“I’ve arranged a special treat for you,” Patrik announced, sounding rather excited, and I turned to see him walking toward a pair of Tralla horses hooked up to a carriage. “Since Isarna is free of motor vehicles, I arranged to have our two best Trallas take us to your hotel.”
Back in Iskyla we’d had a few Tralla horses, but nothing as big or as stunning as these two. Trallas were a type of draft horse, bred exclusively by trolls, and almost entirely by the Kanin. Occasionally they were gifted to other tribes, often from the King to other royalty.
Trallas were renowned for their size, since they were larger than Clydesdales, and for their plush satiny coats and very high tolerance of the cold.
Patrik walked to one of the horses, this one a lovely lavender-silver color, and her shoulder was well over a foot above the top of his head. She lowered her head so he could stroke her nose. “This beautiful girl is Agda.” He went to the other one, a charcoal dapple steed with big dark eyes. “And this is her nephew, Eldil. King Linus gave us these horses after he took the throne, as a coronation gift for the Trylle’s help in securing the crown for him.”
Eldil and Agda were a beloved King and a favorite Queen from the Kanin’s recent Strinne Dynasty. They were related to Pan, actually, through his father, and I wondered if he realized that as the big horse gave him a nuzzle.
I tried to give the horse a friendly pat, but Eldil decided he’d rather sniff and slobber in my hair. I laughed and ducked away from him, and then I climbed up into the carriage. It was a large open cart and looked suited for a Victorian hayride, with padded benches and seating for at least a dozen, but it was only the five of us.
Once we were all settled in, Patrik took the reins, and the horses pulled us up the hill. We moved slowly at first, as the road wound through the trees, but our pace quickly increased on a straight open stretch. There was a little bit of open land, a few acres set aside for gardens, pastures for the sheep and horses, and even an archery range.
“This the Trylle side of the island,” Patrik explained. “We don’t have any real divisions, everyone is free to live where they want, but we tended to group up together anyway. But it’s not that big an island. We’re a community at heart, and we intermingle often.”
The houses and buildings on this end of town were made with green shiplap and gray bricks. As we headed down the main street, we saw a few shops lining the road: a veterinarian’s office, a bakery, a flower shop, an apothecary. There were many small houses and cottages, and even a small apartment complex with a garden courtyard.
Right in the center of town was an old stone building with a vaulted roof and a bell in a tower. Patrik pointed it out, telling us, “That’s Öhaus, the town hall. I’m sure you’ll see a lot of it on your visit.”
“How come?” Dagny was sitting in the seat right behind him, a row closer than me, and I easily heard him, but she leaned forward anyway.
“That’s where we keep our records,” he answered.
She looked back over her shoulder, staring longingly at the building. “We could stop now. Since it’s on our way to the hotel.”
“Don’t you want to get settled in?” he asked.
“I would like to, yes,” I interjected before Dagny derailed my plans for a shower, getting something to eat, and then getting some sleep.
“We should rest up,” Elof agreed. “We can head to Öhaus first thing in the morning.”
Dagny scowled, but she relented and sat back on her seat.
Right after the town hall, the green houses gave way to blue; the floral vines proudly displayed on the shop signs turned to fish. The whole aesthetic had quickly shifted from country village to nautical seaside. Here there were no flower shops or vets, but they had a bait shop and a restaurant, and the Skojare had their own apothecary and market.
Patrik turned off the main road, taking us down a narrow dirt path that led to the shore. Boats and docks lined the rocky coast for half a mile, but that was soon replaced by seaside houses cloistered in trees.
It was there, when we rounded the final bend, that we finally arrived at the Grand Bottenviken Hotel. It was a fairy-tale lodge, with the shiplap painted cornflower-blue, and the pillars supporting the porch decorated with flowered vines twisting around them.
Inside, Patrik and Elof checked us in, while I paused to admire the fish swimming in the long tank in the small lobby. The hotel stay, like the rest of the trip, was covered by the Mimirin, and I felt a twinge of guilt about this until I remembered that I was actually working here. They expected me to spy.
Finally, Dagny handed me a big brass key to my room, and I headed upstairs. I glanced around my room, taking in the sparse, rustic space. The big bed with a down comforter was my main concern, but the blackout curtains were also appreciated and a definite necessity. In the summer this close to the Arctic Circle, it was the land of the midnight sun, as the signs at the airport had frequently reminded me.
I closed the curtains, blotting out the sun and the view of the blue waters lapping against the shore beyond the hotel walls. Then I stripped down to a T-shirt and underwear and climbed into bed. Before dozing off, I tapped out a quick message on my phone to Hanna. I’d told her what we were doing before we left for Sweden, and she’d been worried, so I wanted to put her mind at ease.
Hey Hanna—
We just got into the hotel, and we’re all doing fine. It’s really beautiful here, and Isarna seems like a really interesting place. I’ll try to take pictures tomorrow to show you.
On the way here, I’ve been reading a book about Jem-Kruk, and it sounds a lot like the one you mentioned in your other messages. What’s it called, and where did you find it?
I hope you’re having a fun summer and helping your mom and dad around the house.
Talk to you soon, Ulla
I hit send, and within seconds I was asleep.