Snow finished collecting lavender before Tristan was done fishing. She glanced up, surprised to see clouds moving in. They were low-lying. A whitish-grey. Snow clouds, if she wasn’t mistaken. Curious, she thought.
She looked for Ruby and Avery, seeing them setting up a camp at the edge of the Woodlands. Snow nodded. It was probably for the best to separate the two males. Snow caught Tristan’s attention, miming her intent to go back to the small lean-to they’d built for shelter.
Tristan
Halfway back to the shelter, unbelievable pain pierced his abdomen. “Arghhhh,” he cried, doubling over in pain. The fish he carried flew out of his mouth as the stabbing sensation continued.
Arms, legs, everything throbbed with pain. Tristan dropped to the ground, wondering what was attacking him and how he could protect Snow in his reduced state. Panting, he clutched his belly.
And stared, dumbstruck, at his own hands. He coughed, feeling his recent dinner wanting to purge, but he kept it down. Tristan stood, surprised at how good it felt to be in his human skin again.
A shiver trailed up his spine as he realized a storm was coming in.
He ran towards the lean-to as the icy rain began to pelt his exposed skin. Tristan muttered something about how now was a fine time to have skin instead of fur. “Snow,” he called.
Snow looked up from the small fire she was trying to start, and her eyes grew wide with shock. She stood. “Tristan?” Frozen pellets began hitting her skin, and she ducked back into the shelter that suddenly wasn’t deep enough. “Here,” she said, tossing him a blanket to put over his shoulders.
Awkwardly, Tristan caught it. He was still getting used to the sensation of having hands again. He swung the blanket around his shoulders. “Do I even want to know what else you have in that pack?” he asked with a laugh.
Another pink stain blossomed along her cheeks. “I guess you’ll just have to find out,” she answered wrinkling her nose at him. The wind picked up, and the fire sputtered in the face of such a frozen blast. “Is this Gaul again?”
“Or Nora,” Tristan said. “Gaul is a troll. His powers shouldn’t extend this far. This is the work of a powerful witch.”
“We should build the shelter up. Make it bigger,” Snow suggested.
“Let’s get the fire pit in the center, and we’ll build around it.” Side-by-side, they moved the rocks into the center of their shelter. They placed several more layers of stone around their fire pit to protect it from the raging wind. Once it was secure, he retraced his steps and found the pair of fish he’d secured for dinner.
He sighed with the pleasure of being in his skin again. Hands that could rip branches to create spits. Fingers that could build a fire. After quickly cleaning the fish, Tristan put them on a spit to roast over the fire.
“Will Avery and Ruby come over?” Snow asked, fretting for her friend. “I can’t see them anymore.”
Tristan shook his head. “I can’t see them either. I don’t know how localized this storm is. Hopefully, they build a shelter for themselves. He sighed and considered their options. “I think we need to reconsider the design here.”
Snow glanced at the nearly open fourth side of their building. “We’ll freeze to death if we don’t. But how do we bring a fire inside without a chimney?”
“Grab that branch,” Tristan said. Tristan and Snow worked in tandem to secure their tiny shelter. They tightened the tripod configuration by adding several more beams. “We’re going to construct a crude teepee with our small fire circle in the center,” he instructed. “I’ll adjust the outside branches. The circular design should be enough to work as a chimney.”
“I see what you’re talking about,” Snow said. She smiled and reached out to touch his arm. “I enjoy Tristan the man’s company. It’s far less lonely than Tristan, the bear.”
Tristan’s smile faded. “I don’t know how long Nora’s storm or Gaul’s lifting of his curse will last.” He hated to see the excitement drain from her eyes. “But my first priority is making sure you stay safe and warm tonight.”
She nodded and began to work on organizing the space in their tent.
By the time the fish were roasted, the smoke safely exiting, Tristan had reconfigured the entire shelter. “There,” he said, pride crowding his voice as he crawled into the now-warm shelter. “This should keep us cozy.” He laughed. “I haven’t had to worry about being warm in a long time.”
The wind continued to howl as darkness fell. The stones encircling the fire emanated heat. “I’m worried about Ruby and Avery,” Snow confessed.
