Page 62 of Fortress of Snow

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The next day dense, wet snow blanketed the ground. It was cold but not overly, as they wore their warmest cloaks and walked the little trail that led from the castle to the sea. Berenger brought a cloth bag to carry seashells in if they should find some.

He paused as Juliana bent to draw in the snow with her finger.

“Are you writing your name?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “Drawing a flower,” she whispered.

“Ah, very nice.”

They continued on their way as Lady Bristow stood and stared out at the sea.

They came upon a large shell with a pale pattern of color on the outside, pearly white and smooth inside, large at one end, then tapering down to almost a point at the other end. He waited for Juliana to pick it up. She stared up at him. “Can I keep it?” she whispered.

“Of course. Hold it up to your ear and you can hear the hollow sound of the waves inside it.”

She looked at it for a moment, then held it up to her ear. Her eyes went wide and her mouth opened into an O shape.

“All shells like this make that sound.” He smiled at her, and she rewarded him with a wisp of a smile in return.

He held open the bag and she seemed reluctant to place it inside.

“I won’t lose it, and I shall give it to you when we get back to the castle.”

She dropped the shell into the bag and they kept walking, with Juliana staring at the ground as they went, occasionally finding another shell.

They came to a cove that jutted out into the sea. Juliana had been following him and focusing on the ground as she walked, but when he stopped, she looked up, gasped, and froze in place.

“What is it? Are you all right?” Berenger looked all around but could see no danger.

The little girl looked back as Lady Bristow was just rounding the bend and coming into sight.

“Is something wrong?” he asked Juliana again.

She looked at him with fear in her eyes, but then she whispered, “I’m not supposed to tell.”

When Lady Bristow joined them, he asked, “Did something happen here that Juliana is afraid of?”

“She’s probably remembering a ship that wrecked here during a storm a few months ago. Some men drowned. Poor thing. That is what’s troubling you, isn’t it, my dear?” Lady Bristow said. “No need to worry. There are no storms and nothing to worry about today,” she ended cheerfully.

Juliana did not respond, just kept her eyes cast down, looking half-frightened, half-defiant.

He missed how happy she had seemed moments before when they were finding shells. That was all over now as she stood with her shoulders rounded.

“You are enjoying the sea and the treasures it yields, I see.” Lady Bristow raised her brows at him.

“We found several shells, did we not, Juliana?”

The little girl glanced up at him, then dropped her gaze.

Lady Bristow looked heavenward, then whispered, though loud enough for Juliana to hear, “She is always so sullen. I don’t know what to do with her.”

Juliana seemed more sad than sullen, and she was only a little child, but Berenger said nothing to contradict Lady Bristow.

“Let us go back,” Lady Bristow said, hugging her arms around herself as if she was cold.

Berenger let Lady Bristow walk ahead and stayed behind with Juliana. He held his hand out to her and was surprised when she took it and walked beside him. Her face lost the tense expression and she seemed to enjoy kicking the snow and once again looking for pretty seashells.