“Northern Aquifiers hauled ice by sleigh from the arctic ice cap and laid it brick by brick with their powers. The Crystal Palace will never melt or break away. This fortress has outlasted generations and will do so for centuries to come.”
Ice that can withstand fire. I might need to return to see the frozen palace defy summer. What a wonder that would be.
Tinley’s adamancy for staying away confuses me more. She takes pride in her home. Whatever kept her away must hurt more than not being here.
The chief directs us to the table nearest the hearth. An older woman and a younger couple await our arrival. The young man rises to embrace Tinley. She does not hug him in return.
“Welcome home,” he says.
“Sister,” says the woman beside him, “you missed our wedding.”
“Did you receive my endowment?” Tinley asks.
“The carton of fruit?” the woman replies. “The pomegranates were overripe.”
The older woman, donning a stunning red fox fur, interrupts. “Daughters, you’re being impolite. Burner Queen, this is my daughter Maida and my son-in-law, Bedros, the next chief of our clan. I’m Sosi, Naresh’s chieftess.”
Maida takes after her mother, her complexion and hair both ebony, but the sisters have identical light eyes.
“Her name is Kalinda, Mother,” says Tinley. “She relinquished her throne.”
“Oh?” Sosi studies me anew. I can practically see her opinion of me waning.
Chief Naresh sweeps us along. “Shall we dine?”
I sit between him and Tinley while Sosi and the newlyweds dine across from us. Bedros’s attention is so strong on Tinley that Maida nudges his side. Three girls run into the hall and pile onto the bench by Sosi. They must be the rest of Tinley’s siblings.
Servants roast root vegetables and antelope meat over the hearth, then dish the mixture into bowls and bring them to us. The hearty stew and spiced wine refuel my soul-fire. I eat while Maida regales the table with details of her wedding. Bedros watches Tinley the entire time. Not once does she look up from her food.
“Burner Rani,” says Sosi, “how is the integration of bhutas proceeding in Tarachand? Your prince has a great deal of work ahead.”
“He does,” I reply, stirring my stew and thinking of my friends at the palace. “So far it’s promising.”
Naresh addresses his younger girls. “That’s enough grown-up talk. Why don’t I recount your favorite story about Kalinda?”
The girls bounce up and down.