Ice-Bound Promise [Wattys 2023 Shortlister]

3

Barsa sat up, having laid upon the floor watching his mistress and the newcomer bicker. He made a low, rumbling growl that made clear he would not allow the girl past. Satisfied, Únik turned and left the hut once more. She couldn't spend any longer in the presence of that arrogant, condescending woman that looked like a child.

Slamming the door closed, she decided to return back towards the coast. She still had several sacks of vegetables to recover, and her whale hook and it gave her an excuse to get as far away from Hatyara as possible.

The winds had died down much since she had returned to the rendering hut and now she could see clear skies above. It still remained almost dark, at this time of year, true daylight was scarce, but she could see well enough to retrace her steps from the night before. She found comfort in that and wanted to return to the coast to see how the ship had fared during the storm.

She found her whale hook, still upright in the snow, the sack of carrots still beside it under a blanket of fresh snow. Opening the sack, she checked the contents. Frozen, but not chill burned. An hour or three in her warm home would thaw them out. Happy, she brushed away the snow, leaving the sack where she could see it.

Upon reaching the shore line of Tracis' Midden, Únik saw no sign of the ship, only the detritus from its passing. That didn't surprise her, with the fury of the storm, the ship either sank, or had become caught in the strong tidal currents, sent out beyond the Midden to the vast oceans beyond. With that hole in the ship's side, though, Únik doubted it would have lasted long, either way.

She still hadn't asked the girl what had happened, but neither did the girl appear at all forthcoming with an explanation for the events that had found her locked in a cabin by a wall of ice, upon a damaged, sinking ship. As Únik remembered it, though, the ship had suffered a great deal of damage, not least the gaping hole in its hull. Burned masts and rigging, dead sailors, huge arrow like objects peppered into the planks of the hull.

That looked like the affects of war, to Únik. Not that she had ever experienced war. That kind of thing, fighting and caring whether one high-and-mighty fool ruled a strip of dirt, or another, mattered little to her. So long as whoever ruled left her alone, they could have a donkey running things and it would make no difference to her.

Finding the several sacks of vegetables she had thrown from the ship, the crate that she had dragged from the sea, she began to pull them further away from the shingle, piling it all together to return, at some point, and take them back to her home. When she would be able to do that, she didn't know.

Arching her back, rubbing the bottom of her spine, Únik prepared to try and catch more plunder from the waters. It always surprised her that some things would become caught by the currents, yet other things would linger at the edges of the midden for days, sometimes weeks before becoming caught and dragged away by the waves of the Midden.

"What a miserable existence you must lead." The girl's voice behind her, made Únik jump, almost stumbling into the water.

Stood with Barsa at her side, the girl had finally accepted Únik's advice. She had wrapped the furs about her legs and arms, around her small chest and waist. Even upon her feet. Her shoulders, however, remained bare and Únik shook her head at that. She had no time for foolish notions of fashion, or the need to bare skin when no-one was around to become attracted by such things.

"Traitor." Glaring at Barsa, Únik watched as the dog lowered his expressive eyes and then his entire body, until he laid full length on the shale of the shore, making occasional, fast glances towards Únik. Maintaining her gaze on Barsa, Únik addressed Hatyara. "I'm happy. Not miserable. You should go back. Stay in the warmth."