(no subject)
Finn isn't able to get back to sleep. The walls of the little cottage in the valley are shuddering from the snow-laden storm winds. If this place, protected by some magic or blessing of location, feels the storm so violently he can’t imagine how everyone in the farms and city are surviving it.
But though this is what woke him from his initial slumber, it isn't the reason why he lies awake in bed, breathing quietly as he waits. He knows Dari is awake as well, in his curtained bed across the room. His brother hears voices in winds like these, calling him outside; winds that would kill a small boy even in this sheltered valley.
There is a small rustle, finally, and the quiet padding of slippered feet across the floor.
"What took you so long?" Finn whispers when Dari pulls back the curtain around his bed. "Come in, little brother, we'll keep each other warm."
Dari sighs happily, kicking off his slippers and crawling in as Finn moves so that he can sleep on the warm space left behind. "There are voices," his brother says, confirming his fears.
He doesn't know what to say, so he just holds him close as Dari relaxes into sleep. As Finn himself drifts off, he murmurs "I love you, little one," before, secure in the knowledge of his young brother's safety, he falls asleep as well.
[Based on this scene from The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay]
But though this is what woke him from his initial slumber, it isn't the reason why he lies awake in bed, breathing quietly as he waits. He knows Dari is awake as well, in his curtained bed across the room. His brother hears voices in winds like these, calling him outside; winds that would kill a small boy even in this sheltered valley.
There is a small rustle, finally, and the quiet padding of slippered feet across the floor.
"What took you so long?" Finn whispers when Dari pulls back the curtain around his bed. "Come in, little brother, we'll keep each other warm."
Dari sighs happily, kicking off his slippers and crawling in as Finn moves so that he can sleep on the warm space left behind. "There are voices," his brother says, confirming his fears.
He doesn't know what to say, so he just holds him close as Dari relaxes into sleep. As Finn himself drifts off, he murmurs "I love you, little one," before, secure in the knowledge of his young brother's safety, he falls asleep as well.
[Based on this scene from The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay]