She un-lashed the bottom thongs of the flap, where it had been tied to ensure an opening to give them air.

One broke with a crackle. The weight of snow on top pushed it down, spilling snow; brilliant sun filteredthrough it into the darkness. People behind her were laughing.

She pulled down the snow-goggles, tightened the fastening of her mittens, squatted and drove herself arms-first into the snowpack, clambered out. It was colder than the tent, but warm enough not to hurt much on the tender skin of her cheekbones. Behind her the tent was a black hole and a lump in the north-tending slope of the drift...

Megan blinked and looked around for the permanent landmarks. The bluff where they had found the dead bandit was still there, but the slope beneath it was buried; the snowbank they had been digging through had marched right over them in the course of the storm. It had almost doubled in size, as well; her mind adjusted distances and identified the line of sleds, the tents by their sides, the lumpy heaving area that would be where the draught-stock had been thrown beneath the leather sheets of the windshelters.

Looking northeast, she squinted and raised her right mitten to shield against the fierce low disk of the morning sun. The river was bare, the ice burnished and smoothed by the scouring winds. Noise was growing about her as Shyll and Rilla went from tent to tent. The under officers and bosuns were shaking themselves free; she heard a whistle, saw her followers wading to break out shovels and scrapers.

Here and there, small mounds shifted, struggled to standing and shook themselves, barking. A greater heave near her tent, and Inu arose, flailed snow in all directions with a vigorous twitch and trotted off after the teRyadn, bringing his platter-sized paws up chin-high to step through the four-foot depth of the snow. Everything was blue-white, clear, bright, sight stretching enormous distances under the cloudless dome of sky.

"SSSSHHHKKAI'RRRRRRAAAA!" There was noanswer. Sova came up behind her, pulled her scarf down.

"Captain, where is she?"

Megan forced herself to calm in her reply. "I don't know, Sovee. No one's seen her since the storm hit. " A blast of worry leaked past her shields. "No, she's alive, I'm sure." She's alive, but not in any of the other tents as I thought. Shyll and Rilla and Cerwyn came up. How has she survived four days without food or shelter? I can't feel any pain ... but frostbitten limbs did not start paining until full consciousness returned. For a moment she had an intolerable mental image of Shkai'ra gangrenous, limb-lopped- "We'll organize a search party with probing poles,"

Rilla said.

"She's got to be under the snow somewhere," Shyll added. "It's the only way she could have made it. We-"

"Maybe Fishhook could find her," Sova said, tugging at Megan's sleeve. Megan looked down at the kitten, who was chewing on Sova's fingers. "She was with you all this time?"

"Yes, Captain. " A scowl. "And she peed all over my jacket! If it weren't so cold, it would smell awful." She plucked at the garment, breaking yellowish ice off the surface.

HUNGRYFOODNOWFLY! Feelings of a teat between her lips and sweetwarmdeliciouslove flowing into her mouth; tastes of cooked gar swooped off a diner's plate, pigeon breast, rare roast beef in lovely boneless chunks from Shkai'ra's fingers...

The kitten's thoughts were easy to direct. Megan reached a finger and scratched along the folds of her wings and her head, laid a finger between the folded ears.FLYNOWFINDFRIEND, she sent. The flittercat looked at her, blinked, mewed and hopped over to Megan's shoulder, shaking herself. She leaped, flapping hard and nearly touching surface before she lifted; they were mostly swoopers from ambush, poor flyers at best.

Fishook circled once, twice, dived for a spot near where the old cut had been.

The snow erupted as if exploded out from within. A fanged head broke free, a head horse-shaped in outline but with an enormous carnivore gape, mad green eyes staring as the fangs snapped at the flitterkitten in a striking-snake lunge.

"Gods of the Dog, it's a Ri!" Shyll yelled, bounding back and diving for his spear; Inu bounded at his side, fur standing up to swell his bulk, a thunderous growl building.

