Once they’d finished, they found Johan in the workshop with the knapsacks, two of which were considerably lighter and one which looked so heavy a donkey might struggle with it; however, Johan hoisted it over his shoulder and fitted it across his back with a reassuring ease that, frankly, Elias found quite attractive. Judging by Henrik’s expression, he agreed. Elias’ bag was large but light, presumably filled with the wool blankets to keep them warm at night.
“Ready?” Johan asked, his voice raspy. The shoemaker’s voice sent a shiver down Elias’ spine. It was gravelly and raw and its use such a rare gift that the effect of it always took Elias by surprise.
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Elias replied, and he and Henrik shifted the sacks onto their backs.
They were just about to leave when Johan held up a finger, asking them to wait while he dashed back up the stairs. He reappeared a few minutes later holding out two sets of knitted hats, scarves, and gloves.
Johan gave the green set to Henrik and handed the dark orange to Elias. The elf’s fingers trembled at the sight. Elias didn’t cry. He wouldn’t cry over a hat, scarf, and gloves. His eyes were merely watering from the frigid cold air.
“Let me?” Johan asked.
Elias nodded, not trusting that his voice wouldn’t warble.
Johan picked up the hat and placed it snugly on Elias’ head. Where he expected it to trap his pointed ears uncomfortably, it did not.
“You… you got these made for us?” Henrik said, staring at how Elias’ ears poked out of the sides where it had been designed to fit an elf perfectly.
Johan appeared bashful as he nodded. Busying himself, Johan wrapped the matching scarf around Elias’ neck and tucked his slim, fine fingers into the mittens.
Nobody had ever bought Elias a gift before, let alone something as thoughtful as this. Johan couldn’t possibly understand what this meant to Elias, but as he glanced at Henrik, his expression was a mirror of his own. There was something incredibly overwhelming about receiving so much kindness after years of unrelenting cruelty.
Elias didn’t want to dwell on that, though. He smiled down at his warm, cosy hands and let the comfort of being cared for into his heart.
Both of them choked up as they thanked Johan profusely. When they all left the shop, so early that the sun had yet to rise, they were even more grateful for the added warmth.
In companionable silence, Johan and the elves walked down the dark, quiet streets until they reached the edge of the forest. Elias and Henrik hadn’t set foot near the Dark Forest since the night before they’d accepted Johan’s offer of a place to stay, and it felt strange coming back. The forest was where they had found their freedom, where they’d sought refuge but also where they’d feared being found by dogs each night and where they had both been on the road to starvation.
Three hours had passed by the time the sun finally rose high enough to breach the tree canopy above. Elias found it easier to relax when they were no longer shrouded in darkness. The lightformed all sorts of patterns on the ground, which Elias focussed on as he trudged down the path.
Henrik was walking well ahead of him, which Elias was bitter about. He was a long way off his full strength, and several full days of walking were going to be a challenge. Every step felt as though Elias were once again in leg irons, and he’d never felt such resentment towards his own body.
In the mills, Elias had become an expert in ignoring his pain and discomfort, and he was determined he could do so again, gritting his teeth as each foot forward sent shooting pains up his legs.
Johan was keeping pace with him, and he appreciated how he did so without drawing attention to the fact. For once, Elias was grateful for the silence that came with keeping company with Johan, because if he spoke now, he was sure he couldn’t hide from the perceptive shoemaker how much pain he was in.
A while later, they found Henrik perched on a tree stump waiting for them to catch up with him. Elias glared at him, but Henrik didn’t seem to notice, which only set to aggravate him more.
“I wasn’t sure which way to go next,” Henrik said to Johan.
Johan pointed to the pathway that was mostly straight ahead.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Henrik asked, looking sceptically at the track.
In his defence, it was the least well-trodden of the three currently available to them.
Elias looked at Johan for his response and burst out laughing at the incredulous look on the shoemaker’s face, which gave all the answers they needed. Without words, his face said “Of course I do.” Elias was grateful for the distraction.
“I was merely checking in case you were too embarrassed to tell us we were lost,” Henrik said in an attempt to defend his question.
At that, Johan turned to face Henrik with his hands on his hips. “I’ll… I’ll loseyou,” he sputtered out.
Then, in a moment of absolutely perfect timing, an animal growled somewhere in the distance, and Henrik leapt at Johan, who managed to catch him in his arms, and buried his face in Johan’s chest while he quivered.
It was a little cruel of Elias to take enjoyment from Henrik’s panic, but on this occasion, it felt quite deserving of his petulant attitude, so he didn’t feel bad.
Johan laughed as he held Henrik in his strong arms. A thick vein bulged along his meaty forearm, and Elias decided he’d never given enough credence to how attractive a forearm could be.
“Why are you both laughing? We’re going to be eaten by wolves!”
