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Yusuf was experiencing his life’s first winter with everything it came with. When Nicolò told about winter in the far north, Yusuf thought Nicolò was joking because Yusuf didn't believe that the ground could turn white with snow and that the days were shorter in the desert. And then Nicolò told Yusuf about the cold. Where in Maghrib it was warm all year, it was cold in the north for half of the year, so you had to wear tick layers of clothes. To Yusuf, it sounded like bedtime stories you would tell a child.
When they received a message from their sisters asking to meet them in Agnafit at the summer solstice. Nicolò said he wasn't sure but it must be somewhere in the north and he needed to look at maps to be sure where they were going. After spending a week in a library, Nicolò figured out that Agnafit was in Sweden. When they reached Hamborg it was late November, and by then Yusuf was already wearing two layers of clothes. Yusuf also said he would never doubt any of Nicolò's stories in the future. For days they searched for a boat that would take them the last bit of the way, but because there was a war in the northern parts of Sweden no boats were sailing to Agnafit, so they paid a sailor to take them to Malmö. When they finally reached Malmö, Yusuf for once was lost for words when he saw all the snow.
"Father, please don't travel further north than Malmö," The sailor said. Nicolò had said he was a priest travelling north with his secretary. "There's a war going and the savages won't hesitate to kill a man of the church. If they don't kill your travel companion first."
Both the sailor and Nicolò looked at Yusuf, who was examining the snow with a child's curiosity.
"I go where I'm called," Nicolò replied. "And now it's the north calling."
"Your choice," The sailor said. "If you survive I'll buy you a drink if you make it back to Hamburg."
Nicolò dragged their horses over to Yusuf.
"This is amazing," Yusuf said with a big smile. "If I press it together it becomes hard, but if I don't it stay soft. And the sound it makes."
"I have heard of people making houses out of the snow," Nicolò said. "Maybe we can try that one day."
"I would love that," Yusuf replied and stood up. It was there he realized that people were looking at him. "And now I know how you might have felt back in Maghrib."
"Just be kind to them," Nicolò replied. "Come let's find a place for us tonight. We still got a long way to go."
Yusuf followed Nicolò. They had only taken two steps when Nicolò heard a noise behind him and when he looked behind him, he saw Yusuf on the ground.
"What are you doing down there?" Nicolò asked as he offered Yusuf a hand.
"Just saying hello to the Swedish ground," Yusuf replied as he took Nicolò's hand and got pulled up. Two seconds later he clung to Nicolò. "What's wrong with the ground?"
"It's the ice," Nicolò replied. "It's part of the winter."
"I'm just going to hold onto you for now," Yusuf replied. "Not because I need it, it's more so I won't lose you in the crowd."
"Sure," Nicolò replied. "This way."
A week later, Yusuf was still ending on his ass whenever he wasn't looking at his feet. Whenever that happened he said it would never have happened in the desert. But it wasn't his sore ass that irritated Yusuf the most. It was the cold and the snowstorm that had lasted for four days now. They were lucky enough to find shelter with a farmer and his family, but because of the language barrier, they were staying in the barn. It was freezing and the only good thing that could be said about the situation was that Nicolò was warm as a fireplace. Therefore Yusuf clung to Nicolò which Nicolò didn't mind at all.
They had gotten a small fire going before wrapping themselves together under their blankets, and together with the warmth coming from the livestock and Nicolò, they weren't freezing as much as they could have done, even though the cold wind could be felt through the boards. Reluctantly Yusuf stood up to throw some more wood on the fire. They took turns doing it, so one of them always was keeping the blankets warm. Suddenly Yusuf felt something move in the dark and yelped very loudly.
“What happened?” Nicolò wanted to know when he heard it and grabbed his longsword but because of the dim light, Nicolò couldn't see anything, so he got up, before walking over to Yusuf.
“That damn animal bit me,” Yusuf said in a hurt tone. He ran a hand over his neck, which was filled with saliva,
Nicolò looked at the cow in front of them, before he started to laugh.
“That’s not funny,” Yusuf said a bit offended over the lack of sympathy from his lover.
“Sorry, but it is,” Nicolò replied still laughing as he made the way back to the hay to get some more sleep. “And I can’t blame the cow for its excellent taste.”
Nicolò pulled the blankets over him.
“I’m so not talking to you today,” Yusuf said, still offended.
“Yeah, yeah," Nicolò replied with a smirk. "If you say so."
Nicolò knew as soon he woke again, Yusuf would continue talking about the cow and closed his eyes again.
"Come back to bed,” Nicolò said as he reached out his hand, which Yusuf took and crawled under the blankets, so they could snuggle again while trying to get some more sleep.
Two days later the snowstorm was over and they continued their journey toward Agnafit.
Yusuf was thinking it was fascinating that a couple of days ago the sky was grey and black, but now the sky was blue and light. All the light, the colours, and the landscape that was covered in snow and ice gave him so much inspiration for his art, that he forgot everything about how much he was freezing. Because of these thoughts, Yusuf hadn’t paid any attention to where Nicolò was walking. It meant Yusuf had strayed further and further away from the path, Nicolò and his horse had made, when they walked through the banks of snow. It was first, when Yusuf's horse suddenly stopped, he noticed, that he had lost sight of Nicolo.
“Are we really going to have that conversation again, Zara?” Yusuf asked his horse in a friendly tone in Arabic. When Yusuf tried to pull in the harness his horse didn't move at all. “I thought, we agreed back in Cairo, that when I move, you move, and we would move forward together." Yusuf pulled again in the harness but in vain. "Yeah, I know, we both aren't fans of the snow, but now we both can say, we have seen it.”
