Where is it?" I asked, willing him to tell me.He laughed suddenly, and I could hear the full-throated, grating sound of the white bear's laughter in it."East of the sun and west of the moon," he said.

Neither Rose nor Charles liked to talk much of their adventures with the trolls, but some of the so-called "softskins" whom they had brought out of Niflheim, as well as the crew of the ship Soren had hired to go north to find Rose, must have spread the story, because for many years afterward, there were tales of a race of trolls living on top of the world.Only Rose and her white bear know the whole truth of it.

It was not a monster that lay sleeping on the white sheets. Nor a faceless horror. Nor even the white bear. It was a man.His hair was golden, glowing bright as a bonfire in the light of the candle. And his features were fair, I suppose, but he was a stranger and that somehow was the greatest shock of all- that I had been lying all these months beside a complete stranger.

She would search for him. In the land that lay east of the sun and west of the moon. But there was no way there.

I crossed the room to him. "I love you," I said in a rush, afraid I would change my mind."Charles," he replied.

Here.After so long waiting.Her purple eyes.Torn cloak.Skin pale, sheer as ice.Exhausted.But unafraid.

They journeyed far and the white bear said, "Are you afraid?""No," she replied. "I am not afraid.