Not looking into the Elf woman’s eyes, Malina muttered, ‘I remember.’
‘We could have stopped,’ Theuli continued. ‘We could have offered you warmth and shelter, even for just a night. I can’t tell you how the memory of seeing you like that wrung at my heart, especially after you led Rani out of the woods.’
Malina, turning away in an effort to avoid looking directly at such memories, found herself facing Rani, who was smiling.
‘You sang to me,’ said Rani. It was true. She had sung to the frightened child a song she used to sing to herself when she was frightened and lonely, which had been often.
‘It was the same song you were singing to yourself when we saw you in the wood that night,’ said Theuli. ‘But no one ever came . . .’
Malina withdrew her hands, shaken. ‘Please, don’t.’ She turned away from the others, trying to watch the passing countryside, but her vision was blurred with hot tears.
‘When Rani returned to us, that was how we knew it was you,’ said Theuli. ‘This past year, Pran and I waited for your sentence to end, dreading what we would find. We were both so relieved . . . Malina, can you ever forgive us?’