Chapter 22: It's down hill from here

The next morning, the snow had stopped falling, even though the sky still looked like it might give them another round. Irin was giddy at breakfast, thinking about her plans. Koth wasn’t as enthusiastic. He even looked like he was heading to his own execution.

“Don’t look so gloomy. Today is about having fun,” she reminded him. He huffed. “Well, okay, grumpy. Let’s get our cloaks on and head to the shed,” she told him, refusing to let him bring her mood down.

“The shed? Is it an indoor activity?” he asked, sounding happier.

“No. We need supplies,” she told him. They got two of the round wooden lids that were used for barrels.

“What do we need these for?” Koth asked. He had refused to let Irin carry one, so he was carrying both of them.

“You will see,” she told him. The village and the house were at one end of the Raven Mountains, and the landscape was hilly, which suited Irin's plans perfectly. They walked out into the open landscape between the house and the village. Irin spotted a good-looking hill. “That’s perfect,” she told Koth and started walking in that direction.

“Perfect for what?” he wanted to know. Irin ignored him as they climbed up the hill.

“Hand me one of the lids, please,” she said. He did as she asked, even though he looked hesitant. Irin took it and placed it on the snow, handle side up. She sat down on it and was happy to find she fitted nicely and could even hold onto the handle if she arranged her skirt correctly.

“What are you doing?” Koth asked.

“Have you never gone sledding?” she asked in return.

“No.”

“Come on, Koth. You live on the perfect hill back home. Haven’t you tried it at least once?” she asked.

“Never. If you don’t remember, my tower sits by the sea,” he pointed out.

“One side of the hill faces the sea. To avoid ending up in it, don’t go down that side. Choose one of the others, preferably the one facing the opposite direction,” she pointed out. He just huffed. “Well, at least this will be you trying something new,” she told him as she used her legs to scoot the lid up to the edge of the hill.

“Irin!” she heard him call. He was reaching for her, but it was too late. She placed her feet on the lid as it tilted over the edge and started its journey down the hill. As the lid was round and a little uneven, it caught a little in the snow, making the lid spin. Irin laughed as she enjoyed the dizzying ride. She heard Koth calling her name. She came to a stop after sliding quite some distance from the hill.

“That was amazing!” she called out as she let herself fall backwards into the snow.

“Irin?! Have you completely lost your mind, woman?!” Koth bellowed from the top of the hill. Irin laughed and looked up at him.

“You have to try it!” she called to him.

“Are you crazy? I’m not getting on this thing and doing what you just did,” he objected.

“Do I need to come up there and push you?” she asked.

“You are not coming back up here. The gods only know you will get the idea of doing that all over again,” he told her. “You are staying put and I am walking down this hill and we are going home.”

“Oh, come on, Koth! It’s more dangerous to walk down. What if you lose your footing?”

“I’m not going to lose my footing,” he said.

“I didn’t take you for an oath-breaker,” she called in a last attempt. She saw him freeze mid-stride. The wind carried his curse to her, and she giggled.

“Fine! How do I do this?” he asked.

“You saw how I did it. Lid on the ground, sit on it, scoot to the edge, put your feet on the lid and let nature take its course,” she explained. Koth looked at the lid, then at the trail of cleared snow Irin had left behind. She could hear parts of his mumbling, letting her know how truly stupid he thought this was. Despite it, he sat on the lid and scooted to the edge. As the lid tipped over and started going down, Koth seemed to forget to place his feet on the lid. Instead, he leaned halfway back and stuck them into the air. Irin laughed so hard she cried as she watched his lid start to spin. Koth’s legs looked like two antennae of a bug, and he made a guttural sound as he raced down the hill. He was heavier than Irin and, therefore, spun faster and picked up more speed. He flew right past her and came to a stop several metres away. Irin tried to take stock of him through her tears and fits of giggling. He looked dazed, and the wind had made his hair stand in all directions.

“Fucking nine gods of chaos, what was that?” he asked. Irin got up and wiped her cheeks with her cloak as she walked over to him.

“Wasn’t it amazing?” she asked. He looked up at her; he was still sitting with his legs halfway into the air, something that made her giggle.

“Amazing? Amazing?! It was a fucking murder attempt on my life!”

“You are being silly. Want to go again?” she asked.

“Again? No! And you won’t either. We have both tried to kill ourselves today. Once per day is the limit. Now we go home,” he decided. He struggled a bit to get up, then he took both lids and started walking back. Irin laughed and ran to catch up.

“Not even a little fun?” she asked when she was walking next to him. She looked up at him and could see a small smile playing on his lips.

“Maybe just a tiny bit, before all the spinning. We are still not doing it again. Far too dangerous for that amount of fun,” he told her.

“As long as you had fun. We will do it again another day. Maybe we can find some old door or something that we can both use. Then I can push us down the hill, and you don’t need to go down with your legs in the air,” she said. When she remembered how it had looked, she couldn’t help but laugh again.

“I did not stick my legs into the air,” he huffed.

“Sure. It’s important to preserve your dignity, even if it is through lying,” she agreed. He glared at her, and she just laughed. Their little excursion had taken just over an hour, but it had been fun, and Irin felt a lot better afterwards. She knew Koth well enough by now to see through his grumpiness. He had fun as well, she was sure of it. When they got back, they had some tea and bread and sat a while in front of the fire to get warm. Then they got to work with things that needed doing around the house. As it looked like they would be staying for a couple of months, it made sense to make it as comfortable as possible.