[Folwren]

‘What have you done?’ What kind of question was that? It sounded as though Skald thought he’d lit a fire and let the enemies know where they were. He hadn’t done anything against orders or rules.

‘Nothing!’ Bror replied, before he could stop himself. Skald’s question had surprised him. ‘Nothing serious, anyhow.’ He smiled suddenly at the thought. ‘Just experimenting with your beard, and taking advantage of your sleep. It’s the best time to do that sort of thing, when you’re sleeping. You take such particular care of that beard of yours, I thought you’d appreciate actually having something to deal with other than the normal routine.’

He gave a short laugh as he finished. He knew perfectly well that Skald would have a fit with the mess in the morning. It wouldn’t be impossible to get the berry juice out, but it would be sticky and uncomfortable ordeal. No one could say that it wasn’t an excellently thought up prank.

But Skald was not agreeing. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t saying anything. Bror looked at him and tried to see his expression in the dark. It wasn’t like his brother to make no comment. Usually Skald was the first to say that a trick was good and well executed, but now he said nothing at all.

‘What’s wrong?’ Bror asked after a rather lengthy pause. ‘Surely Riv’s leaving hasn’t put you into such a depressed humor that you can’t even see the fun in something like this.’