Snow

"It's very bright," David said, and looked back at Alec. He looked like a blur now. "I've never really seen it before."

"Because you live in a castle. And they don't have windows in them or anything."

"It has windows. They're just always covered with ice."

Alec snorted. "I did mention I'm only taking you as far as the next town, right?"

***

After Alec dug the cart out he said they were ready to go. "Check on the horse," he told David, who walked up to the front of the cart and looked at the animal standing there. It looked disinterestedly back at him. David patted the side of its head tentatively, thinking of the animals he'd sung to last night and feeling fear trickle through him.

The horse twitched its tail and snorted. David patted the horse again. It was very warm and its fur felt nice on his fingers.

"I said check on him, not pet him," Alec said. "You live in a castle, right? You must have a horse. Probably a magical horse, but still you must have learned how to check and make sure it was harnessed properly."

David shook his head. "My father has some. I saw him riding one once."

"Just the one time, huh? You two don't get along?"

"He doesn't--he doesn't want to see me."

"Uh huh. Let me guess, you're a forgotten Prince who was locked in a tower for years and who's just escaped the clutches of evil relatives who are out to kill you. Am I close?"

David looked at him. Alec's eyes were even darker up close. He was smiling, but as David looked at him his smile faded and he looked off to the side, as if seeing him was something he didn't want to do.

"No," David said softly. "I'm just--I'm--I'm sorry I didn't know what to do with the horse."

"It's all right," Alec said. "Go get in the cart."

As the forest thinned they began to see homes. David stared at them, tiny stone houses made wet, dark by the snow. There were people too, and not one of them looked like anyone he'd ever seen before. He was used to the glow of pictures, saints in a prayer book or portraits lined up in hallways, to the drape and colors of the castle and the people who swept through it, even the servants dressed in bright colors that showed who owned them.

The only color he saw now was on the faces of slow-moving children whose cheeks and noses were red from cold, in the dark circles under most everyone's eyes, in the white circle scars that pitted almost everyone's face. Everyone was shrunken and grayer than people he'd seen in the castle or in pictures, as if they were sketches waiting to be filled in. He looked over at Alec.

Alec's lips were cracked from the cold and he had circles under his eyes and his fingertips were still cracked dark. He had two white circle scars on his neck, just below one ear, and another one high up on one cheekbone. He didn't really look any different from anyone David had just seen.

But he was different somehow. Maybe it was how he was sitting. He sat--not like anyone David had ever seen, not languidly like everyone in the castle, not wearily like everyone they'd just passed. He sat as if he was ready to move, as if everything around him wasn't enough to contain him and he knew it. Or maybe it was how he looked at things. At him. Not with fear or sorrow or strange heated expectation or as if past him was someone or something else. Just looking at him, directly at him. He liked it. He smiled at Alec.

Alec turned away. David was used to that from people so he didn't mind. Not really. He went back to looking at the houses, the people, the slowly fading forest.

It started to snow.

Alec wrapped the horse's reins around one hand and reached under the seat, pulled out something dark and shapeless. As David watched he pushed it down over his head, the fabric fanning out around and over him. It wasn't like any coat David had ever seen. It was covered with pockets around the hem, neat little rows of them, and the whole thing was covered with something, small shining flakes like starlight.

"What is that?" he asked, pointing at the flakes.

"Mine dust," Alec said tightly. "You have a problem with that?"

"No. You have some in your hair too. It--"

"Put on your coat."

"It shines," David said, still looking at Alec, who was determinedly looking straight ahead. "It looks like stars."

"Just put on your coat, will you?"

"I don't have one."

Alec's face was now flushed like the scullery maid's had once been, stripes of color across his cheekbones. David wished he could see his eyes. He moved a little, so he could see them, but Alec moved too.

"There's a blanket in the back," he said shortly, and his voice was another different thing about him, David thought. Looking at him you'd think--you wouldn't think about his voice at all. You wouldn't expect to notice it. But it was impossible not to. Everything he said came out quick and light and edged sharp. He moved closer again.

Alec shot him a glance then. The color was gone from his face and he just looked exasperated.