Yusuf placed a hand on his horse’s muzzle, while he smiled at himself for talking to the horse expecting an answer in return. A second later Yusuf was truly grateful that his horse insisted on standing still right now when he took a firm grip on the horse’s neck to prevent from slipping.
“For once I think you got the right idea, Zara,” Yusuf said while he tightened his grip. "We wait for Nicolò."
It didn’t take long before Nicolò noticed, that Yusuf was missing. After some difficulties Nicolò got his horse to turn around and started to walk back. When Nicolò found Yusuf, he was standing remarkably still for a man, who normally liked to move around.
“It's nice to see that you and Zara finally are agreeing on walking in the same direction," Nicolò teased. "How long has it taken for you to reach this point? 12 years?"
Nicolò knew Yusuf had a soft spot for particular this horse. Yusuf hand-reared the horse when he found it as a foal abandoned in the desert 12 years ago.
"Very funny," Yusuf said as he saw Nicolò wanting to take a step. "Don’t move, Nicolò."
Nicolò looked confused at Yusuf. It must have been decades since the last time Yusuf had done it.
“Sorry for shouting," Yusuf said looking sorry at Nicolò. "What am I standing on?”
Nicolò started to clear some snow out of the way with his leg before he kneeled and placed a hand on the ground.
“A frozen lake,” Nicolò replied. "Hard water if you want."
“Are you saying I’m standing on water?” Yusuf asked amazed as he started to remove the snow with his foot before looking down. "This is truly an amazing place."
Nicolò looked out over the lake while thinking like a madman about how to prevent Yusuf and his horse from falling through the ice.
"Yusuf?" Nicolò said in a calm tone. "Yusuf? Please look at me.”
It took a moment before Yusuf did it.
"I got a plan," Nicolò said. "Do you trust me?"
"Is that even a question?" Yusuf asked. "As I promised you a long time ago my trust in you will never fade."
"You need to get your horse to walk backwards," Nicolò said. "Can you do that?"
“With ease," Yusuf replied. "And I get your idea. Back the way we came."
"Exactly," Nicolò replied. “Small steps, Yusuf, small steps. And tell me if you’re getting wet feet or hear the ice make a crackling sound.”
"No wet feet," Yusuf said when he stood by the saddlebags."Or crackling sound."
Yusuf found what he was searching for before making his way up to the front of his horse.
“Since we both can stand here forever," Yusuf said as he showed the apple to his horse. "You'll get the last apple I have if you do as I tell you to do for once.”
Slowly Yusuf started to push his horse backwards. It took its time because they took small steps. When Yusuf’s horse got its first legs on firm ground, Yusuf let go of the harness and Nicolò was able to turn the horse around guiding it the rest of the way. When Yusuf's horse was standing next to Nicolò's horse, Yusuf threw the last two apples he had. Nicolò gave each horse an apple. Then Nicolò noticed something.
“Yusuf?” Nicolò asked. "Why aren’t you moving?"
“Because I got wet feet,” Yusuf replied calmly and with a smile. "And so goes for my pants."
"Jump Yusuf, you can easily make it," Nicolò commanded. "I'll catch you. I promise."
When Yusuf took the jump it wasn’t long enough, so one of his legs went through the ice, but it was only thanks to Nicolò's quick reflexes, that Yusuf only ended up with only one completely wet leg and not went through the ice.
“Thanks, love,” Yusuf said gratefully when they lay in the snow before kissing Nicolò. "For saving me once again."
"You would have done the same for me," Nicolò replied. "Are you hurt?"
"No, just a bit wet," Yusuf replied. "It could easily be worse."
"True," Nicolò replied. "Let's find shelter, so we can get some warmth into you."
As they reached the outskirt of a small town, they saw a group of people on their way home. Nicolò gave the harness to Yusuf, and when Nicolò caressed Yusuf's hand, Nicolò could feel how cold Yusuf was. It took a bit for the people to understand what Nicolò was asking but in the end, they were allowed to stay in a barn. When they reached the barn, Yusuf got out of the wet clothes while Nicolò made a small fire.
“This snow is a strange phenomenon," Yusuf said when he took the bowl with soup. "So beautiful and yet so dangerous.”
"Yes, you're right," Nicolò replied as he looked seriously at Yusuf. "Are you sure you aren't hurt?"
"I'm more than fine," Yusuf replied. "Look."
Yusuf shook his leg to show Nicolò that everything was healed up.
"I'm glad to see it," Nicolò said as he started to eat. "Did you get inspired? I mean one of the few times you often forget everything around you is when your art inspires you."
"I did yes and I'll show you soon," Yusuf replied. "And it's a good thing that Zara pays more attention to the surroundings than I do. If it hadn't been for her insisting on not moving the outcome of today could easily be another."
"So, what you're saying is," Nicolò said. "That you owe your life to your horse?"
"And you," Yusuf added. "Thanks to you both I didn't go through the ice completely."
"I'm really glad it didn't happen," Nicolò said. "Truly."
Yusuf kissed Nicolò.
"So am I," Yusuf replied. "It also made me think about something?"
"What?" Nicolò wanted to know.
"How many people from Maghib can say they have tried to stand on frozen water?" Yusuf asked. "No one will believe me if I tell them about it."
"Once you didn't believe in my tales of the north, which you do now," Nicolò said. "Give it time and one day people will believe you."
They ate the rest of the soup before they curled up together to get some sleep. Tomorrow would they continue their journey towards their sisters.