The Silver Thread Read Free Page A

contempt in his voice. “He was offended that we wouldn’t be content to simply hand over the pieces to him. He took us to be fools.”
    “Then what has become of the dreadful machine?” asked Ambrose.
    “We couldn’t decide who should be responsible for it, so we divided it amongst ourselves. This way it could be studied, but could not be reassembled and put back into use,” Finn said, trying to look hopeful.
    “A wise decision,” admitted Ambrose, “but that still leaves the prisoners and the travelers unaccounted for.”
    “We guided the travelers back as best as we could as we made our way home,” Finn said. “They were the least of our concerns. The prisoners will be relocated in the spring, and are in safe hands. No vampire will be able to harm them. Although they lost their way, they are being guided back to their true path by our friends and some very trustworthy souls that we met along the way.”
    “You sound quite certain,” Ambrose said. He seemed unsure, but said nothing more to elaborate. He looked like far too much was weighing on his mind. Talvi took this as a sign that there had been enough talk for the time being, and started to put on his wool mittens.
    “Where are you going?” Althea blurted out. He stepped over to his mother and kissed her on the cheek.
    “It’s beginning to grow dark,” he reassured her, gathering the largest carrots which Dardis had set aside. “I’m only putting the horses up for the night before I take that bath.”
    Outside the bright and warm kitchen, the snow was still falling in giant, fluffy flakes. The air was as moist and heavy as the snow on the ground, and Talvi could feel his toes beginning to freeze once again through his leather boots. Arriving at the stable, he gave a sharp whistle as he pulled the wide doors open. Ghassan emerged as a shadowy figure from within the trees, perking his ears as he caught the scent of the carrots. The two pudgy mares followed close behind, along with Finn’s palomino stallion Galileo, and all of them hustled towards their stalls, where they whickered and grunted for their dinner. They pressed their warm noses to Talvi’s coat pockets until he surrendered a carrot to each of them. Examining Ghassan, Galileo and Asbjorn’s horses next to the mares, Talvi noticed how thin they appeared in comparison.
    He divvied out the oats and hay, giving extra-generous portions to Galileo and Ghassan, and made sure there was plenty of fresh water in each stall. It seemed strange to him, to be doing something so normal and routine, yet nothing would ever be normal and routine again. No more straw pull with Yuri to see whose fate it would be to treat the other at the local pub, and he wore a wedding ring after swearing his entire life that he would never marry anyone, no matter what was written in the stars.
    After closing the last stall door, he stood in silence, listening to the sounds of the horses eating. They had none of these concerns, no troubles at all, just contented nickers and happy neighs intermingled with the swishing of tails as they focused on their food. Talvi walked over to where he had left the saddle and bridle from earlier, and hung them up before latching the barn doors shut for the night.
    His stomach growled as he entered the house through the kitchen once again. The smells were beckoning to him, gnawing at him, but nothing sounded better than getting out of his cold, wet leather boots and pants, and settling into the hot bath that awaited him. He had brought a lantern with him into the bathroom nearest the kitchen, and was happy to discover that someone had already started a fire in the wood burning stove, which had warmed the room up nicely.
    Against the exposed stone wall, there was a tall walnut cabinet lined with shelves. Each shelf was well-stocked with jars of lotions, oils, salts, sponges, and other bathing luxuries. A long, dark blue robe hung from a hook on the side of the hutch, and a thick, fluffy