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  Finally, when the shinno finished speaking, Treska led her off the platform and down onto land, finally.

  Her foot sunk deep into the snow, and she bent down to touch it, marveling at the strange texture and substance. She had only ever heard about snow in tales that Kyus told, and there was one area of the Western Lands where snow fell almost every year, but it never settled. In Kyus’ stories, the snow was so deep that it went calf deep, and this was almost the same. Now she knew why Treska had dressed her that way.

  Treska led her away from the crowd, and they trudged through the snow toward a row of carriages that sat on top of the snow. Walking in the snow was difficult, it required her to lift her legs higher and take bigger steps. By the time she reached the carriage, her breath was coming quicker but the carriages caught her eye. They were more like sleds. The bottom of them had no wheels, only long, flat paddles, and they were each attached to a team of white and gray hounds, who were enormous. Shaya watched them nervously as Treska helped her into the carriage, but the animals sat calmly, barely moving at all.

  “Are you well?” Treska asked as she sat down.

  Shaya nodded, though she was feeling a little strange about everything that was happening.

  “You will be used to it,” Treska said in her halting Common Tongue.

  Shaya sighed. She knew Treska was right, this was just a new environment for her that she would have to get used to. But as Treska began to climb out of the carriage, her nervousness returned. “Where are you going?” she asked, alarmed.

  “I must travel in the other one,” Treska said pointing at one of the carriages further back. “This carriage is not for me,” she said, smiling wryly.

  Shaya opened her mouth but didn't really know what to say. She didn't want Treska to go, she was the only familiar thing in this land apart from the shinno.

  Treska grabbed her hand and squeezed. “You will be used to it, Shaya,” she said smiling, pressing her hand tight.

  Shaya nodded and watched her climb out of the carriage. She leaned back against the carriage wall, taking deep breaths trying to calm her nerves. She was here in place of her sister, she had to continue to find the strength her sister would have had. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw men standing along the row of carriages at either side. It looked as though they were guarding it. Of course that made sense.

  Her eyes drifted up into the horizon, and she had to admit that she was disappointed that there was no greenery in these lands that she could see so far. No abundant trees, no colorful flowers, no grass. Just rock, ice, and snow. Suddenly the stories and information she had read and heard during her time learning about Southern Lands’ culture began to make sense. Many of the things expected from the people in the culture, came from what they refer to as the “conditions of the land.” Did that mean that it snowed here all the time? She shook her head and sighed. If that was the case, she may indeed struggle here. There were a number of islands that made up the Southern Lands, and hopefully not all of them were as hostile as Nyek.

  She suddenly noticed the noise of the crowd becoming louder. When she peeked out of the carriage window, she saw the shinno making his way toward her carriage.

  He looked amazing. He wore a thick gray and white fur overcoat with a hood that was not up, allowing his strip of blonde hair to be seen against the white. His beard had grown, but Shaya had kept it neat and shaped it to match the shape of his face, and it made him look incredibly handsome. His blue-green eyes sparkled and every step was strong and swaying and dominant, showing his confidence in himself in this Land. As he headed toward her, she marveled at the breathtaking sight of him.

  He climbed into the carriage, bringing with him a swirl of snow and sat opposite her, then pushed down the window from the top and leaned out, yelling to the men that stood outside; they instantly began to move. Shaya watched two of them move to stand on some kind of ledge on either side of the carriage, the third climbed to the front to drive.

  A thick hand gripped her arm and gently pulled her from the window. The shinno pushed it back up and banged on the wall of his carriage.

  The sound of the driver yelling out commands to the hounds punctured the air, and they jerked forward.

  Shaya turned to look out of the other window, wondering what her life would now be. She glanced at the shinno, considering asking him, but his gaze remained outside the window and she decided against it. He seemed to be thinking about something, and she wasn't going to disturb him. It wasn't the right time.

  She was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly they were moving across the snow. She had never moved this fast in a normal carriage, although that could be because in the Western Lands there were roads and people and buildings everywhere. There was something incredible about moving at such speed, and suddenly she was desperate to explore the whole island. What if there were wonders to be found in this white landscape. What if parts of the island were beautiful? She hadn't yet seen anything in nature, such a vast space like this, that didn't have at least some beauty. She decided that she would find out if she could.

  Suddenly, the carriage jerked to one side, and she gasped, bringing her hands up to catch herself, only to slide to the end of the bench and bump into the wall. She laughed with delight, and looked out the window to see if she could see the hounds as they ran. This was much more fun than she thought it would be.

  A hand gripped her arm again, but this time the shinno pulled her toward him and onto his lap. He was smiling, his eyes trained on her smile, and she grinned at him, happy to be close to him again.

  Keeping his eyes on hers, he slowly unraveled the top of her overcoat, hunger creeping into his eyes as he undid the top.

  “You are wrapped tightly, little bird,” he said, his voice sending shivers straight between her legs. He slipped his finger down her neckline and pulled her top away, peeking down it and then smiling at her again, his salacious tone and the look in his eyes making her squirm.

