The Riddle - Alison Croggon [126]
Dharin had chosen heavy fur-lined boots that reached up to Maerad’s knees, and shown her how to bandage her feet with strips of cloth before putting them on: this would protect her better against frostbite. He closely inspected her silk-lined woolen gloves, frowning slightly, and then chose some fur-lined mittens, suggesting she wear the woolen gloves underneath them.
“Can’t I just wear the gloves?” asked Maerad. With her hands covered in so many layers, she felt very clumsy. “I can’t pick anything up.”
“You’ll have more trouble picking things up without any fingers,” said Dharin with a sharpness in his tone she had not heard before. “Believe me, Mara, your worst enemy out there is the cold. It is nothing like the cold in Annar. I have seen frostbite. It is not something that you want to risk.”
Maerad subsided, feeling rebuked, and meekly looked at the growing pile of clothes. They all looked very heavy, she thought. Nearly everything was lined with fur. Then they went back to her room and Dharin inspected her travel clothes and suggested she wear all of them, in several layers. Her leather trousers passed inspection, but he told her to pack her cloak away; it would be useless. Then he gave her a thick jerkin and trews, both woven out of the same soft wool as her robes. She was to cover everything with an ankle-length, fur-lined leather coat with a hood that almost covered her whole face.
He made her put it all on, waiting outside her room while she did so, and then inspected her critically. He drew the hood more closely over her face, so it shaded her eyes. “You must keep it like this,” he said. “Otherwise you will go blind from looking at the snow.” Maerad, who could already feel the sweat running down her face in the warm room, merely nodded. She hadn’t realized northern travel was so complicated, but the seriousness with which Dharin was speaking impressed her deeply.
“You see, Mara, proper clothes can make the difference between living and dying,” he said when she begged to take them off. “There is almost nothing more important.”
“The only real problem now is that I’m going to die of the heat,” she protested. “I’m not in the ice yet!”
Dharin obviously thought she was taking the subject too lightly, but he reluctantly let her take the furs off. “You’ll see, and you’ll be grateful that you have these things,” he said seriously.
“I know, Dharin,” Maerad said, her face pink, as she thankfully threw the coat onto her bed. “But now I’m just hot.”
This morning she put on everything except the coat, checked that all her possessions were in her pack, and went looking for Dharin. He was, as she had expected, in the dog stables. The sled was already out, and he was inspecting the dogs’ paws, lifting them up one by one and carefully checking them. He looked up when Maerad arrived, and smiled.
“Are we off, then?” he said.
“Now?”
“Why not?” Dharin grinned. “I just have to harness the dogs, and then we can go.”
Maerad was used to formal farewells and felt somewhat taken aback.
“I don’t have my coat with me,” she said. “And my pack is back in my room. And I must say farewell to Sirkana, and thank her.”
Dharin patted the dog he had been inspecting and sent it off to join the others. “I’ve finished here,” he said. “I’ll come with you.”
They returned to Sirkana’s house. Maerad collected her things, and then with Dharin went to Sirkana’s rooms. She wasn’t there, nor in the Hall; after asking around, they found her in the Howe itself, making an inspection of the food stores.
“We’ve come to say goodbye,” said Dharin without preamble. “It’s a perfect day for traveling.”
“I thought you would be leaving.” Sirkana studied both of them in silence, as if she were judging how prepared they were for the journey.