Ice-Bound Promise [Wattys 2023 Shortlister]

17

"Yes. You have. That's not my point. Until we got attacked by the Dire Wolf, I didn't know him. That one fight told me more about him than anything else." Using her arrow, Shihiri pointed back towards Hatyara. "We've been through several incidents, now, and I don't know her. She's shown nothing."

"Isn't that just the way she is?" Únik tried not to stare towards Hatyara. No doubt if the Ice-Kin saw Únik and Shihiri talking, she'd think them conspiring against her. "She's a noble. Noble's don't act like normal people."

"No, it's not that. I've met enough nobles and you can learn about who they are as soon as you see them in a fight. That's what everyone does. Their true selves come out. Like you. You showed your bravery and loyalty." Again, the arrow flipped backwards, tapping Shihiri's shoulder before returning to the Fae's hand. "She has shown nothing. She looks scared. She looks angry. But that's all it is. Underneath, she's not feeling anything that she shows. It's all an act."

For certain, Únik had seen Hatyara show little emotion when things had happened. She remembered the Ice-Kin's attitude to her dead kinsman, stabbed in the back by Shihiri. As though the man had meant nothing at all. That his death had not affected her whatsoever. Not with anger, fear, excitement. She had only moved on.

Yet, Hatyara had also said that Ice-Kin, Ūtharan's, did not see death in the same way that, say, Únik did. Hatyara had said, herself, that life meant little to her kind. That once dead, they considered those people gone. Únik wondered if both she and Shihiri judged Hatyara on their own moralities and not those of Ūtharan society. Were they doing a disservice to the Ice-Kin?

Looking over towards Hatyara, Únik felt her heart soften. Were her hair dark and her skin a sun-blessed swarthy colour, those eyes far darker, Únik could almost see her daughter, Thesik. She had to keep reminding herself that Hatyara was not the child she appeared. At Únik's least guess, the Ice-Kin was almost three times Únik's age. But, now, as Únik watched Hatyara, she saw a girl. A scared girl that needed help.

"Perhaps so." She shook her head, realising she had become silent after Shihiri had spoken of her faults with Hatyara. "But, I have a responsibility, now, to get her where she needs to go. She doesn't have to be a good person, or likeable, for me to do that."

"Do you? Have a responsibility, I mean?" Shihiri leaned forward, elbows upon her knees as she turned the arrow in her fingers. "Seems to me, you two just met and she expected you to take her where she wanted to go. There's nothing stopping you dropping her off here and going on about your own life."

"I couldn't just leave her alone. She's only ..." Catching herself, Únik almost said out loud what she could not stop thinking. That Hatyara was only a child. Yet, she wasn't. "She's alone. I could never live with myself if I didn't help her."

She dipped her head, avoiding the questioning looks from Shihiri. She knew she wasn't acting rationally. Thoughts of her daughter and Hatyara had become confused and entwined. Especially since the Ice-Kin had worn the Uriok-style dress. The kind of dress that Thesik had worn. Únik rubbed her eyes. She felt confused and that worried her.

"Ho! We're nearing the bank, pret'yuns!" Hrorvid, the barge master, called out from gunwale to the left. "Got the skiff ready for you."

Shihiri replaced the arrow into her quiver, rising and patting Únik on her shoulder. Unstringing her bow, Shihiri looped it over her head, hanging the bow across her shoulders, and moved off towards Hrorvid, leaving Únik to her thoughts.

After a few seconds, Únik forced herself to stand. She had to push aside all thoughts of her daughter and think no more of it. Hatyara was not her daughter and never could be. The Ice-Kin was a woman. A woman that Únik had chosen to help in her time of need. The girl had promised a reward if Únik helped her to reach Star Harbour and that was all there was to it.