Henrik returned to the workbench while Elias took a few more bites of the bread and cheese now that he felt less nauseated.
“Let me help,” he said, joining Henrik. They sat side by side, the wool blanket wrapped around their shoulders as they worked together on the pair of brown leather shoes. It was familiar to work this way; they had done so in the mill on countless occasions, only there was a weight lifted now.
“It’s different, isn’t it?” Elias said, breaking the comfortable silence.
“What is?” Henrik replied.
“Working and creating things when it is your choice. When there is not a whip waiting for you if you dare to pause for breath.”
Henrik pressed his shoulder more firmly into Elias’. “Yes,” he choked out. “It is freedom. It is… everything.”
T
he next morning, Elias woke with a sore neck. The two of them had fallen asleep at the workbench, leaning on one another. A soft knock on the door had woken him, but Henrik was still dead to the world.
Elias gently nudged him.
“Rik, wake up. Johan is here,” he whispered.
Henrik startled with a gasp and looked around in fear just as Johan peeped his head around the door.
The large shoemaker waved at the two of them awkwardly before heading for the door towards the outhouse. By the time he returned, Elias and Henrik had made their way back over to the mattress and sat in the far corner nervously.
In one hand, Johan held a pail of water and fetched a cloth with the other. He placed the water on the floor near them and held the cloth out. Elias reached for it and said, “Thank you.”
Johan nodded and appeared about to return back upstairs when he glanced towards his workbench and strode over. He picked up the right shoe first, looking at it closely before doing the same to the left. With both shoes in hand, he turned to face them with a perplexed expression.
Elias had expected Henrik to explain since it had been his idea, but he remained silent next to him.
“Elves are gifted craftsmen,” Elias began. “Even with our magic bound.” He held up his hands to show the copper bangles that prevented them from using magic. “If… if we could stay herea little longer, we could help you. If you let word get out that your shoes are elf-made, they will sell for more coin.”
Johan looked back and forth between them and the shoe before reaching for something in his pocket. He pointed at them, then at the shoes, before holding up a silver coin.
“No, not for money. Only a place to stay until we can get back on our feet,” Elias said, but Henrik elbowed him hard in the ribs. “What?”
“How do you expect that we get back on our feet without coin?” Henrik asked in a hushed tone.
“I don’t know, but Johan is already doing enough for us.”
Johan pointed at Henrik insistently and held up the coin again.
“What if you pay us coin for working for you, and we use some of the money to pay you for lodgings and food?” Henrik suggested.
Elias thought it was an idiotic idea. What was the point of Johan giving them money only for them to return it again? But Johan looked thoughtful and then nodded his head in agreement as though he understood something about Henrik that Elias did not, and it made his stomach clench.
Johan stepped towards them and held out his hand, first to Henrik, who shook it and then to Elias.
“Why are we shaking hands?” Elias whispered.
“It is how people in this kingdom make deals,” Henrik explained. “It is your way of telling us we have a job and somewhere to sleep, no?”
Johan nodded and smiled before pointing at the water and the cloth again. He quickly scuttled from the room as much as a man that size was able to scuttle, leaving them to their morning ablutions.
Five
Johan
F