Fishook back-winged, yeowling, slid sideways and labored for height, coasting back to Sova and landing with a thump on the back of her jacket. The flitterkitten clung, squeaking panic; the skin webbing of one wing had been torn by the Ri's tusks. Behind her, Megan heard the racheting click of a crossbow being wound, and the clack of a dart being loaded into a casting-stick.

A hand reached up out of the snow and slapped the Ri.

Megan stood frozen, blinking, mind struggling to cope with the information her eyes sent it. The Ri wavered to standing, head low. Shkai'ra dragged herself out of the hole in the snow beside it, pulling herself up by the creature's legs.

"Shkai'ra," she called, heard her voice break in a tremulo and disguised it with a cough. "Do we need to shoot that thing?""No." The Kommanza's voice was hoarse and raw.

She took a step, staggered, steadied herself on the Ri's whithers. The animal swayed, as if that weight was too much for it; skin hung in folds from its neck and flanks, and the ribs showed like hoops. Lids drooped over the burning grey-flecked emerald of its gaze, as if the burst of energy had drained the last reserve against extremity, as if it would lie down and sleep forever soon.

Megan found herself walking forward, numbly. The Kommanza looked weak, with skin peeling from cheeks and nose and forehead, but standing, standing, her hands stripping her face clear of goggles and mask.

"It's a friend of mine. Is there anything to eat? We're starving. Nuts and honey. Water, I ice-burned my tongue melting snow. Stew. Meat, meant for whatever it is here, whatever it is, it's warm, and I'd be dead or worse without it."

Megan reached her; the Ri slunk its head sideways, back when Shkai'ra's hand pushed it.

"Akribhan," the Zak whispered. "My love, it's a Ri, it can have anything it wants for the rest of its life, it can feast on veal and milk and beef loin." Their hands met.

Shkai'ra smiled, ignoring the pain and cracking and blood from her lips. "Heart's delight, I... dreamed."

Shyll caught Shkai'ra by the elbow as she swayed.

"Inu, down!" Shyll shouted. "Down!" He had to shout twice more before Inu's ruff flattened; the greathound backed without taking its eyes from the Ri and flattened to the ground. It was crazy not to kill a weakened Ri, but orders were orders or the pack was nothing. He would watch.

Megan chuckled, from under Shkai'ra's arm. "We have to have a talk. A long talk, but first there's work to do."Between them Shyll and she supported most of the Kommanza's weight; Rilla followed well to one side with their equipment. The Ri staggered after.

"Half-frozen horse meat is going to have to do for it, love," Megan said, and Shkai'ra mumbled half-conscious agreement. The Zak commander looked around at the bustle of digging out, at fires already going in a circle of wind-shields. "The Blue Mage did us a favor. We don't have to dig through that."

Cerwyn came up, anxiety and relief on his face as he caught the last remark. "I was thinking I'd turned mindblind, to have missed that storm coming, but if it was the Blue-"

He stopped, looking at the Ri. It opened one eye, snarled weasel-shrill deep in its throat, bared its teeth at him.

"What in the Dark Lord's name do I do with that, Captain?" he asked.

Megan looked back over Shkai'ra's limp arm.

"Feed him, of course."

EVENING.

"A good thing we didn't lose any people," Megan said.

"We needed the rest," Rilla was saying. "And the meat. "

They were sitting in one of the tents still buried in the snow, the warmth inside welcome. Megan spooned up the last of the horsemeat stew, nodding. Lamps gave heat and guttering light, picking out their faces as they sat around the remains of the meal; Sova snored in one corner, ignoring their soft voices.

"We'll have to cut supplies. We lost a few dogs as welland can't haul all that stuff. All the food though; that's a self-correcting problem."

