Gift of Gold (The Year of Churning Bloods) (65 page)

              Gregor didn't matter
. I
f anything this little exercise was only to prove to Totara that I was still willing to
work
. Hopefully he would come to terms with himself and let me apologize for lying to him.
After what felt like hours of labour, I looked
towards the hills
and saw the
sky ablaze
with twilight
.

I was unsure how long to make a work day
;
however given
how late it was
, I figured It was time to
make
dinner anyways.
I stumbled inside of the hut
and gradually slowed my breathing
.

Gregor lay in his bed with
his
arms folded
and his
eyes closed.

For someone who was supposed to be asleep he looked very cross, so I tried my best to maneuver throughout the cooking area without disturbing him.
I’d never cooked in my life, so I thought I should make something nice and simple like stew.
“How hard
can
it be?” I chuckled to myself
,
empt
ying
a flask of broth into
a
pot
and adding a whole carrot
.

“
Aren’t you supposed to cut it up?
”
Umber asked
uncertainly
.

“It's
stew
!
” I exclaimed, gesturing for added emphasis.
“
There can't be a wrong way to make stew.”
I glanced above me and saw a shelf
filled with
vast array of hearty smelling herbs and spices all contained in tiny glass vessels. I took great delight in opening each and every one and inhaling
their
earthy aromas. Any spice that
caught
my fancy
would be dumped
into the pot before I mov
ed
onto the next spice. “Paprika.” I read aloud before leaning in to inhale it. My eyes watered and my head shook
as the fragrance of the substance overwhelmed me
.
Seeing as this was the best one I’d smelled yet, I ended up using the entire container.

              Noticing a bowl of potatoes and onions to my right
, I grabbed one of each and plopped them into the pot where they
sunk to the bottom with the mounds and mounds of spice. I retrieved a large wooden spoon from the
cupboard
, and furiously began to mash all of the contents in the pot.
I tapped the spoon lightly against the side and watched as everything slowly settled. “That was ridiculously easy!” I thought to myself proudly. “Maybe I should become a chef!”
With the thought of being a chef, providing me with extra flamboyance, I filled a
saucer of
my creation and set it before Gregor with a flourish. He cracked open a single eye, and looked at the steaming bowl with unease.

              “Why is there an entire onion in my bowl?”

I ignored
his
question, and filled up a second bowl
for Totara.
I
tentatively
reached for
his bedroom door
handle
and gently pulled with my free hand. I was relieved to see that Totara had finally decided to unlock his door. Timidly stepping in, I coughed slightly to announce my presence.

The room inside was surprisingly tidy, with an organized wardrobe and
even a couple books here and there
. A half eaten loaf of bread was carefully placed on a plate on the room's side desk. The centerpiece of this dark chamber was Totara, bundled up under his duvet covers
where he lay
face down. I took
a
cautious step forward and announced in the bravest voice that I could
:
“Dinner's ready. I'm leaving you a plate on your desk right here.”

Totara didn't directly acknowledge my presence, but his breathing seemed to have speed up a little, as if he was sniffing the curious blend of spices that were now wafting into his room.
I closed the door behind me softly, and set about filling my own bowl with the liquid. I took a nice long slurp,
however
this was a grave mistake. The inside of my throat immediately prickled
up as
shocking pain of
the spice
jolt
ed
every nerve in my neck. For a moment, it felt like I had swallowed a cup of
d
iced s
ewing needles
. I began to cough violently. I knocked
my
bowl over, sending its contents flying
as I
attempted to find water. I rushed outside just as I heard the plate behind me shatter and quickly began shoveling snow in my mouth. The intense cold of the ice only
magnified my pain
to the
point
where I was forced to charge o
ut back and empty my stomach.

Gregor snickered when I entered the room and asked me a question that no doubt was rude and sarcastic.

I stumbled out of the house
with the
cast iron pot in hand, and threw the
stew
as far away from the house as possible. In the distance I could hear the clumped up sludge of spice hit the snow with a sickening splat. The softened carrot split in two and rolled under the house to be buried by the snow and forgotten about. I returned the hut and was startled to see Totara standing in the middle of the kitchen observing all the spices that were now missing.

