Gifted Pelt

Chapter 55

Astrila wipes her hair out of her eyes as it sticks to her forehead, damp with sweat. The room is so hot that the iglu walls are melting. They will probably have to rebuild it by the time this healing is done. But it would be better for that to happen than for this selkie to die of severe hypothermia. Another selkie comes running into the iglu, his face red with exertion. Astrila frowns at him. His name is Juatan, Kōri had introduced them in passing.

"Do you need something?"

He shifts nervously on his feet. "Astrila, King Kayi requests your presence. There is an urgent matter."

Astrila shoots a quick glance over at Tonraq, who nods. "Go. I can handle things here for a while. But send Kōri in if he's outside. He can take your place and assist me."

Astrila nods sharply and gets to her feet, swiftly dressing in the rest of her winter clothes. She had removed them when the iglu started to heat up, not wanting to use up all of her energy cooling herself down. Or get sick from the excessive heat. Once adequately dressed, she follows the sweating messenger outside into the freezing arctic. The air assaults her, the drop in temperature biting at her skin with fury. Before Juatan can lead her back to her father, Astrila twists to find Kōri sitting in the snow beside the wall of the iglu, his snowshoes leaning against it.

"Kōri."

His head snaps up to look at her. "What is it?"

"Can you go in and help Tonraq? My father needs me."

He stands with a nod, entering the iglu without hesitation. She can hear his muffled curse as he gets hit with a wave of warm air. Astrila smiles briefly before her attention strays back to Juatan.

"Let's go then. I assume we need to get there as quickly as possible?"

He nods. "That would be preferable, yes."

"Lead the way."

He breaks out into a run, nimble over the snow. It's a good thing that two weeks have passed since her encounter with the Ludeag. If she had been running while she was injured, Tonraq would kill her. Juatan crosses the snow easily, almost as easily as Tonraq can. Kōri is equal to Tonraq's speed now that he has his snowshoes, and Astrila's father is even faster. But Astrila is still the fastest, she has to slow her pace to an easy lope as she follows after Juatan. But at least she's running. Those two weeks where she was stuck at a walk were horrible, to say the least. They don't stop at her father's igluit as Astrila had expected, they keep going towards the part of the village located beside the bay. Astrila frowns as they make their way over. Why would they be going to the bay? What could be so urgent there that her father needed her? She'll find out soon enough, she supposes. Astrila calls over the wind to Juatan.

"Do you know why he needs me?"

"It's for the King to say."

Astrila sighs. It seems she'll have to wait. "Very well."

Juatan leads her through the igluit until they reach the shoreline of the bay. It is there that she finds her father. He is standing with two other, new men. They aren't selkies, she can see that easily enough. Their parkas make that clear. The parkas are shiny and bright. One is red and the other is a soft blue, the color of the sky in the rare instances it is unburdened by clouds in the summer. Astrila steps over to her father.

"What's going on?"

His voice is quiet but its edges are hard, as sharp as a Nanuq's claws. "I'm not entirely sure. They said that I may like to have someone else of importance with me before we discuss whatever they are here to discuss. I could only think of you and Tonraq, but I couldn't pull both of you away from a healing, so I just called for you."

Astrila nods before she turns to the two outsiders. She contemplates giving them a welcome greeting for a brief moment, but something in their expressions makes her choose otherwise. They look as if they're here to give bad news, but they don't regret giving that news at all. They seem smug about it, excited.

"So, what brings you to our island?"

They don't answer her question immediately, and the man in red asks his own. "Who are you?"

Kayi is the one to respond. "She is my daughter and the apprentice to our shaman and healer."

"Why wouldn't you call for the shaman?"

"They were in the midst of a healing, and I will not pull them both away from their duties. Don't fret, she is equally as important as Tonraq and myself."

The two look momentarily stunned, and Astrila feels a glow of pride from within her chest. She repeats her question. "What brings you to our island?"

"To be frank," They don't look like they're even debating avoiding the matter at hand. "We're here to discuss your tribe's position on this island."
________________________________________________________________________________
Uh oh. That's bad, or it can be, at least. What do you think the newcomers mean? What will happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.