Tristan stared into the growing darkness. “Not a lot we can change there, Snow. We may get lost looking for them. Let’s eat dinner, and we’ll think about it some more.”
“You don’t think anyone will attack?”
Tristan shook his head. “This is the attack. We’ll just have to see if the four of us can survive this, too.”
“Right. Survive the night,” Snow whispered and shivered in dread.
“Hey.” Tristan took her hand and sat down on a bed of blankets Snow spread. “Come here. We’ll get through this, Snow. We have no other choice.”
“Red is the brave one,” Snow confessed. The words seemed to tap an internal fountain, and she began crying in earnest. “I’m the one who stays home. Bakes the bread and cookies. Red charges ahead.”
“You’ve been very brave on this journey,” Tristan said. He hugged Snow, feeling her shoulders shake with emotion. “I have it on pretty good authority your sister thinks the world of you.”
“How?” Snow asked on a sniffle.
Latent chivalrous instincts wanted to provide his handkerchief for her tears before Tristan remembered he didn’t have such fine things in the woods. His lips twitched, and he wondered if Snow had some in her bag of endless surprises.
“I’ve talked to your sister,” Tristan crooned. He laid down, tugging Snow until they lay like two spoons in a drawer. “She thinks you’re wonderfully talented. Able to create dinners and bread out of thin air.”
Snow giggled. “I don’t create them out of thin air. I use ingredients.”
Tristan sighed and relaxed as Snow’s tears dried. “To those of us who can’t cook, it’s almost the same thing as magic.” Her skin felt good against his lips as he spoke.
“I’m so tired,” Snow whispered.
“I know.”
“How can you possibly understand? You’re as strong as a bear.”
“Bears sleep, sometimes for months at a time,” Tristan said.
Snow turned to face him. “Do you hibernate?”
Tristan shook his head, feeling his whiskers catching in her raven hair. “A little sluggish in the winter, I guess. But not true hibernation.” He smiled down at her. “Trying to get rid of me for four months out of the year?”
Snow’s trembling fingers reached up and touched his chin. “Do I have you?” she asked.
The moment blossomed between them. Rich. Redolent with feelings only beginning to unfold. Tristan traced the plumpness of her bottom lip. “I haven’t given any thought to the future,” he admitted. “Gaul stole our gold. With it, he took our magic. I was trapped in my bear form for most of the year. I’ve been utterly focused on getting both our gold and our power back.”
Snow’s face fell as his words hit home. “So, I don’t have you.” She stiffened in his arms, resisting his warmth and comfort.
Tristan tightened his arms. “When this battle is done, and our siblings are free, we will look at every emotion and turn over every feeling. If there was ever a woman I could love, I believe she is you.” His kiss was gossamer soft. “But I’m not free to pledge my heart to you, Snow-White.”
She nodded. Her eyelids barely stayed open.
“Sleep, sweet Snow-White,” Tristan said. “Rest. For tomorrow, we must face a new battle.”
Chapter Five
Snow
Sweat trailed down her back and pooled at the small of her back. Every muscle was tense an
d prepared for battle. Snow heaved for breath, trying to find purchase on the rocky cave interior.
Gaul stood over the woman collapsed at his feet. He was gloating as flickering flames of light danced around him. The bodies of Griffin and Tristan were strewn about the cave, casting horrifying shadows.
“Did you think you could defeat me?” Gaul’s voice was like thunder and lightning. The screech of Banshees in a dark forest.
Snow lunged at him. “Get off my sister,” she demanded. Fists flying, legs kicking, she charged him with all her might. She pushed at his bulk, but Gaul merely knocked her onto her bottom. Tears poured freely down her cheeks as she scrambled towards the downed figure of Red.
“Red! I love you. Please don’t die,” she begged. Snow’s hands were everywhere. Seeking some telltale sign her sister was alive. Some residual heat. A sweet breath of life.
But there was nothing save the cold stone of death. Snow’s howl of pain emanated from her soul, giving her more strength than she’d ever thought possible. She charged at Gaul’s smug, self-satisfied form, vowing to kill him.
