stupid man!
She seized Ilmari's arm and dragged him away. “Do you think I am so stupid that I do not know what you are about, old man?” she spat. “Old fool is more like! You knew very well the sort of state you were likely to find Veikko in! Yes, and you were looking forward to showing Kaari, too, so you could comfort her and win her for yourself! Idiot! You know what her Wyrd is like. And even if it were not, do you think for one moment she would look favorably on the advances of a man old enough to be her father? Even if she should give up on Veikko, there are dozens of handsome young men who would be glad to comfort her in her bereavement in her village, and dozens more who have yet to meet her!”
For one moment, Ilmari glared at her, his eyes flashing with rage. He opened his mouth, doubtlessly to give her a scathing piece of his own mind —
And then he stopped, flushed, and hung his head. “You are right,” he sighed. “Curse it, you are right. I have been down this road before, and there is no good ending to it.” It was Aleksia's turn to open her mouth to deliver another few choice words — then she stopped. She had said enough. More scolding and nothing would be accomplished, because she would drive this man into the opposite direction, determined to prove her wrong. She must appeal to his better nature.
“Then come and help me show her the truth,” she said instead, letting go of his arm. Ilmari nodded, and they both turned toward Kaari.
“Kaari!” she said, sharply enough to make the girl's head come up. Her eyes brimmed with crystal tears that rolled down her cheeks like lovely raindrops. Curse the girl and her runes, Aleksia thought, half in annoyance and half in exasperation. Can she not even cry like a normal woman? Where are the red eyes, the blotched cheeks, the running nose? But she could not remain annoyed with Kaari for long, and after all, it was hardly her fault that she was so perfect. She had been outstandingly brave and helpful through all of this, coming into as she did, with no experience and only her own courage and her love for Veikko to sustain her.
“Kaari,” she said, in a more kindly tone. “Listen to me. I knew all about this. I saw it all in my mirrors long before I came here. And I did not tell you, because you already knew all that mattered, that Veikko was in peril, and that we must all work to save him.” She gestured at the image. “This is all false. This is what the Snow Witch does. Veikko is under a spell, an enchantment, and somewhere under all of that, Veikko is screaming in horror at what he is being made to do.” She turned toward Ilmari. “Am I not right?” she asked sharply.
The Wonder-smith shrugged. “The tales are all about how she takes handsome young men and makes them betray everything to follow her. I have heard of such. I suppose she must have somehow seen Veikko, and decided to take him for herself. I know he would not have gone to her willingly,” he said, and added reluctantly, “I cannot imagine Veikko to ever betray the trust of Kaari.”
“You see?” Aleksia went on one knee beside the girl, whose eyes were finally starting to reflect hope. “I have seen her do this, time and time and time again. I have looked into the past in my mirror. She abducts handsome young men, she puts their hearts, souls and minds under enchantment, and she uses them as she pleases. Veikko is not the first, though with our company, we can ensure he is the last and make her answer for her crimes.” She put conviction she in nowise felt into her words, and hoped that Kaari would respond.
She did; it was Kaari's nature always to respond to the promise of hope. That was her great weakness — and strength. “We can free him? And he will be the same again?” Her face was alight again.
“That is what I came here to do,” she replied. “But you — there is something that you must do for him. And only you.”
“There is?” For the first time, she had been told that she personally could do something to help her beloved, and it transformed her. Kaari's expression would have melted a harder heart than Aleksia's. Ilmari gulped with guilt, and looked away. Now Aleksia was glad she had not scolded him further. His own sense of guilt would punish him more than any words of hers could.
“Of course there is.” She put an awkward hand on the girl's shoulder. “Listen to me. You must keep love in your heart for him. You must concentrate on it, and love him with all your heart. As long as you remain brave and keep that love for him, the Snow Witch can never win, and you strengthen him.” She looked up at Ilmari. “Am I correct?”
She could see the struggle in his eyes, but honesty and his better nature won out.
“Yes,” he said. “Love has an energy, and a magic all of its own. Veikko is a Mage, and that energy will surely reach him and make him stronger. There are tales and tales and tales of such a thing, and I believe them.”
In that moment, Aleksia looked up and caught his gaze, and saw something in the man that she had not seen before. He had realized something profound about himself, and in a single moment his soul had — well, grown. There was no other way to put it. She smiled at him, encouragingly. He looked surprised, then smiled back and there was a shyness in that smile that was both odd in one with his years, and strangely endearing.
She stood up. “I will go back into the sky,” she said. “For one thing, there are only four deer, and although I could ride Urho while he pulls the sledge, I am of more use where I can see any possible ambushes. I just did some hunting — ” She noticed more frozen fish, neatly wrapped in a bit of leather, tied onto the top of the sledge, and smiled. “And with that and what Urho has got for us, we are well-provisioned. Now, let me do some real scouting, and I will come back to you with word.”
Without waiting for an answer, she transformed into the Gyrfalcon again — But before she could labor into the air, Ilmari unexpectedly bent and offered his arm.
“Lady?” he said, and smiled. “I am no stranger to falconry, though I have not got a bird at present.”
After a moment of surprise, she jumped onto his arm, taking care not to put her talons through his coat and into his arm. He launched her expertly into the sky with a hard shove of his arm upwards, and she labored skyward.
This time she was looking at the horizon, rather than below her — and as a consequence, got a bit of a surprise. On that horizon was a shape that she recognized from hours and hours of scrying.
The original tower of the Snow Witch was in a valley with a mountain behind it. Now, this was not the most distinctive mountain that Aleksia had ever seen, but after looking at it for so long, she knew she was seeing its shape again. And that meant that they were not as far from their goal as they had thought. Two or three days at most would bring them to the village outside the gates.
Movement below caught her eye, and she glanced down. It was the rest of the group, finally on the move again. All four deer were being ridden now, as Urho was making light work of the sledge.
I shall have to make sure I stay in some form other than human when we are on the move, Aleksia thought to herself. Bird by preference, really: she could continue to hunt and feed herself easily enough, and coming to earth by night should keep the Falcon from taking over. She was about to go on ahead when more movement on the trail caught her attention, and she kited back a little.