Winter Swan

Silence fell. It felt like time had stopped, but Silje put on a calm face and looked at him. Kail grinned, but his eyes were frighteningly cold. Silje shivered.

Looking at his expression, Silje felt confused. Was he really telling the truth? Was he really telling her about his past?

Kail continued, "I was put in the basement so many times that even to this day, I feel more comfortable in the dark than light. I think you don't like to go home because of your adoptive parents, right? Well, I will tell you what a home means to me. My family's house in Oslo means nothing to me other than just a place to live. That huge castle is a place where I sleep and eat. Everything about it, the windows, my bed, the rooms… They are just meaningless things that look nice. Even when I eat dinner with my family, my inner beast is very close to the surface, wanting to escape and destroy everything. Can you imagine what that feels like? Every time I see my family, I imagine my hands covered in their blood. If I could do that, I wouldn't mind that house so much, haha."

Kail talked about such gruesome things like he was just talking about the weather. At first, Silje wondered if she heard him wrong. She couldn't tell if he was joking or telling the truth.

But even at this moment, she couldn't stop staring at him. He was looking at her, however, his eyes sometimes looked distant as if his mind was somewhere else.

It was a place Silje could never reach.

She asked, "You are talking about your life, right? Oh my god… You are telling me that the Bruntland family did that to you?"

She couldn't believe it. It didn't make sense, so Silje asked to confirm.

"You really got whipped by your own grandfather? He did that to his grandson…"

Another silence fell.

When Kail didn't say anything, Silje asked, "This isn't true, right? Kail?"

"What if it is?"

He smiled coldly and stared into her eyes. After another short silence, Silje shook her head and replied, "I don't know what to say… I didn't realize something like that happened to you. I mean of all people… I never imagined that you would've had an unhappy life."

When she spoke to him honestly, Kail lowered his face and kissed her hard.

It was hot like her lips were being burned. The overwhelming feeling engulfed her like a giant shadow.

Silje accepted his kiss with a shiver.

"…ah…Kail."

Kail pushed his tongue into her sensitive mouth and explored it. His mouth covered hers as if he owned her.

A sharp knife-like wind blew and Silje thought to herself.

'We are like damaged animals…'

Suddenly, a passerby whistled.

"Bravo!"

The others also glanced at them as they walked by. Some even exclaimed, "Wow! So hot!"

"They must love each other very much."

People chuckled and whistled. Normally, Kail would've become angry, but today, he smiled pleasantly.

"Where are we going now, Kail?"

"We are done with the tour of the park."

With that, Kail took her to his car that was parked at the entrance.

The silver Audi started smoothly.

"Where do you want to go?"

Without thinking, Silje answered, "… The Viking Museum."

Everything about Kail reminded her of the Vikings and perhaps that was why she said it.

Without a word, Kail drove towards her destination of choice.

It was so unexpected and random to be going to the Viking Museum.

Silje glanced at him secretly. He looked as beautiful and mysterious as ever.

But one thing had changed.

Kail always only looked forward as he walked, but now, he turned around often to make sure she was there with him. He looked at her like she was the only one for him, and that he would never allow her to leave his side.

His other half.

Strangely enough, Silje didn't mind how he made her feel.

***

The fifteen-minute drive got them to the museum where they showcased Norwegian history. When they entered, a woman in a traditional outfit greeted them.

"Welcome!"

Kail gave her a blank smile and they walked in. He looked around with interest and Silje watched him quietly. It was nice to see him showing interest in such mundane things.

She felt her heart beating fast. He smelled of fall leaves and coffee, and her senses were fascinated by him.

Quietly, she asked him.

"Is this the first time you've been to the Viking Museum, Kail?"

He nodded, and in his stunning voice, he replied, "Yeah. I've been to other museums like the one for the Sami people, but not this one."

"How was the Sami Museum?"

"It was interesting. A guide in the traditional Sami outfit showed me around. They even demonstrated how they used to make fire. It was very warm. It would've been nice if you were there too."

He grinned and Silje suddenly felt glad.

She realized that she wasn't alone anymore. He was with her. They were together right now in this moment in the Viking Museum.

They walked quietly and stopped in front of the Viking ship.

Silje murmured, "Oh, so this is the Viking ship."

She studied it closely as she had only seen such a large ship in textbooks, and she felt awestruck by it. She continued to murmur, "This ship is apparently over a thousand years old. That's amazing."

"It was found in 1904. Vikings stayed in the rivers and attacked the other passing ships. They attacked and conquered many areas in the world and the main reason for their success was because of their amazing shipbuilding skills."

At his unexpectedly detailed explanation, Silje said to him, "You surprise me, Kail. I wouldn't have expected you to know things like that."

He chuckled and replied, "Most people think Vikings are cruel predators with no culture, but that is not true. I read a book which stated that Vikings used to have their own legal courts. Isn't it funny to know that the Vikings actually used a democratic concept? Of course, I don't think you would like the Vikings because I am very much like them, right? Silje, do you still think the Vikings were just vicious pirates?"

When Kail gave her an odd smile, Silje remembered that he took a literature class.

Could it be that he liked to read?

She would've thought that Kail would be well-versed in things like foreign languages, horseback riding, fencing, and skiing which were all the things most rich kids learned from an early age. Oddly enough, Kail never mentioned these things.

This was the way he was.

Kail didn't enjoy talking about himself, and when he did, he talked as if he was talking about someone else. It was his habit.

However, that was fine since they understood each other.

Silje understood his past now. And just as Kail didn't ask her about her past as an adopted child, Silje didn't pry into Kail's childhood either. She just accepted him willingly without any questions.

They walked around the museum slowly, and from time to time, Kail smiled. He was clearly having a good time, and Silje couldn't stop staring at him.

Silje asked, "Are you having fun?"

"Of course, because I am with you."

Then suddenly, he seemed to remember something. Kail asked Silje, "If there was only one place you could go to, where would that be?"

At such an unexpected question, Silje at first thought to say nowhere. But when he looked at her expectantly and insistently, she replied with the first place that came to mind.

"… fjord."