Waking up in the morning, it took her only a few minutes to recognize that she was in the basement of Nori’s house. To her surprise, the room was now awash with light from a lantern that was placed on a table in the room. Looking around, she quickly noticed that Nori was no longer in the room with her, so she decided to look around and take in her surroundings since she was unable to the night before. Aside from the bed she was currently laying on and the table the lantern was sitting on, there was very little furniture in the room. It seems that the room had been  primarily being used for storage.

Hearing various noises from upstairs, she decided to get up and make her way upstairs. Grabbing the lantern by the handle, she begins to make her way upstairs. Entering the living room, she sees Nori and Jolfri in the middle of a conversation. 

Upon noticing her presence, Nori immediately jumps up and makes his way over to her. Grabbing the lantern, he motioned for her to sit at the table. After ensuring that she sat down, he left the room. 

As she sat down, she couldn’t help but think that it was weird that he was avoiding talking to her and had simply motioned for her to sit. However, she decided not to question it and instead looked at Jolfri. Although she hadn’t asked Nori about it last night, she was curious about the scream she heard. “I heard the scream last night. Is everyone okay?” she asked as she looked over at Jolfri.

“Yes, everyone is just fine. Unfortunately, that was the cry of a sheep that hadn’t been rounded up and sheltered safely last night. We did suffer a bit of damage to a few homes but everyone was able to get to shelter safely.” Jolfri responds quickly.

Just as he finished his response, Nori entered the room with a tray of food. Looking at her, he brings the tray over and places it on the low table in front of me. “Elder Maize has given orders that you are to eat well and regain your strength before meeting with her for further discussion.” Avoiding her eyes, he sits down next to her. 

“Thank you.” she responds with a small smile. 

Digging into the food, she hadn’t been paying any attention to the conversation going on around her, until they both went silent. Looking up, she found that the two of them were both looking directly at her. “What is it?” she asked after she swallowed the bite of food she was currently chewing. 

“Nothing,” Nori responds before turning back to Jolfri and continuing, “What other orders did Elder Maize give me? It can’t be simply watching over Kora. Any of the others should be capable of making sure that she is eating properly.”

Hearing his reluctance to spend time with her, she wondered if she crossed a line last night or if she was just imagining that the two of them had gotten closer. Judging by his tone, he seemed to be determined to avoid her. 

“No, Elder Maize gave strict instructions that you were to stay with her. She specified that there was no task more important. She mentioned that if you wanted to challenge her orders, then you should be sure to bring Kora along with you as well.” Jolfri answered. 

“Okay, I’ll make sure to do that then. I’ll let you get back to your orders for the day. If you see Elder Maize, let her know that I’ll stop by to see her later.” Nori says as he looks over at Jolfri. 

“Will do.” Jolfri replies as he stands up. 

Nori follows him to the door and closes it after him before coming back over to the table and sitting in Jolfri’s recently abandoned spot. 

“What’s up with avoiding me this morning?” She immediately asks Nori, looking over at him. 

“I’m not. If I seem as though I’m too close to you, it can ruin your chance to find someone to marry later on. And Jolfri will not hesitate to tell people anything he sees or hears.” Nori responds as he continues to avoid my eyes. 

“I’m not interested in whether they think I’m good enough to marry. You are the only one in this village that I know and it hurts to know that you’d act as though you don’t want to be around me just because of what others think.” She says with a bit of annoyance showing through in her voice. PUshing the tray away, she says “I’d like to meet with Elder Maize as well. I’m sure I could convince her to appoint someone else as my guardian.”

“It’s for the best.” he says as he stands up. “You have more clothing in the basket in the guestroom. Get changed and we’ll meet back out here when you’re ready.”

Within a few minutes, she changed into a different outfit. This time deciding on a skirt and crop top combination, she couldn’t help but recognize that the outfit looked good on her. Despite being angry with Nori at the moment, she couldn’t help but want to see his reaction to her outfit. Walking back out into the living room, she finds him already waiting for her impatiently. 

As he turns around, she looks at his face searching for any changes. And she wasn’t disappointed. Upon seeing her dressed in his tribe’s clothing, his face betrayed the fact that he was not as emotionless as he likes to pretend to be. Before he changed his face to a neutral expression, she could see the beginning of a smile appear. “Are you ready to go?” he asked, as he turned toward the door.

“Yes,” she responds, unable to hide her smile. 

The walk through the village went by quickly as everyone they passed were busy tending to their own chores. A few people stopped to look, but after one look from Nori, they all began to get back to work. Before she knew it, they were back at the cot from yesterday evening. Nori led her to a tent nearby in which they found Elder Maize sitting on cushions in the center of the room. 

“I’ve been waiting for your arrival.” Elder Maize says as she looks at the two of us. 

“Hello, Elder Maize.” Nori responds politely. 

“Hello, I meant to thank you yesterday and never said it properly, so… Thank you. Without you, I would’ve probably been eaten by the Nightwalkers.” Kora says as she smiles at Elder Maize. 

“No, child I should thank you. Please sit, I have much to tell the both of you.” Elder Maize says. 

Despite the fact that they went to her with the intention of convincing her to appoint Kora a new guardian, the two of them obey her words and Kora finds herself curious about what other information that the Elder knew.