There was a murmur of agreement. Everyone was busily looking everywhere but at each other. Megan "listened" to her family, heard and felt the unease, the tension, the embarrassment. My family? she thought suddenly. Mind, are you trying to tell me something again? She looked at each of them in turn. We'll have to talk about it after I get Habiku. The hate was a familiar friend. Her eyes darkened and she turned away, alone again.

TWO DAYS LATER.

"You're sure?" Megan said.

Cerwyn nodded. "It was like having something in your eye that you don't notice until it's gone," the first mate said. "Now I can see the weather; nothing coming for three days at least. Steady south winds, clear, about as cold as this. Worse at night, of course."

They were standing around the cairn of supplies they could no longer carry; two days had served to rest and refit, pile the surplus foodstuffs and cover them with canvas, throw water and rock over the pile to make a fortress of ice and stone. Four less sleds, but with the extra humans on each, the speed should be about equal, she decided. The four frostbite cases were safely bundled up on the rest-sled, everything was tight and ship-shape... A middling-grey day, half cloud covered, but thinning to clear. Metallic blue ice stretched down before them, like a road forged of swordblades.

Rilla walked over from the iceboat. That had been recovered and repaired; it quivered behind her, a twelve-foot, oval shell of smoothly curved planks, crouching on the three long legs of its outriggers. The forward runner was pivoted, and there was a stubby mast with a triangular shell. The crew stood by theirplaces, waiting.

"All ready, coz," she said. "Four days and a night to F'talezon, saving dead calms and storms." An iceboat was the fastest form of transport on the river, but unstable and fragile. "Between those documents and the money, I should be able to get somebody to listen...

Keep him off your back until you get there, at least."

"Be careful," Megan began, then shrugged ruefully.

"Ah, coz, it's all been said and I trust you. See you by High Festival Day." A slight smile of the eyes. "Koru knows, it's appropriate enough that we'll get there and have it out with Habiku 'round about the Dagde Vroi."

Shyll trotted up at his tireless lope, skates clattering about his neck on their thongs and Inu at his side. Sova was draped over the greathound's back, squealing with delight and thumping out a drum-beat on his ribs with the flats of her mittened hands. The dog's ears were back slightly; they flattened and the look of resignation in his eyes deepened to misery as Shkai'ra approached on her Ri.

The wolverine-horse had spent most of the past two days lying up on a pile of dead ponies, eating and sleeping. Its condition was visibly better, and so, unfortunately, were its spirits. The Kommanza swung down out of the saddle; it had been struggle enough to get the animal to accept that, and reins or bit were out of the question, and unneeded in this case.

It danced beside her, clawed feet scritching on the ice, looking at the other humans. Killtear breakbone bloodspurt hottvetsalt screamfunfunfun? it thought hopefully.

Shkai'ra sighed, walked around to the black muzzle and gripped it by a lock of the platinum mane that was not coarse like a horse's. It flowed between her fingers like watered silk, or her own red-blonde locks."No," she said firmly. It wasn't necessary to speak, Megan had told her that the Ri sensed meaning below the level where words were formed, and speaking could tempt her to use concepts beyond its limited comprehension, but habit told.

"No. Stay. No kill, no fight. Eat later."

sulk, deadmeat. sulksulksulk.

A moving patch humped itself up Shkai'ra's back under her jacket, stuck its head out beside her neck.

Fishook laid her ears back and hissed at the Ri. The Ri stretched out its long whippy neck and hissed back, a sound like an iron kettle.

Megan hugged Rilla as close as she could through the layers of bulky clothing. "Be careful, coz."

"I will."

Shkai'ra stood, took her hand, then they pulled each other into an awkward hug. "You have a good wind."

"Dah." She turned to Shyll. He was gripping his spear with both hands. He jammed it into the ice, took her in his arms and lifted her to face level, kissed her.

"We'll be right behind you. Distract him enough and we'll ride right down his throat."

"Dah." For a second she buried her face in his collar, then they pulled away. She walked to her place.

