The Falcons of Fire and Ice - By Karen Maitland Page 0,151

we have drawn her here. She thinks only of the white falcons, and her hunger for them is so all-consuming she will not listen to the shadows. She will not look at them. But she must, she must.

Fannar shuffles across to where we are sitting, and squats down next to me. His hands rest limply on his knees.

‘Eydis, we have nowhere to go … I know our neighbours would offer us shelter on their farms, but our presence would only bring trouble to them. Besides, the Danes may have already raided them too. I know you don’t have enough food to feed us all for long … we could hunt for birds, but that means going out in the daylight and I daren’t risk that yet. But Ari and I will go out after dark and steal what we can, even a sheep if we must. We will repay our neighbours for what we take from them when we are able. But we can find food for us all …’

‘Fannar, you know that you are welcome to stay as long as you need and share whatever we have, but you will not be safe here for long. Do you not feel how much hotter the cave has become since your last visit? You are sweating, so are we all.’

‘I hadn’t noticed. I was so thankful just to get here safely.’ He runs his fingers distractedly through his grizzled hair. ‘Now you mention it, I suppose it is a little warmer. But what of it?’

‘Look at the pool. See how it is bubbling, how dense the steam that rises from it. The water is too hot to touch now. The rocks beneath us are growing warmer every day. Soon the steam from that pool will be scalding. Anyone remaining in the cave will be boiled alive. I know you have troubles enough, Fannar, but you must be prepared for the day when you will have to leave this cave, and quickly. It might be weeks yet, but it could be as soon as tomorrow.’

Fannar gnaws his lip. ‘There are other caves.’

‘The rivers of fire are beginning to run beneath the earth again, every cave around here will be in danger. You will have to go far away from this mountain to be safe.’

Valdis’s lips move beneath her veil. ‘If the water begins to boil, then we will die in this cave, Fannar, for we cannot free ourselves of this chain. Don’t leave us here.’

Fannar nods gravely. ‘You need have no fear of that. I will find a way to get you loose from this chain. It may take time to break the iron bands, so as soon as Ari and I return with food, we will make a start.’

‘No!’ I cry. ‘No, you must not break the iron band. You must not. There is danger in it, danger you cannot begin to understand.’

He stares at me in astonishment. ‘But I have to. If we are forced to leave the cave in a hurry, there may not be time to set you free. And as your sister says, we can’t leave you both here to be scalded to death.’

‘You must leave us here, Fannar. If I can find a way to remove the danger first, then I will gladly let you break the iron. I will beg you to do so. But I will not allow you to do it unless I know it is safe. If Valdis asks you to break the band, you must stop your ears and not listen to her. Whatever she says, whatever promises or threats she makes, you must ignore her.’

Fannar rubs his forehead. He is struggling to make sense of what I am saying, but he is exhausted.

‘But, Eydis, we have always listened to you both and you have never misled us. You have always spoken the same word. Why should you and your sister quarrel now, and over something so important? I don’t understand. What is this danger you are talking about?’

I cannot explain it to him without terrifying him and his wife and daughters. They have been through enough. For the moment they are comforted that they are in a place of safety. They need to rest, to sleep. It is hard enough for Fannar to learn about the pool. How can I tell him that his wife and children are trapped in this cave with something far worse than the Danes? And how could he live with the knowledge that it was