  Suddenly, the carriage stopped abruptly and Kardos held onto her as she almost slid from his grip. He banged the wall, and yelled out to the driver, but when the driver yelled back, his face darkened.

  Placing Shaya on the bench opposite, he climbed out of the carriage.

  Shaya stayed where she was, knowing that's what he would want. However, angry voices rose from outside. Switching over to the other bench, she looked out of the window to see if she could see who the shinno was talking to; there was another carriage blocking their way. A man, an Alpha stood a few feet from his carriage, talking to Kardos, but the conversation did not look pleasant. The stranger’s face was contorted and he spoke roughly, though Kardos bellowed back at him, speaking just as rough.

  Shaya wondered what they were arguing about. Did Kardos have enemies on his own island? It didn't seem likely. Nyek Island was the biggest apart from the Central Island where the high chief lived.

  She listened carefully to see if she recognized any of the words being spoken, but they were speaking too quickly for her.

  Finally, the Alpha turned and stalked back to his carriage and shinno Kardos stood in the snow until his carriage had disappeared. Turning, he gestured to someone behind him pointing to the carriage, and when Shaya scooted over to look out the other window, she saw one of the carriages breaking off from their row to follow the one that had blocked them. She suddenly heard the crunching footsteps approaching the carriage and quickly jumped back over to her own bench.

  The shinno entered the carriage and slammed the door, banging on the wall for the driver to continue their journey, but he looked furious. The rest of the journey he was quiet and distracted. He did not speak to her or look at her, keeping his eyes outside of the window the whole time. His fists were clenched as hard as his jaw, and his whole body was tense from the exchange. Shaya wondered what could have possibly have made him so furious.

  ***

  When the carriage finally came to a stop, the shinno helped Shaya out and she found herself standing in fron
t of a house. It didn't look like any other normal houses in the Western Lands. It was completely white and made from some kind of material she didn’t recognize. It had numerous round roofs and different sections to the main structure. It wasn't anything that she had seen before.

  As soon as she was steady on her feet outside of the carriage, the shinno stalked toward the house, and Shaya tried to follow him, but couldn't walk quickly enough in the snow. However, Treska was soon by her side, helping her make her way into the house. By the time she entered, the shinno was not to be seen, and Shaya couldn’t help but be disappointed

  As soon as they managed to get her boots off, she was taken to a beautiful room with uniquely designed furniture and bold tapestries. Treska helped her out of her enormous bundle of clothing and then led her to a large bathroom. It was decorated richly and the bath was almost like a little lake. When she came out of the bath, Treska had gone, but she hoped that she would see her again before the end of the night. She dried and dressed, and treated her hair and wrapped it before exploring the rest of the room. There were closets and chests filled with clothes, elaborate warm fur, some of them decorated with beaded gold or silver. She wondered whose room this was before becoming hers, for there were such gorgeous clothes in here, and then she realized that the shinno could have housed numerous other women in here and abandoned any more searching.

  She gathered her notes about Southern Lands culture began to read through them again with a new understanding of what the Lands was like, and she began to realize just how integral the environment was to their lifestyle. It was almost unheard of to go out after dark, unless the person was significantly trained in something called “Tasa Kylesh.” Most meetings were held early, at the rise of the sun, as it was deemed the perfect time of the day. Furthermore, all new mothers and their children were to be kept on the Central Island until the child was old enough and their health secure. It seemed many babies had been lost because of the extreme conditions of the land.

  Shaya searched for any mention of the change of season. Surely it could not snow here all the time? Finally she found something. It seemed that there were indeed different seasons, but most of them included the falling snow. There was only one season it didn't snow, and the temperatures rose slightly. During that time many of the plants that were able to thrive in this hostile environment would flower.

  Shaya was so engrossed in the book that she didn't notice that there was knocking at the door until it became louder. Surprised, she opened it to find the woman who had examined her. “Hello,” she said in Mayaros. “Are you here to see the shinno?”

  The woman gave her a strange look. “No, I came to see you,” she said in the Common Tongue

  Shaya frowned, but gestured for her to come in. “Am I due another examination?”

  “Of sorts,” the woman said, walking around the space and looking it over. She pulled one of the chairs next to the bed and sat. “I just wanted to make sure that you were well,” she said. “You have had quite a rough journey, and this must be a change for you.”

  Without meaning to, Shaya sighed.

  “That was a heavy sigh.” The woman smiled.

  Shaya smiled at her, glad she was so warm. “I didn't mean it to be. It's just I only just began feeling comfortable on the ship and now I am somewhere new.”

  “That is to be expected,” the woman said. “But it won’t be like this forever, you will get comfortable here too.”

  Shaya nodded, but she wasn't sure if that would be the case. On the ship it was the shinno that made her feel comfortable, and now she had no idea what was going to happen between them. “Whose house is this?”

  The woman gave her another strange look. “The shinno's. We call it a hut here.”

  “A hut? It's way too big to be a hut,” Shaya said looking around.

