Snowblind {complete}

Wet-Intended

Unable to find Hemil, Lanna tracked down Mika. Her friend's face lit up on seeing her, but her sunny smile faded when she saw Lanna's serious expression.

Lanna peered around the doorframe into Mika's large home with its roomy corridors, screen doors and plaster on the walls. Nothing like her humble hut, but at least no one stood behind the girl. Lanna let out a breath, thanking the ancestors.

'What's wrong?' Mika's hand pressed against her chest. 'Is it your mother again? Do you need me to send a runner to the chemist?'

Lanna shook her head, guilt creeping over her for causing Mika to worry.

'No, I... um... was looking for your brother?'

The shine returned to Mika's face and the guilt speared deeper in Lanna's stomach. She inhaled to banish the tightness in her chest. 'I was, hoping to... speak to him? I... have questions.' She rubbed the back of her neck and tried not to meet Mika's gaze.

'What questions?' Mika bleated.

It was too much. Anger flared, bright and sharp.

'Like what in the ancestors' name he's thinking?' The Southern words spilled out, untranslated and incomprehensible to her friend. Lanna clenched her fists and forced calm on her mercurial heart.

'Mika, I need to see him,' she tried again, Imperial coming out in a muttered mess. 'Please.'

Her friend nodded and yelled to her relatives somewhere in the gloom of the interior that she would return soon. The sturdy door closed against the insects and Mika took Lanna by the arm. 'This isn't normal, Lanna. This should all be done through the matchmaker. She will be annoyed.'

'Squid woman can shaft herself,' Lanna mumbled. Having two languages had advantages.

'Though I don't think Hemil will mind.' A smirk crept over Mika's full lips.

Lanna let herself be led by the smaller girl, trying not to stumble over the rutted track as Mika pulled her down the village's only street.

'When he told our father he'd chosen you, he gave solid reasons.' Mika's high voice squealed with renewed excitement. 'He said he'd seen how hard you worked and how loyal you were to your family.' Mika's mouth twisted into an impish grin. 'He also said you were a strong woman with wide hips that would breed strong sons and daughters. Your looks are unusual, but when blended with our blood...'

'Unusual?' Lanna skidded to a halt. Her hands flew to her curly brown hair. Was it her hair? Either that or her sickness had been making her face twitch.

'Sorry,' Mika said and blushed.

Lanna pouted and started walking again. She could hardly avoid standing out. A head taller than every woman in the village, her hair fell in tight frizzy ringlets that bounced when she walked and she had blue eyes like the rest of her family, whereas the villager's eyes ranged from hazel to deep black.

'Hemil likes your appearance.' Mika seemed to pick up on the brooding tangle of Lanna's thoughts. 'He said he feared another may try to make a match with you if he didn't move with speed.' She drew level with Lanna, having to trot to keep up as they left the village, then retook Lanna's arm to guide her to the barns on the edge of the ox pasture. 'He feared multiple proposals would lead to lengthy negotiations, which would confuse you and may put you off the idea of marriage to anyone.'

Lanna didn't quite believe Mika. Was she trying to improve her brother's chances by telling half-truths? The girl appeared set on having Lanna marry into her family.

When answered with silence, Mika did what all Imperials seemed to do when stuck for something to say: quote an emperor.

'Emperor Sep the Fourth decreed that his people should keep the Empire the strongest of nations by having strong children.'