Debt of Skin

Eight: In the Cold Snow There was an Inkling

The wind was crisp and cold. It nipped at exposed skin like a playful kitten lazily batting at a mouse. Mahe gazed up at the grey sky, wondering if it was going to snow. He felt his braid lift in the breeze, and he sighed. Kaliya was going to be back soon.

"Mahe?" He came back to reality when he heard Safiya's patient voice. He turned to find her standing with a leather bound book inside of a basket hanging from her forearm and her hands in a fox fur muff. She was as beautiful as ever against the harsh white snow on the ground. Her hair in neat scalp braids decorated with flushed red ribbons, her thick fur-lined jacket making her appear incredibly cozy.

"Sorry." He smiled, walking to her side. "Are you sure you don't want to be at the palace's front gate?"

"No need." Safiya replied. "He's supposed to be back tomorrow, remember?"

"Oh, right." Mahe furrowed his brow, confused as to why he thought that Kaliya was meant to be back today.

"Do you miss him?" Safiya laughed.

Immediately Mahe scrunched his face in disgust. "I'm anxious about being terrorized again. It's been so peaceful these few relaxing months."

"Too peaceful." They began to walk once more, carrying on down a path near the back of the palace grounds. It was much more secluded back there, especially after the first snowfall. Most people did not see the appeal of taking a walk when it was so cold out. Mahe and Safiya loved to stroll the grounds whenever they got the opportunity, and they were both free this quiet afternoon. It was a brief reprieve from the complex plans they were otherwise sorting out.

They walked while linked at the elbow. Mahe pursed his lips. "Too peaceful?"

"It's been very quiet since Kaliya and Adain left. Prior there was so much chaos happening — placing you two into confident. The attempted assassination. The manhunt that followed. It's made everything seem especially simple ever since."

"Well I'd like to keep it that way." Mahe replied. "It's not exactly fun to fear for your life."

"I was fearing for mine too." Safiya reminded him. "But they located those guards months ago. They're long since dead."

Mahe knew that Safiya was not stupid enough to think that the death of a few men would be the thing that saved them. The truth was that no one had fully been the same since. It was just treated as a solved mystery to try to maintain normalcy, but did that mean it was truly over?

A few weeks after the assassination attempt happened, Kaliya and Adain's campaign began. They went from town to town under the guise of helping the public. Which was true, however there was more to it. Hidden within the campaign was a manhunt. The two princes and their appointed soldiers were also tracking down the conspirators one by one. In time each one was found, interrogated, and killed. In theory this meant it was over — after all each man confessed to this only being a ploy created by them. Stating that it involved no other, and was really only a spur of the moment decision. 

As the princes were executing this plan, they were also building stronger relationships between Renoa and the remnants of Argus. Reinforcing the idea that Prince Kaliya was no less a People's Prince than Adain regardless of his heritage. It was all a plot to try to placate the thoughts of rebellion and civil war.  Anything to keep civilians minds at ease.

Talk of an uprising seemed to have quelled for the time being, and the kingdom was generally at a standstill. This was wonderful news for most.

Except for the few at the heart of the palace. King Xiane seemed ill at ease but refused to discuss the matter any further. Mahe could feel the storm brewing, like those grey clouds in the sky. It was going to snow soon, he thought. Perhaps it would be a blizzard.