The crew rocked the iceboat to crack the runners loose, tightened the ropes to bring the sail into the steady wind. They pushed, running beside it, to jump into their seats, lacing themselves in as the iceboat picked up speed.

The iceboat swept past the caravan's line, already faster than a galloping horse. Waves and cheers from the crews in their traces, hands waving from the boat;Sova jumped up and down, flourishing her sword. The spot of sail receded, tilting and dipping as the sprung outriggers bent under tht wind's thrust, sending long, shining-white sprays of chips from the runners. Just before it was completely out of sight, Inu howled after it, a long hollow call echoing along the ice. Shkai'ra swung up onto her Ri.

chase? it thought.

Megan skated further out toward the center of the river, where the whole train could see her, waved an arm about her head and chopped it down to the north.

Avritha looked at the beautiful ivorywork on the bowl, breathed in the delicate scent of dried flower petals in it.

A nice try, darling Habiku. Not good enough though.

"Take a note, please, Aylix. " Her secretary took up her pen. "Teik ClawPrince, I received your lovely gift.

How nice of you to think of me in this festival season.

Unfortunately, I will be somewhat busy in the next few days and will be unable to thank you personally..."

Chapter Twenty-One.

ON THE RIVER.

BETWEEN ICE-CARAVAN AND F'TALEZON.

TWELFTH IRON CYCLE, NINETEENTH DAY.

The wind was steady, the weather clear. They only had to stop once to dig through a drift in a bend of the river. Rilla smiled to herself as they rounded Bayag Isle, thinking of the fight with the Kettle Belly, then the smile faded. Too many people died there. Blood feuds between Houses were an old Zak tradition, but this one was a monstrosity, it had left a trail of bodies and wrecked lives along the whole length of the Brezhan.ON THE RIVER TWELFTH IRON CYCLE, TWENTY-THIRD DAY.

"Your papers are in order, Teik." The guard at F'trovanmeni folded them shut, slid the seal ribbon around them. Good thing it doesn't mention my name, Rilla thought. Some here might resent it.

"Thank you. I haven't been home in a while," she said. "Anything interesting going on, Teik Toll Guard?"

She had been past here only once in the past two years, and that in the dark of a moonless overcast night.

The towers and booms of the outpost rose about her, docks with stone bollards and massive curtain-walls down to the carven rock of the isle itself. Those would stand regardless, but there were missing slates on the roof of the custom house, broken windows patched with board; the guards' uniforms showed signs of neglect.

She ground her teeth. Ranion, this is F'talezon's protection. Where is tax money going? A rhetorical question, to anyone who had been listening to the rumors. Not one safe to speak aloud. And I have to appeal to the DragonLord's justice?

"Ah, Teik courier." The guard was eager to talk. Not many came up or down the river in winter. "There's a great House feud going on, the Sleeping Dragon."

"I've heard of it, yes."

"Well, it's getting so that the Woyvode is taking an interest, which is bad."

"Hmmm. I had been thinking to deal with the Sleeping Dragon, spices and gems. Perhaps I shouldn't..."

"Wait until things settle. There was a battle south of here just this fall."

"Aye, Rilla Riverwolf you know, the pirate who has ademon-dog, was involved. Megan Thane'sdoom's cousin, near as fierce. Sent four of ours back, in their bare skins and lucky to have them."

"I see." Inside, Rilla smiled. "I heard about that, going through Brahvniki. I saw the Cage myself, coming upriver, but kept my distance, you may be sure."

He whistled. "Not for the likes of us to stick our snouts in, less we want to get them kicked," he agreed, rolling the engraved wooden seal on the inkstone and again on her laissez-passer. A shake of the head. "Don't know what things are coming to."

They'll be through here in a few days, Teik Guard.

Well, I shouldn't waste more time, and my crew is getting cold... Good day, and the blessing of the Goddess on you."

F'TALEZON,.

THE UNSEEN GUILD MASTER YARISHK'S OFFICE.