Ice Blink

13: Pilgrim

She woke late. Laziness was not tolerated in Nualik, and as soon as she realised how much she'd slept she bolted upright. Toklo had already gone, so she crammed a handful of half-frozen juniper berries into her mouth and left the igloo before she had even tugged on her mukluks properly.

She arrived at the main entrance to Illulik just as the sun reached its highest point in the sky. Panting, she doubled over where the hard-packed snow wall ended, surprised to find it was as hard as stone when she leaned against it. Niju was nowhere to be seen. Had he forgotten? Maybe he had more important things to do.

"Sorry for being late."

Nuna turned to find him striding around the side of a hut. He noticed the colour in her cheeks and added, "You needn't have rushed. I would have waited for you."

Nuna shrugged and folded her arms, unsure of how to act around him.

"Shall we go?"

"Wait a moment!" a new voice called. A girl was hurrying towards us – the girl who had been at the Circle meeting yesterday, who had given Siru a warning look. Her tattoos were stark against her skin. The delicate lines flowed along her forehead, down the bridge of her nose, along her cheekbones and chin in a branching pattern that resembled a tree. They gave the impression that she was peering through willow branches at them.

"Denali," Niju said. "What is it?"

"Sedna would like me to come with you."

"Sedna knows about this foraging trip?"

"Really, Niju. What doesn't get back to her? She doesn't like the idea of one of the suspects being alone with you – or anyone – especially because you were so vocal about your support at the meeting."

"So you don't believe me either?" Hopelessness swamped Nuna.

"I didn't make a decision, just like Sedna," Denali replied. "Shall we go, then?"

They opened the wooden gates and trudged into the wilderness. Flanked by Niju and Denali, Nuna felt like she was being escorted to a prison. How could she get Niju's support when Denali would certainly report back to Sedna? What would Sedna think?

"Here." Niju stopped and brushed some snow away from a mound, revealing the startlingly bright green leaves of a shrub that hadn't been killed by the frost. Seeing such vibrant life in the desolate tundra lifted her spirits. "This is hemweed."

"Pluck the leaves carefully so you can let it grow back," Nuna instructed out of instinct. "Stay away from the new shoots."

Denali blinked at her.

When they had harvested the hemweed they moved deeper into the tundra, which slowly came to life around them. The air was still and peaceful so far away from the city, and lemmings scratched as they burrowed under the crust. A white fox flickered in and out of sight, its small black nose and eyes visible as it stalked its prey. A ptarmigan wheeled above us before plummeting to the ground a short distance away, using its own weight to create a hollow nest in the snow.

Was Nanuq out here somewhere? With his keen nose, able to scent seal blood a moon of day-walks away, he would almost certainly stay far away from the city. Unless he was driven closer out of hunger. But now they were in the tundra, could there be a chance of seeing him again...? The memories of playing with him as a fluffy cub making bark-growls tore into her heart.

Denali kept watching her.

"Something wrong?" Nuna asked. "I'm not going to do anything. I need your help, remember? You're part of the Circle too, aren't you?"

"In a way. I'm Sedna's apprentice, and one day I will replace her."

"What's Sedna's real name?"

"She doesn't have another. She was born in Illulik and selected by her predecessor at birth – some members of the Circle are."