Her staff appeared in her hands. THWACK! With grim satisfaction, she saw his head tilt back and his eyes open wide. Snow swept his legs with a delicate WOOSH! of her weapon. Gaul was flat on his back.
“Not so smug now, are you?” Snow held the staff under his beard, where his rapidly beating pulse pressed against his flesh.
“She’s not dead. Not until I say she is,” Gaul taunted, but Snow could see the slyness creeping into his eyes.
TWHACK! THWACK! Two hard strikes across each cheek.
They stared at each other, locked in a battle neither controlled. Snow wasn’t a killer. Didn’t have the instincts. But evil pulsed like a heartbeat every time Gaul blinked.
Snow pulled the staff back, just far enough that she could jab it forward, crushing his skull and ending his miserable life. Just as he’d ended the lives of everyone she loved.
“Snow!”
Snow frowned. She didn’t dare take her eyes off her enemy, but it sounded like Tristan’s voice. “Stop trying to trick me,” she muttered.
“It’s a dream, Snow. Wake up.” Tristan’s voice was urgent now. Compelling her from her shrouded thoughts and dreams.
“Let me kill him,” Snow begged.
“It’s a dream,” Tristan repeated. His palm soothed her back. Shoulders. Temples. “Come back to me, Snow. I need you. Red and Ruby need you.”
With a gasp, Snow forced herself awake. She blinked in the dim interior of the tent. Outside the weather still raged. Icy tendrils forced their way into the interior, but their small fire was welcoming and cozy. “What happened?” she asked, lifting her eyes to Tristan.
“I went out to gather more wood and collect a pot of snow to melt for washing. When I came back, you were thrashing around. Are you okay?”
“My sister was dead,” Snow whispered, a sob tearing at her throat. She shook her head. “I’m not strong enough, Tristan. I thought I was. At first. We were just going to get my sister and your brother back where they belonged. Home. With us.”
“It was just a dream,” Tristan crooned. He lay next to her, further shielding her from the cold air seeping in through the interlaced branches. He hooked his right hand under her head, giving her a warm pillow and a comforting blanket.
“What if we fail?” Snow’s voice wavered.
“Too many people are counting on us,” Tristan whispered, his nose pressing against her hair. “Failure is not an option.”
“Can you communicate with your brother? You can do that, right? Like you did with Avery?”
Tristan hesitated before answering. “I’ve been afraid to,” he finally confessed.
“Why?” Snow turned to look up at him. He looked down at her, and Snow was aware of their intimacy. The closeness of their bodies. The mingling of their breaths.
I love him, Snow thought, hoping she hadn’t just said those words aloud. When Tristan continued to look at her, she figured she was safe. “Tristan?” she prompted, pitching her voice low.
“Fear,” Tristan said. “Afraid of seeing where he is. But also afraid of discouraging myself. If my brother is somewhere I can’t reach him, will I give up?”
He waved his arms, indicating his human body. “Our magic comes from our gold hoard. Without it, I’m at Gaul’s mercy.”
“How come Avery can shift? Can others?”
“If they were animals in the Woodlands, yes, we can shift back to our original forms.”
Snow frowned. “Wait. Your power comes from the gold. When Gaul stole your gold he took your power, right?”
Tristan nodded. “He found our hoard, yes.”
Snow scrambled out of the cozy palette she shared with Tristan. She knelt before her bag, rummaging through its near-endless depths. Where was it? Her fingers reached around at the bottom until she found it. “Here!” she exclaimed. “I found this outside of the bakery. It’s yours, isn’t it?”
She dropped the gold charm into Tristan’s outstretched hands. He stared at it, transfixed. And then nodded. “Red found one, too,” Snow said. “If your brother has it, will that be enough to start your power?”
Excitement lit Tristan’s eyes. His fingers folded over the gold and he sighed. “Maybe,” he said. “Let me see if I can find my brother.”
And as Tristan seemed to grow in front of her, Snow realized something else. Gaul's plan backfired. She was through with guilt. Snow cast her lingering doubts aside like a moth-eaten cloak. She lifted her chin, more determined than ever to defeat Gaul and bring her sister and Griffin back home.
