Morning light creeping in through the window made me open my eyes. I felt a slight chill on my face. The fire in the fireplace burned out halfway through the night, but somehow my face was the only part where I felt the chill. I was no longer lying freely on the pillow covered by that little blanket. Lyanna held me gently in her hand against her face. I was still naked and the touch of her skin all over my body filled me not with just physical warmth, but also something else I could not describe, although it was very familiar. I could now recall what happened in the forest much more clearly. The sensation I felt now was much like back there with the goddess. I suppressed the thoughts about the forest and just enjoyed Lyanna's presence. Little did I care whether she held me like this on purpose or just instinctively cuddled in her sleep, I only knew I did not want this moment to end. She looked so happy in her sleep making the moment even more intense for me. I carefully freed my arm and reached out to her cheek, caressing it, causing Lyanna to smile in her sleep.

Lyanna began to wake up about an hour later when the light grew stronger. She stirred and a part of the bed sheet slid off her body revealing her naked breasts. No man would be able to look away as they rose and fell again with her breath.

"Good morning, Cale," she cooed softly. "I hope you slept as well as I did. I must thank you, you made me remember just how nice it feels when there is someone sleeping close to you."

It took me a little while to look into her eyes. She knew where my eyes were set before, but did not do anything, not even cover her chest. I must have been red, blushing like a small boy when our eyes met.

"Lovely morning, Lyanna, I am glad I did not sleep in that box," I attempted to cover that awkward moment, but it was a poor attempt.

Lyanna opened her mouth to say something, but bit her lip instead, lifted herself on her elbows and sat back against the wall. Her hand holding me started to shake a bit as she lifted it to her breasts and let go of me. I gasped as I landed on her soft, but firm breast.

"Isn't this better than looking?", she asked with a bit of a taunting voice and let her hand rest on top of me, holding me against her flesh. I gently kissed her skin and looked back at her. We stayed like that for a moment looking at each other until we simultaneously burst into laughter.

"Well, being a man, it is difficult to resist a look at such a beauty," I tried to make amends with a compliment.

"You know, it actually feels very nice to feel a man's attention again. I almost forgot how it feels to be a woman," she said when she stopped laughing.

"Lyanna, what do you mean? A lady like you must have the attention of many men. Although I admit it must be difficult to get here at this time of the year," I said, not really understanding her point.

"The time of the year does not matter, the weather never changes in this land. This is the land of the Winter Goddess. Any land will look like this when she stays there," Lyanna replied looking slightly absent-minded at the mention of the Winter Goddess.

"I would like to meet her, so I can give her my thanks. You said I would meet her today…," I said and regretted it soon after, because she swiftly removed me from her breast and laid me back onto the bed. She got up and slipped into the dress she left on the chair yesterday.

"Fine, fine, I will arrange so that you can meet her again, but I'll need to wrap you into something warm," she said with a sigh, not looking too happy about it. Lyanna was hiding something and I was slowly putting pieces of that puzzle together. She left the room and returned with a wool scarf. There must have been a dressing room right next to her bedroom.

"Ok, let's have a breakfast and then we'll go to see her," she said she picked me up into the scarf. One part of my mind wanted to find some clothes, but the other actually enjoyed being handled naked.

When we made it to the kitchen, she set me onto a table. I wrapped myself into the scarf, so that my arms were free, but rest of me covered as it was a bit chilly here as well. The kitchen was large even in Lyanna's scope, it was apparently meant to cater for many more inhabitants than just one. I was no longer surprised when she conjured fire with a flick of hand in the fireplace. She put a kettle above the fire and started picking ingredients from various shelves. At first she moved slowly as if deep in thoughts, but then started to enjoy what she was doing.

"What are we going to have?" I asked, but she did not respond.

I was not sure if she heard me, so I just sat there and watched her. She moved in a dance-like way moving in a rhythm of a nonexistent music. For a while she stood on tiptoe to reach a high shelf, then bent gracefully to fetch a pot from a cupboard. She was delightful to watch. From time to time she turned around and threw a warm smile at me. I wondered what she was preparing, it seemed more like a lunch than a breakfast.

What seemed like half an hour passed and Lyanna was not moving around anymore. Instead she was focused on doing something on one of the kitchen tables next to a big oven and humming a melody of a song I did not know. I tried calling out her name, but she either did not hear me or did not want to hear me. Apparently, Lyanna was in no rush, as if trying to delay the moment when I would meet the Winter Goddess again. Although I did not understand why, I did not mind that much, but sitting on a table doing nothing was not my idea of a useful morning, so I stood up and stretched my arms and legs to at least get a bit of excercise after spending days in bed. The air was getting warmer though not enough to walk around with no clothes. I tried pacing back and forth for a while, which seemed to warm me up reasonably well. I looked in Lyanna's direction, she did not seem so far away. If I moved fast, I should be  able to get to her quickly enough and maybe surprise her a bit. Now to get down onto the ground.

Luckily for me the table had carved legs sharped like a helix. I carefully slid down onto the ground and looked back up. With a bit of an effort I would be able to climb back up if necessary. This was my first time being really down on the floor. The chairs and table rising high above me and the sight of Lyanna's bare feet on the same level that I was made me feel a bit like a mouse. Trying not to push it too hard I took off towards Lyanna with a swift pace. Running would probably make me exhausted fairly quick.

I managed to cover about two thirds of the distance to Lyanna when I started getting dizzy. This might not have been the best idea after all, I clearly overestimated myself. I stood in a wide open space between Lyanna and the table I left a while ago. I lost balance, ringing sounds in my ears, everything else seemed suppressed. The next moment I recall lying on the ground feeling Lyanna's giant toes rest on top of me. A jolt of fear made me recover my senses a bit. I could see Lyanna's angry face looking down at me between her toes. She increased the pressure and kept it for a while. It was one of the longest moments in my life. However, instead of releasing the rest of her weight onto me, she grabbed my body with her toes, lifted me up and released me onto the palm of her hand.

"Cale, are you a fool? Are you out of your mind? I could have stepped on you! What were you thinking?" Lyanna tried to shout at first, but her voice was trembling instead.

She sat down and continued in a much softer voice, wrapping me in the warm scarf again. "Are you okay? I saw you faint in the middle of the floor. You can't push yourself like this yet, not to mention that running around naked can get you into fevers again."

"I'm sorry, Lyanna, I overestimated myself, I thought I would make it all the way to you. You seemed lost in thoughts and did not seem to hear when I called out, so I just wanted to get closer to you…" I said avoiding her concerned look and feeling stupid.

We sat there in silence which Lyanna broke by lifting me to her chest and holding me there. I must have really shocked her.

"Don't you ever do anything as stupid as this again! Here, take a cookie," she said releasing me and putting me onto the table again, this time next to a plate full of tiny cookies just the size for me.

I took the cookie, it tasted great. It made me feel even worse that in exchange for this I rewarded her with my foolishness. Lyanna watched me eat the cookie and remained silent, but her face seemed to get sad again. She took a deep breath.

"Now, Cale, forgive me for trying to delay this. I know you noticed. I guess it is about time I told you the truth about the Winter Goddess…"