Page 37 of Own to Obey

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 tone 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 the other side, to look at 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 front 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 heavily.

“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.”

---