Tristan
After adding a few more logs to the fire pit and setting new ones in to dry out, Tristan settled into a comfortable corner of the tent. The pot of water melted and warmed.
Tristan held the gold charm in his palm and rubbed it with his thumb. “Grif? Can you hear me?” He reached out on their telepathic link.
“Tris?” The reply was weak, but there. Tristan swallowed the tears that threatened to overwhelm him.
“Griffin! I am so thankful I found you. We’re coming but only guessing at your location. Do you know where you are?”
“The cave, out beyond the castle. Where we played as children. Chained to the wall. By silver.”
Griffin nodded. He had expected as much. Silver weakened their strength. Could even cause their death. “That’s where we thought you were. Hold on. Help is coming. We’re just outside the Woodlands. Storm raging. But we’re coming to get you.”
“We?” Griffin asked.
“Snow, Sheriff Avery Wolfe, and Ruby,” Tristan said.
He felt Griffin sigh. “Be careful. Gaul is powerful. He has all our gold.”
“Not all,” Tristan said with a smug grin. “Snow found one of our charms and said that Red has one, too.”
Griffin was quiet for so long, Tristan began to worry. He was suddenly back, his voice stronger now. “You’re right, she does! This changes a lot.”
A smile began to play around Tristan’s lips. The first in what felt like forever. “When we’re together, we can use it to call for the rest of our gold.”
“Do you have any of your powers back?”
“I haven’t tested the ability to shift,” Tristan admitted. “I was too excited to try and contact you. Gaul took off the curse and sent in the storm, probably hoping we froze to death. Luckily, Snow and I managed to build a tent and stave off the dying part.”
“Always happy when Gaul’s plans are thwarted,” Griffin said dryly. “What’s going on? Do you have any other news?”
“We believe Nora and Gaul are working together to defeat Paulina.”
“I see,” Griffin said. He was quiet for a minute as he sought patterns in behaviors and actions. “Paulina was a formidable enemy. What are your plans?”
“I’m going to send Avery and Ruby to the castle on your behalf.”
“She could kill them outright. Not even let them have a chance to speak,” Griffin warned.
“Don’t underestimate them. Both are battle tested. But more importantly, Paulina must sense what her sister and Gaul are up to. She will be eager for allies.”
Griffin inhaled sharply. “Allies with Paulina could be dangerous for Thistle Grove.”
“Losing the Woodlands to the likes of Gaul and Nora could be dangerous for everyone,” Tristan countered.
“I understand,” Griffin said, his voice sounding weary. “Ruby and the Sheriff will seek an alliance with Paulina. And what of you and Snow?”
“We will come free you and Red. If possible, find our gold, and regain our powers.”
Griffin snorted. “And find a better hiding place.”
“I thought we could hide it within a memory this time. A place only the two of us remember.”
“We can do that?” Griffin was shocked. They could travel along shared pathways to each other, but to hide something physical within a memory?
“I’ve been experimenting. I think if we both have a memory of something. Something only we know of, we can hide the gold there.”
“And when we have children?”
Tristan hesitated, his mind going to Snow. Had it only been a few days ago he swore he would never have children? That he’d allow his line to die? He still hated the way he felt growing up. Still resented the weight of the legacy he’d been born under. And yet, when Snow smiled at him, Tristan’s heart beat a little faster.
“When the time comes, we’ll find another mutual memory.” Tristan’s hands clenched into fists with frustration. Why couldn’t he be just a man? One without a cranky bear struggling to be let loose. Or, at the very least, one who could control his bear.
By mutual accord, the brothers broke off their communication. Tristan opened his eyes. “They’re being held at the cave. Like Avery thought.”
Snow scrambled to her feet. “When can we leave?”
“The storm is still raging, and our team is split up,” Tristan pointed out. “Has the water warmed? I had hoped we could clean up a little. Perhaps, even make some tea.”
Snow smiled shyly. “I washed up as best I could and collected more snow while you were talking to your brother.” She handed him a fresh flannel and turned her back to allow him privacy.
Snow: A Retelling or Rose-Red and Snow-White (Thistle Grove Tales Book Book 2) Page 3