Ice Blink

39: Dancing With Death

"Nuna," Niju greeted her solemnly. "Did you enjoy the performance?"

"Anguta." Her voice was tight.

"Yes."

"You never told us."

"It never came up in conversation."

"Or did you avoid mentioning it?"

"Does it bother you?"

"Do you care?"

He sighed, pushing his long silky hair away from his face. "This is why I don't make a point of announcing it to everyone I meet. Amarok doesn't understand, he represents the god of wolves and that inspires awe, respect. Gatherer of the dead... it doesn't make a good first impression. The old Anguta, my mentor, chose me when I arrived in Illulik. I was so eager to learn and he was old, he knew he needed an apprentice. What Anguta stands for, representing the gatherer of the dead, never made a difference to my training."

Nuna nodded. She knew that, she knew Illulik wasn't really the home of the gods and that the names they took on were just that, names... but she couldn't shake her feeling of betrayal. "You could have mentioned it."

"I know. I should have. Perhaps I wanted you to see me as Niju, not Anguta. I didn't want to ever hear you call me that name."

She looked up in surprise, suddenly struck by how tall Niju was. In all their weeks of travelling, they had never been alone, and although she could hardly call this alone...

"Then what," she whispered, "would you have me call you?"

A passing noble buffeted him closer, and she was overwhelmed with the pine scent of him, the way his shoulders towered over her.

"Just Niju, of course. What else?"

Why did this conversation feel like a dance in itself? "Tell me more... Niju."

"What to say? My father has always been demanding; I took most of my comfort from my grandfather while growing up, and I was always closest to him. My cousins are competitive. Eventually I left to learn more about the spirits in Illulik, partly to get away from my tribe for a while, and partly because I couldn't have acquired any more knowledge at home."

"Why the spirits?"

"They're tied to the world we live in, aren't they? Hunters understand so much of their surroundings, but rarely the spirits. I do love a mystery, and I love a challenge." He cracked a smile. Nuna could almost see his younger self in her mind, desperate to prove himself.

New light shone in Niju's eyes. "Dance with me."

The breath vanished from Nuna's lungs when he took her hands and tugged her into the crowd. There were no mittens or gloves between them. It was his bare skin against hers, his warmth scraping against her palms, which were so sensitive that they tingled.

"I – never learned how." The dances at home were not as elegant as the ones she'd seen here. Nualik dances jumped, spun and revolved around the qilaun drumbeat, which would mimic the cycle of life, seasons and nature. They would dance in circles, losing themselves to the music, feeling their souls reach out to all other living things. This ballroom seemed more sophisticated, but with much less feeling.

"I'll guide you."

"You've brought us this far." Nuna returned the smile.

As one hand closed over hers and the other slid to her waist, he tilted his head slightly to one side. Long, dark hair fell past his face. "Your smile... I wish I saw it more often."

Every inch of contact between Nuna shook her to her core as he swept her seamlessly into the dance. She kept forgetting how to speak, how to move properly. She wanted to take him in, to stare until she could remember every detail of his face, yet she was afraid to hold his gaze for too long, afraid of the intensity.