Snowblind {complete}

Solstice- Rest

Pain. It was always the first thing when she woke. A flock of kelen sprinted through her mind. Light stabbed through her eyes when they fluttered open, and Lanna groaned.

A hand on her forehead. Smooth, so not Frez.

'Combination of stress and heat exhaustion.'

Chowa's voice. Her hand in Lanna's hair, deftly untangling the sweat-soaked strands from hairpins and working out the knots without so much as tugging her scalp.

Chowa kept talking, perhaps assuming Lanna hadn't recovered enough to understand.

'I have questioned myself every day. I may have been right in bringing you here, but I am not blind to your suffering. I see it when you look at me. If you hated me this would be easier. I could play the villain quite convincingly.' Chowa sighed and gave a harsh laugh. 'Sometimes I wonder which one of us is influencing whom. I confess, I never thought I would become fond of you.'

The hands left Lanna's hair and the fingers returned to her forehead, massaging. Lanna remained still, letting Chowa's words wash over her. Taking them in. Her head throbbed and her body ached. Desperate to sleep, though she hurt too much to be able to. She kept her eyes firmly shut.

A screen rattled open and Chowa gasped; her hands left Lanna's forehead.

'Your – Your Highness, I did not expect...'

'Clearly,' said Ashioto's cultured tones. 'Are you not getting a little close to your experiment, Chowa-hem?' His voice held a light, teasing note but the question unsettled Chowa.

'I-Is it not good that I am... dedicated to those I have... i-invested so much time in?'

The Emperor made a dismissive noise and the screen rattled shut behind him.

'Can we cut through the pretence now? It irritates me.'

When Chowa spoke again, her words carried icy disinterest.

'As you wish, Ashioto. My experiment is in recovery, as you can see.'

No title?

A rustle of silk and another smooth hand slipped over her forehead. Heavier than the one before.

'What if this kills her?' he asked.

'Then the fault is mine for bringing her here – so shall the guilt be.'

'No, if she dies, I will have you removed from the palace.' Ashioto's voice sounded as cold as Chowa's.

There was a hiss from Chowa. 'My family have served the palace for three generations. This is all for you. Our loyalty has been absolute. We follow your mother's plan.'

'No, Chowa-hem,' he corrected. 'Your loyalty is to what lies under this palace. I am simply your means of getting into it.'

Chowa fell silent and his hand moved to caress Lanna's cheek. A nerve jumped under his fingers and he massaged the spot.

'This is your doing. It will aid our goal, but is it still worth the price?'

'Yes,' Chowa replied immediately.

The Emperor sighed, and his hand left Lanna's face.

'You must think my information network rather poor, Chowa-hem. I know how much her condition has worsened since she came here. I know that any one of these seizures can kill her and I resent that I must play the idiot until she makes a decision.'

'It is for the best; her mind is open. We know she can be a seer. When she is, you can trust her fully.'

Ashioto sighed again, then a chuckle bubbled up from him. 'If you're attempting to betray me, Chowa-hem, I will cut out your tongue then have you paraded naked through the low city.' Such casual ruthlessness didn't fit Lanna's image of Ashioto. He sounded like a different person.

'This is a mutually beneficial arrangement,' Chowa said, not reacting to the threat. 'You rule and get to reform as you please. I get access to the archives. Li becomes the means to keep you in place and prevent you from being disposed of. You do not dislike her, and she has a good chance of surviving. She will stay by your side and aid you. What comes out of the archive will aid you. I fail to see a drawback.'

'And the price?' he pressed.

'What is one compared to a nation? Li dedicated her life to you, as we all have. She will be first among your subjects; there is no higher calling.'

'Loyalty should never be taken for granted,' Ashioto said in reply, echoing Lanna's own words.

Chowa had no response at first – then, after a long silence, she spoke. 'I am a tool of the Emperor. May my hands, acts and words serve him.' The noise that followed puzzled Lanna; it was only later she realised what must have happened. The Emperor had slapped Chowa.

A sigh broke the tension in the room. 'Do what you must to persuade her. If it's not done soon, I doubt either she or I am long for this world, and that would be a rather large inconvenience for you, I'm sure.'

There was a murmur of silk as he stood. 'Oh, and, Chowa-hem? You should reprimand your slave for frequent public drunkenness. His tongue is loose when he drinks. Luckily only my agents heard, but still, it is unseemly. I care not that his wife has left him. He is a slave and in a position of trust. Such behaviour is inexcusable.'

'As you wish, Light of the Empire.' Chowa didn't raise her voice, but her words sounded almost like an insult.

The screen rattled and the Emperor left.

'I know you to be awake,' Chowa said after another long silence. 'Now you know the truth, you can decide for yourself. With what is to come, the Empire will need a strong ruler. Ashioto can be such. His mother played the game expertly and won. She may be gone, but he still implements her plan. He has the palace thinking he is nothing. An uninterested child. No threat. That is how he has survived, but this is not who he really is.'

Chowa moved back to Lanna's side.

'Few in life can change the world; he is one with the potential to do so. You can have influence over him and the direction he takes us all.'

Chowa left her after that.

Lanna lay stunned. Tears leaked from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks to drip into her ears, confusion swirling through her mind like freezing fog, slowing her thoughts.

The presence brushed over her troubled mind. She let it linger, not pushing it away. It imparted one thing before it faded.

Favoured tools are used the most and soon broken.

Lanna couldn't sleep until past the first hour.Her mind reeled. Who did she believe?