In his hands, he gingerly held out a bowl of soup. “Perhaps it would be best to let me cook from now on
,
”
h
e sugges
ted weakly.

              “Here Here!” Gregor roared in approval.

Feeling humiliated,
I quietly climbed into my own bed, and fell asleep to the sound of my rumbling stomach.

***

             
I
was awakened by the smell of meat frying on a
n iron
skillet. My stomach punched me in the ribs, forcing me out of my nice warm covers and into the kitchen area where I found Totara frying eggs and
bacon
. Beside that was a loaf of freshly baked bread, steaming slightly as if it had only just been removed from the fire. I blinked hard, trying to stop the array of spots from fluttering in my vision.

“I guess you and your companion are staying then
,
” Totara said
,
sprinkling a little bit of seasoning onto the eggs which sizzled gratefully.

              “I guess I am.”

Totara eyed me carefully
, before thinking about his next few words with considerable care
.

              “I don't claim to be an expert
,
”
h
e began modestly. “But I learned a thin
g
or two about my clan's fighting techniques. If you
’re
interested I might be able to make your time here a little bit more worthwhile.”

              “Are you offering to teach me?” I asked excitedly.

Totara shrugged
slightly
and
prodded a stack of the cooked meat with a pair of wooden tongs
.
“I just want to give you a skill you c
ould actually use later on in this quest,
”
he
admitted dolefully. “I seriously doubt that you would find an opportunity where you would need t
o cut down a tree
.”

I felt relief flood into my face, twisting my lips into a toothy grin.
“So you forgive me?”
I asked hopefully
.

Totara thought about this in a long stretch of silence which was occupied only by the bubbling and cracking
of the cooking breakfast
.

              “I
don’t think you meant ham
. Whether or not I forgive you completely is something else entirely.”

It wasn't the forgiveness speech that I had exactly hoped for, but who was I to complain? It was a dramatic improvement from just
yesterday
. After inhaling the steamy contents of the grill and tentatively sipping a cup of pine tea, which Totara had forced
upon
me, I bounded outside into the cold morning air, and withdrew my sword,
which felt remarkably lighter than usual
.

              “You won't need your sword!” Totara called after me. I stared in shock at the spot where the sound emitted from. What on earth was I going to learn if I wasn't even going to use my sword? I carefully lay
F’anger the Beast
by the house, and stood in the middle of the snowy ground somewhat at a loss for what I was supposed to do with my arms.

Totara strolled out of the h
ut
wearing
thick, comfortable looking clothing.
“Right
,
”
he began, pacing around me
in a circle. “Show me your stance”

              “My stance?” I exclaimed. “I haven't got a weapon or a
shield
.”

              “Well then show me what your stance would look like if you had a weapon.” Totara countered, somewhat annoyed at my inability.

My feet flew apart and I
held my arms
as if I was holding a sword and shield. I looked up
expectantly, however Totara simply clucked his tongue and eyed me with a trace of concern.

             
“
What If
I struck
you from here?
”
h
e quizzed
,
lightly pushing my hip to the right.

Much to my dismay, I felt my legs give way
and I fell to the ground
. I leap
t
to my feet and continued to stand in the same position,
except
leaning slightly into where Totara had pressed me
before.

              “What if I were to strike you here?” Totara continued.

I felt my left
kneecap
being pushed outward, before
it hit the
icy ground with a dull thump. The sudden redistribution of my weight on such a slippery surface caused me to
stumble
dramatically and fall in a heap of bones onto my back.

Totara
graciously
helped me back to my feet
and said nothing as he considered what he
just saw.
“The stance you have is only going to protect you from a very narrow range of attack
,”
h
e lectured
,
pressing me hard on my chest.

To my relief, I managed to continue standing although I did
have to step back a bit
.

“The goal here is to minimize the location where your enemy could knock you
over
. Totara adopted an
strong
looking
forward
leaning stance with both heels pressed firmly into the ground.
“Try and push me
,
”
h
e invited
, gesturing towards himself
.

Somewhat skepti
cal, I took a few steps forward and gave him a sharp tap on the shoulder. He didn’t budge.

“
You can do better than that!”
h
e challenged. “Give me your best, and only your best.”