Snowblind {complete}

Dry - Hall of Flowers

The smell told Lanna that they neared the workshop; sharp, acrid fumes made her eyes water. The scent wafted up her nose like smelling salts, washing through her mind and tingling over her senses. Mild curiosity replaced her apprehension. No others walked the corridor. It ran onwards, long and featureless, panelled with dark wood; not even windows broke the monotony of the décor. Instead, light shone from smokeless lamps burning in recesses at regular intervals. The anonymous walls crowded in on Lanna and made her walk with her shoulders rolled forward.

'This is the main corridor of the retainer's wing,' Epen's voice rumbled before her. 'The corridors that branch from this are hidden. You will learn how to access them.'

Lanna looked around. There were doors in the dark wooden walls? She would never have guessed.

'Another form of protection,' Epen explained without her asking.

Lanna nodded, perspiration beading her forehead, her breath coming in gasps.

The corridor swung to the left and Epen stopped. The smell burnt the back of Lanna's throat; she coughed and wiped at her eyes. Epen pressed his palms to the wall and shifted his fingers in a sequence too fast for Lanna to follow. The wall swung inward and heat slammed into Lanna. Wheezing she threw her arms up to shield her face as Epen walked through the door and left her behind. She peeped between her fingers. Should she walk in without an invitation? That was rude, even in her clan.

'Come here,' Chowa's voice snapped.

Lanna swallowed and did as she was bid. Many of the workshop walls were covered with bottles of every conceivable shape and colour. Only one wall stood bottle free; instead, it bore shelves of hundreds of scrolls. A furnace roared and spat in a corner. Chowa huddled over it.

Lanna could hardly see her for the haze of smoke in the windowless room.

'Get on the bellows,' Chowa hissed between coughs. Her hand gestured to a corner where a strange contraption lay. Planks of wood with folded leather beneath. 'Move, or we will perish! The extractor is broken.'

Lanna dashed to the corner, realising she needed to stand on the plank. She grasped the wooden rod above her and rocked her feet, the bellows below her wheezing as her chest did, the mechanism squeaking. Her legs already ached from her long ride and sweat dribbled from her chin. Her cotton riding clothes stuck to her skin, her lungs burning in the toxic air.

Epen appeared out of the black fog that roiled around the furnace.

'More wax!' Chowa barked at him. He moved to a cupboard and brought a lump of yellow wax to her bent figure.

'Misra, you shouldn't be working alone,' he scolded in a respectful tone. 'Especially if the ventilation isn't functioning automatically.'

Lanna almost laughed. Epen chastised everyone it seemed. Imperial chemist or fellow slave, it didn't matter.

'It can't be helped,' Chowa growled, her voice croaking in the foul air. 'I had to send Frez to get more white lead. The Emperor is in residence. Probably here to consummate with that princess he was offered last month. I hear she is beautiful. The Ninth Concubine will be worried.'

'Misra.' Epen sighed, taking over the stirring of the pot on the coals. 'To be a servant of the Emperor and bear his children is an honour. The Emperor is the light.'

'Light he may be,' Chowa muttered. 'But he still needs to sire some offspring. If he does not impregnate one of his pets soon, the court will request I examine him. That is something I wish to avoid, as does His Highness, I am sure.'

The haze in the room lifted and sweet fresh air slipped down Lanna's nostrils, soothing her angry airways.

'Take over,' Chowa ordered Epen, shifting from her task and running a hand through her wispy hair. Lanna noted she wore a linen apron to cover her fine clothes. The woman must be melting under the layers of fabric, yet her perspiration-covered face showed no hint of discomfort.

'You are an ox,' Chowa huffed with a small smile in Lanna's direction. 'Keep your feet moving and we will keep breathing. You arrived just in time. These cosmetics must be ready for tonight.'

'Cosmetics?'

Chowa eyed her and Lanna got the feeling she had been demoted to a simpleton once more.

'The Emperor is in residence tonight,' she said with deliberate care, as if explaining to a child. 'I have been informed that he has not been in the women's palace for many days. The month of law has just passed. He has had no time for pleasures. Former favoured concubines could be forgotten. Any here could catch his eye tonight.' She gestured to Epen and the furnace.

'With my formula, even the pox-marked and deformed flowers of our palace can bloom fresh once more. Such trifles fund the real work we do, so we must apply ourselves wholeheartedly to the task of stroking egos.' Chowa said all this in a neutral tone, but Lanna could tell by the downward twist of her lips that she despised making face paints. 'Before your arrival, I could plead medical matters taking precedence. Now I have you, I will once again have to sell bottled vanity.' She turned to busy herself with the shelves.

Lanna closed her eyes and felt the breath in her chest, then regulated it as if she was running in deep snow. Her legs moved into an easy rhythm, and a thrill pulsed through her body as she pushed herself. Muscles tensed and relaxed in tandem; cords and tendons pulled. Her blood sang and her heart drummed, heat building in her thighs and lower legs, her stomach heaving with effort as sweat on her brow trickled down over her eyes and lips. She shook her head to clear the drops from her face and her damp brown curls whipped her cheeks.

Mind blank and her body devoted to the task, calm seeped through her, something fluttering around the edge of her consciousness. She almost felt she should recognise the sensation. Her skin prickled and she shuddered, pausing, a small frown crossing her brow as she tilted her head, as if trying to hear something.

'You can stop,' Chowa said.

Lanna moved her feet and took her time to come to a halt, knowing she needed to let her legs stretch. If she simply stopped, she would be in agony by the evening. Her awareness crept back.

Chowa stood before her, hands on narrow hips. The dark-haired woman said nothing but glanced to a timepiece that had pride of place on the scroll shelf. Lanna blinked, not quite believing what she saw. She had been pumping the bellows for two and a half hours? Where had the time gone?

'Extraordinary,' Chowa said. 'I thought that being female you would not be able to match Frez, but it's obvious you are near his equal.'

'The men of the south are much stronger than women. We rely on that strength when we're with child,' Lanna muttered.

'No doubt,' Chowa sniffed. 'Though like him, you sweat enough to fill buckets. Go and get a shower. Our clients will be scratching each other's faces to be served within the half hour.'

'Shower?' Lanna asked, wondering if she had mistranslated the word. Had Chowa really told her to take a 'light rain'?

'Primitive.' Chowa knelt at a small reading table and picked up a scroll. She gestured at Lanna with it, her attention already diverted. 'Door behind you. Work it out for yourself.'

Lanna turned on her heel. Behind her were two doors of a sheet of metal. She strolled forward and chose the closest.

'Not that one,' Chowa called out, though she was still looking at the scroll. 'That is my laboratory. It's locked for a very good reason.'

Lanna nodded and opened the adjacent door.

Beyond the door, she found a small cube of a room made of white, polished stone. A panel above cast harsh light over the bleached surfaces, humming and flickering. Lanna winced away from the panel to examine the room. Only a few features broke up the dazzling monotony. A silver spout protruded above her head and a large silver button winked before her eyes. Lanna moved forward and pushed it.

And that was the day Lanna learnt about indoorplumbing.