House of Winter

Chapter 15, Part 1

ARI

The ship that had taken them to Zantiala had been a robust vessel, with cabins to fit everyone sleeping and space on deck for the kinnlings to spread out. The wooden deck had been fresh and smooth, cleaned and polished, and the sails were crisp and caught big lungfuls of air, so that the ship had skimmed across the ocean.

The boat that they had stolen for the trip to Kakaio was a tiny vessel with barely enough room for the three of them - Pythos, Ari, and Jinni - on board. The two dragons - Pythos's silver dragon and Warrah, who was still following Ari - flew alongside the boat and slept the way Ari had read the ancient dragons did, upside down in the water with their snouts protruding from the waves, wings and tail acting like fins in the water to keep the dragons drifting steadily forward.

Their journey took many days and nights, during which they passed plenty of Vastien ships and islands. The ships steered well clear of their boat, and they returned the favour. Already, everyone was nervous of the war that was about to start.

The days grew noticeably longer as they sailed further to the Loth. They had the suns in their eyes every day, and the stars to guide their way every night.

Ari had never expected to spend so much time with one man, and she found herself growing irritated by Pythos Savvas's habits - the way he shaved his beard with a knife in the morning, and how he used the same knife to cut up an orange for breakfast every morning. She would pretend to be asleep while he pissed off the side of the ship every morning, and she would pointedly turn away every time he started singing in his deep baritone.

Ari entertained herself by teaching herself to fish off the side of the boat, with the help of a curious Warrah, who tried to shepherd schools of fish towards Ari's hook and sinker. The early days, when Ari didn't catch anything, Warrah would toss still-wriggling fish onto the deck of the boat. Ari had learned to gut fish when she lived with her grandmother, and each night when they anchored on an island they would build a fire on the beach and cook their daily catch.

Jinni was restless on board. On sunny days he would take flight, and Ari was always terrified that he would disappear into the clouds, never to return, but he always came back, sometimes with a catch of his own, caught on some nearby island, to devour on deck. The day he brought back a full-grown deer, Ari had to take herself into the cabin so she didn't have to watch Jinni eating.

As they got closer and closer to Singtsu, the tiger grew stronger. It was noticeable in the way he seemed to be sniffing the air, his ears pricking up, his eyes on the horizon, as if he knew Lumi was not far away.

"We're almost there, boy," Ari said. "We're going to make it back to her. You're going to see Lumi."

She was terrified, as they got closer and closer to Kakaio, that Jinni might fling himself into the air and fly the remaining distance himself. But Jinni seemed patient enough to wait on the ship, keeping a close eye on the other ships that appeared and disappeared along the horizon.

The ocean was vast enough and their boat was nondescript enough that they weren't stopped by any of the larger Kaio vessels that they passed. They knew they were getting nearer to Singtsu when every ship they passed was decorated with the red flag and insignia. The seas weren't as full as they had been in the Vastien Isles, but they saw cargo ships and fishing vessels and passenger vessels with red flags.

Eventually they saw the peaking conical islands that surrounded the largest island of Singtsu. It was a strange sight to see the mini archipelago laid out in front of them, like cones and hills of greenery erupting from the still grey sea. The clouds overheard were dark but the day was hot, broken only by the ocean breeze.

Pythos Savvas identified a tiny cove on one of the smaller islands, and they let their boat run aground on the sandy beach. Pythos tied ropes to the ship and then to his dragon, and the dragon pulled the ship further and further aground, so that it would not float away at high tide.

"We're almost there, Jinni," Ari repeated, patting the tiger on the ear as she talked to him.

It was amazing just how much the two of them trusted each other now. Ari fed Jinni every day, and he allowed her to pet him and touch him as much as she wanted. She had changed his bandages and examined his wound and touched the place where his leg had been, and he'd let her. He had realised that she was helping him, and he'd allowed it.

"The palace is in the middle of that big volcano," Pythos Savvas said. "We'll wait until night fall and then we'll fly there. There'll no doubt be guards positioned to intercept flying visitors so we'll want to keep a low profile. Perhaps we'll stop at some point and go on foot."

They ate the remains of their food and waited for night.

When it was night, they flew across the bay, keeping high up in the clouds.

Finally Ari spotted the palace inside the volcano and she marvelled at the wonder. It was perfectly located in a crater held up high above the rest of the island, almost untouchable unless arriving by the sky.

Ari was terrified of seeing Tai. Tai in his natural habitat, surrounded by his own guards, with his own people, not at a school of people who didn't like him.

But maybe by now Empress Kiyo had locked up Tai, stripped him of his titles, done away with him for his crimes in Lombardia.

Ari had to hope, but she didn't want to bet on it. She knew that Tai was a snake. He would slither his way through the gaps somehow and he would be waiting for Ari. They landed in thick forest on the mountain's edge, and then hiked up towards the lip of the volcano. When they emerged through forest and towards the palace grounds, Ari was almost frightened into believing her very fears were true - there was a huge gold statue towering high above them, with Tai's face.

"They call him the Burning King," Pythos Savvas said, looking up at the statue. "That's Taisun Tsukasai, the father of the fire twins. He killed his own father to steal an empire and started a war with the world."

"And they remember him with a statue?" Ari wondered aloud, in shock.

"For many, the Burning King brought an era of peace and prosperity to the once-warring Fire Lands," Savvas said gruffly. "Heroes to some are villains to others."

Ari swallowed her distaste.

"We have company," Savvas murmured, and Ari tensed as she turned away from the statue, and saw the soldiers approaching them.

x

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elle xx