  “I know,” the woman laughed. “But that is what the word translates to in Mayaros.”

  “So how come you can speak the Common Tongue so well?”

  “I learned as a young child,” the woman explained. “I knew I was going to be a potionist and all the ones I saw who were the best were able to speak the Common Tongue in order to trade with some of the other lands. You might have realized, we can only grow certain things in this kind of environment and potionists need their ingredients.”

  “But I’ve never heard of any trading happening between the Southern Lands and any of the others,” Shaya said slowly. “I thought you didn't trade much at all here.”

  “We most definitely trade for ingredients,” the woman said. “But we never say we’re from the Southern Lands.”

  “Why?”

  “The Southern Lands are very private. We have always been, but anytime we’ve had any experience with outsiders, it has never ended well for us. So after the last incident, it was agreed by all of the tribe leaders and high chief that we would actively keep ourselves separated in order to preserve the purity of our ways. However, that did not apply to potionist. We are allowed to trade as long as we do not say that we are from the Southern Lands.”

  “But does that mean you travel a lot?”

  “Most of the potionists have assistants whom they send to different parts of the known Lands,” the woman said. “But when I was younger I used to go myself, you get the best agreements that way.”

  Shaya smiled. “That does make sense.”

  “I only wish I could send Treska so she could have the same experience.” The woman sighed. “But I fear she will be too timid for what it takes to survive the Eastern Lands. I wouldn't dare send her to the Western Lands, no offense,” she added, smiling at Shaya, “but the Eastern Lands, I think, she could do well if she wasn't so shy.”

  Something clicked into place. “You are Treska's mother!”

  The woman smiled. “Rozalia,” she said placing a palm on her chest. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Shaya.”

  Shaya almost corrected her but stopped herself. What was the point?

  “What is it?” the woman said, noticing.

  “My name is actually Katashaya,” she explained. “But the shinno refuses to call me by it, in fact he has a nickname for me already.”

  Rozalia nodded knowingly. “He is not one to be told what to do.”

  “Yes, true,” Shaya responded, uncertainly. “I'm not sure what comes next,” she admitted. “On the ship I knew my place, what I was, what I was supposed to do. But here…”

  Rozalia leaned forward and patted her hand. “You will find your way here too,” she said firmly. “It will just take a bit of time to get used to things.”

  “We are on Nyek Island, aren't we?”

  “Of course.”

  “It's just that on the way here there seemed to be an angry Alpha who stopped us. He argued with Kardos.”

  The woman’s smile faltered. “So that's what happened. I was wondering why we stopped.”

  “Is that normal?”

  “It is likely that Alpha was on Nyek Island because Kardos was away,” Rozalia said solemnly. “He probably hid from the guards and wanted to use his chance to approach Kardos when he returned.”

  “Is Kardos a target?”

  The woman inclined her head and shook at the same time, not really giving an answer. “Shinno Kardos is extremely accomplished. There were many who would wish him to fail in his quest, but you are in no danger and neither is he. He wouldn't let anything happen to you.”

  Shaya nodded. “The man kept calling him something.” She frowned as she tried to remember it. “Some phrase I haven’t heard before but I can’t remember it.”

  Rozalia was silent for a long time. “Are you aware that there are a number of shinnos?”

  Shaya nodded. “Treska told me that they are like princes.”

  “Exactly. They are all potentially in line to be the next high chief, and they come from different tribes.”

  “Oh. I would have thought it would be the high chief's children who would be next in line, that is how it works in the Western Lands.
The princes take over from their father.”

  “But that is the interesting thing,” the woman said. “Kardos is the blood son to the current high chief. And to complicate things further, almost all of the high chiefs in recorded history have come from Tribe Nyek.”

  Shaya thought for a long moment. “So he is a real threat to them?”

  “In real terms, yes he is. The ones who are clever recognize that. They do not make things easy for him, but he returns the favor tenfold. Every time.”

  “How?” Shaya breathed, in wonder. Part of her was insanely curious about Kardos’ life in these Lands. Although she had learned about the Southern Lands culture, she hadn’t learned specifically about him.

  Rozalia sighed. “I'm sure he will share that with you when he is ready.”

  “You think he will…? He seems to be very distracted at the moment.”

  Rozalia got up from her chair. “I can tell you no matter how distracted he seems, he is always thinking about you.”

  Shaya smiled, warmth spreading around her at the idea that that could be true.

  ***

  That night was difficult.

  She was led to the shinno’s bedroom to sleep and due to the cold weather it was heated by smaller versions of the boulders she had seen on the ship, and she suddenly realized where the heat had come from on the decks she worked on.

  She lay for a long time trying to sleep in the enormous bed and strange environment, wondering what the shinno was doing, wondering what Kyus was doing, wondering if Treska was sleeping in this house or whether she had gone to her own home.

  She sighed and rolled onto her side.

  By the time she was drifting to sleep, the bed dipped and a fiery heat enclosed around her, along with that scent she loved. “Shinno Kardos,” she breathed.