A Whisper to the North

Chapter X ✠ The Reaching Gone

Una turned around, and she watched Yvar walk away. Warm tears fell from her cheeks like crystals illuminated by the moonlight. She was conflicted in her emotions at this moment. Una felt so much grief and sorrow. At the same time, she felt a new sense of hope and determination. Yvar told her that she needs to change her destiny, which Una needed to hear. She watched as the tendrils of Yvar's pale face frame hairs flow gently back in the wind as he walks away. His white cloak was blinding from the moon's reflection.

Yvar appeared as if he was one of the Gods himself from Annwn, who came as a personal messenger to Una. Una hadn't been forsaken by them. She took this as a sign that she was given their blessing. Now she had to act. She had to somehow avenge her family, but not in the same way that she imagined. She had to convince Frey to help her, as much as she hated him. Hate was such a strong word, and why did Una hate him? He couldn't help that he was born to the killer of Una's father. Una had to remember this. It wasn't his fault. It was none of their marks.

Then she thought again and remembered that she couldn't hate him anymore, not after realizing that all of this was not created by him. Una allowed this to happen if she had not let them in and followed her gut. Una should hate herself, and now she hated herself even more for what she did to Frey without thinking.

"Forgive me, Frey!" Una said, turning around to run back to the castle.

Then Una turned and looked back at the pillar of smoke that was her two closest friends. She feels like she has forsaken them. Una remembers how she was off in battle for all of these years when she should have been with the ones she loved. She cannot do this any longer. She allowed herself to become selfish and obstinate toward others.

Una ran back through the dark woods, back to the castle. Where was the paddock? Indeed Una couldn't have been this cruel? Una was known as a loving and just leader, and she just demonstrated what jealousy and anger can cause. She accused someone innocent of her own wrongdoing because she didn't like to admit defeat. She doesn't know Frey, only that he was a Dane, which justified Una's thinking for locking him up. He was the scapegoat for her and the kingdom.

"Damnit!" Una clenched her jaw and fists as she looked up at the sky.

"For the love of the Gods." Una seethed as she walked back to the castle.

When she arrived, she was able to contact a few of the stable royal boys. They all appointed her to different paddocks, each one mile between each other. One was on top of a mountain, the next near the river, and the last near the castle. Una checked the one near the court to no avail. Then she went to the river where she could still see a faint plume of smoke in the moonlight. Frey wasn't there either. He must be on the mountain. Yvar was smart and figured the most remote place would do him the best good, both to keep Una's anger away and Frey's sharp tongue.

Una saddled up her horse when no one was around and sped off toward the east mountain where the last paddock lay. That's where the workhorses were kept in close proximity to the farms. There wasn't much sunlight in the valleys, so agriculture took place on top of the hills and mountains' sides. Una had to travel up a steep incline, which her horse was used to, but it took many years. Una herself had trouble scaling the mountain without her horse. She thought maybe an ox or a wolf could make it easier. That is why the farmers stayed atop the hills, because of the treacherous terrain and how perilous it was to slip or fall.

Una could see the paddock in the distance. It was a large space, with a circle arena in the middle. Frey had only been here for a day, but she was sure he was blistered by the sun and was dehydrated by the thin air. She felt remorseful as if she had scolded an innocent animal. Was she really this cruel? People do strange things when they are angry. They cannot see reason. Una bit her lip thinking about what she had done. What if he tried to kill Una? She disregarded this thought. He will be in an even weaker state than before. What she was anxious about is confronting his father. What if Frey's father kills her for this disrespect? She winced at the thought.