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Lieutenant Mattias walked through the forest, lost in his thoughts. It had been several months since the battle that had gotten them stuck here. He tried not to think about the exact time, since more and more, he was certain that the mysterious mist wasn’t going anywhere, and they were stuck here. Things had been peaceful for the most part, but the battle was still recent. For all he knew, they could be regrouping, just waiting for the right moment.
He looked at the leaves, just changing color. Arendelle usually had a festival right about now. He wondered if they would have one this year, even with everything that had happened. He wasn’t sure who had actually made it out and possibly returned to Arendelle, and who was simply missing.
Halima had stayed in Arendelle. He had told her he would be back soon. Was she thinking about him? Before the battle, he had been thinking about telling her- but it was probably too late. Perhaps she would find someone else in a year or two. He liked to flatter himself that she would need a mourning period. He certainly did.
“Lieutenant!” The Northuldra woman startled him as he approached the edge of the lake.
He nodded, replying flatly, “Yelana.”
The Northuldra woman had been following him around the last few weeks. He wasn’t sure what to make of her. The way she talked to him made him think of a much older woman, and yet, he realized, she couldn’t have been much older than himself.
“Where are your people staying?” she asked him.
“The same place that we’ve been staying for nearly six months now, you know that. I’ve seen you spying on us.”
“Five months and twenty-three days,” she corrected.
“What does it matter?”
“It matters, because that’s an extra week you have to get ready for the winter,” she told him.
“What do you mean?” It was barely October, and while he knew that it got cold sooner than it did in Arendelle, the weather was still pleasant enough.
“It’s going to get cold, very cold. You need to start preparing. First of all, your camp is too exposed. The wind comes off that lake in the winter, and you’ll all freeze if you stay there.”
Mattias stopped and stared. Was she actually trying to help them? There had certainly been an uneasy truce, but this sounded like they had decided to help them.
“I’m listening,” Mattias replied.
She looked him up and down. “I know you don’t trust me. But I think I can trust you, and you’re in charge of them.”