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Garmund ran down the stairs, almost ready to shout for joy. Lefun and Ritun had been seen as they were, and they were to stay. The Eorl had been as kind to them as Garmund had hoped, and the look of wonder and happiness the twins wore at their welcome left no doubt that bringing them here had been wise.
Garmund tore into the great hall and scanned the room in search of his father. Not finding him there, he went on to the kitchen, nearly running headlong into several of the household.
He found his father there, seated in a corner near the stove, slowly turning the pages of a small book.
After speaking with Marenil, Garstan had asked to keep the small book for a time. Marenil had given him a knowing glance before nodding and leaving the book with Garstan, asking that it should be returned for lessons in the morning. It had spent the rest of the day in Garstan's tool bag until, as the sun dropped behind the edge of the land, he found a quiet corner in the kitchen and held it again. He been studying the letters in the book by the low firelight in the kitchen, and trying his best to stay out of Cook's way, for the last few hours.
Letters and figures. Garstan knew little of them. He had never needed to know more than he did. But now, with both his children about to learn, a thirst for that knowledge awoke in him. He could not join the children's lessons. A grown man among a group of children who had not seen ten winters could only look foolish. And he had the task of teaching his own children apart from lessons in reading. How could he be their teacher if he joined them as a pupil? And so he quietly claimed the book for the evenings, hoping that he could piece together the puzzle on its pages through the use of his own small knowledge.
"Father! Come! Hurry!"
"What?" The book was closed hurriedly and hidden away under Garstan's tunic. "Garmund?"
The boy was already pulling at his father's arm. "Hurry. Upstairs. The Eorl wants you."
Garstan rose. His first thought had been that there was something amiss, but Garmund's excited voice ended that fear. Curious, he followed Garmund up the stairs and through a door near the end of the hallway.
He first saw Eodwine and Falco. Then he noticed another man in the room. He looked again. There were two - no one, but yet two, and he took a step backward, looking from one face to the other in confusion, and not knowing what to say next.
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