Page 6 of Own To Obsess

“Come,” she beckoned, as she lay out an outfit on the bed. “We must get you dressed.”

Shaya groaned and rolled over in the bed, covering her head, but Rozalia dragged it off her. “Come on, Shaya, you have to get dressed.”

“What for?” Shaya complained. “I’ve finished studying everything. I just want to sleep.”

Rozalia didn’t respond and Shaya sighed, letting herself be pulled up onto her feet to be dressed.

She quickly became aware that Rozalia was fussing over her more than normal and when she started to pay attention, she realized the woman dressed her in a beautiful, but unusual, fitted dress, with maroon, deep forest-green, and burnt orange patterns and gold stitching. A band of matching material had been fixed around her hairline, and Rozalia was using a comb to coax her hair so it seemed bigger.

Shaya jerked back from her. “I would like my hair wrapped,” she said, trying to be both polite and firm.

Rozalia shook her head. “That’s not possible today, Katashaya.”

“Why?”

Rozalia placed the comb down and pushed bangles onto her wrists and clipped decorative ornaments onto her forearms. “You need to look a certain way for the high chief.”

Shaya drew a breath in. “I’m going to see the high chief?”

Rozalia nodded.

“Now?” Her stomach lurched at the idea.

The older woman must have heard the panic growing in her voice because she slowed and drew herself eye level with Shaya. “It is nothing to worry about. Shinno Kardos simply wants you well presented, that’s all. You won’t have to say or do anything unusual.”

Shaya shook her head, panic claiming her. “Is he still going to give me away? Will the high chief take me?”

“No.” Rozalia’s voice was firm as she continued dressing her, putting jewelry around her neck. Her determined answer gave Shaya some comfort. “That cannot happen now.”

Rozalia brushed her cheeks with something shimmery and smeared an earthy, waxy substance on her lips that had a rose-brown tint. It felt strange to Shaya, but she had bigger things to worry about. By the time she stepped out of the bedroom, a jittering irritation had overtaken her stomach and she resisted the urge to retch as she followed Rozalia to the front door.

“You need to head directly to the carriage,” Rozalia said as she helped her put on her furs. “Just keep walking straight ahead and you’ll come to it.”

“You're not coming with me?”

Rozalia shook her head. “I’m not coming to the temple, no,” she responded. “I’m not needed.”

Shaya nodded but the nauseating flutter in her stomach became even more turbulent. If she had to face the high chief on her own, she didn't know how she would survive. Was he planning to question her? Punish her? There was no telling what would happen, and she wouldn't even have the comfort of being with someone she knew.

When she was bundled up in her furs, Rozalia opened the door and the cold wind swept around her along with the thick snowflakes.

“Straight ahead,” Rozalia reminded her.

She nodded and then stepped out into the snow. Although it was midmorning, the skies had a dark overtone highlighted only by the whipping snow. Shaya trudged ahead, heading for the carriage she could just about see in the distance. As she came nearer, three carriages emerged into view, all in a row, each with a pack of gray dogs who seemed unable to keep still. Several Nyek guards surrounded the carriages, standing firm against the wind and snow, and as she neared, one of them beckoned her toward the middle carriage and opened the door for her.

She was relieved to get out of the blustery weather. Settling down on the bench inside, a call came from one of the guards, and the carriage started sliding smoothly along.

Shaya kept her eyes firmly out of the window, watching the snowflakes as they fell, twirling and twisting in the wind, but she didn't really take in any of what she saw. She couldn't see the reason for her visit to the high chief, and the thought of standing before the man who could have claimed her for himself made her nervous. She also didn't know enough about Southern Land rules to confirm it still couldn’t happen, regardless of what Rozalia said.

When the carriage came to a stop and a guard beckoned for her to step out, she saw a small port, which she’d suspected. The high chief was likely at his temple on the Central Island, so she would have to cross on a boat to get there.

As her feet sunk into the snow, she stared, shocked at the sight of an enormous crowd standing a few feet from the carriage and stretching in the distance. The crowd size was similar to when she first arrived, but it was their complete silence alarmed her. Thick fur hoods covered their heads so she could barely see their faces, but their quiet gazes seemed even colder than the icy air on her cheeks.

The port was mostly covered in snow, and frothy white foam covered the channel of water that ran between it and the island she could see on the other side, which had to be the Central Island.

The guard led her from her carriage toward one of the boats bobbing at the edge of the port, and as she climbed up to top deck, she drew a sharp breath at the sight of Kardos. He sat farther down the deck on a thick, wide chair, and the guard beckoned to a chair positioned in front of his, facing the same way as him. As she sat down, the bond flared in her chest, but when she twisted in her chair to glance back at Kardos, he wasn’t looking at her.

The boat moved steadily across the water toward the other island and Shaya resisted the urge to turn in her seat again to look at Kardos. The bond remained as heavy and uncomfortable as it had been since she first woke from her Haze, and it didn’t give her any hope that his feelings toward her had softened. She turned her gaze to the island, watching the land through the falling snow as they neared.

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