The four of us travelled by wagon from the imperial palace and headed northbound, our destination as stated by the masked man, L, was the town of Snowfall. Once we left the border of the city and were surrounded by green countryside, he finally spoke, breaking the awkward, tense silence in the air.
"Does anyone have any questions they would like to ask me?" L said without any warning.
The three of us looked at each other briefly and then towards him, all raising our hands slightly to an annoyed sigh from behind his mask. He raised a finger and pointed it towards Nigel.
"Why are we going to Snowfall?"
"To investigate suspicious and possibly treasonous activity." His finger moved to point at Kona, who froze in place. After a moment, his finger drifted to me.
"What is our purpose?"
L let out a sigh of frustration as he leaned back and looked at the roof. "Our job is to better this world, but in order to do good, we must at times do bad things."
"Like?"
His head snapped towards me, annoyance behind his eyes. "You've fought on the front lines of war; that should be obvious."
"But that was war, what are we doing?"
"We are at war."
"With who?"
"The people. Our citizens are so inept, so stupid, that they would quickly march themselves into the grave. Our job is to guide them from the shadows, to save them from themselves. That is our war. Understood? These two should understand, they're royalty after all."
I looked to Nigel, whose head was slung low, as if this was a practice done back home as well that he knew about but was forbidden to tell anyone. Kona, however, did not share the same expression; she looked just as confused and surprised as I did. Is that really how it was? Was that really how the world worked?
"Back to the point. Ever since Xudo took power in the high court for Empress Fi, some ten years ago, our spy networks have been growing and have reported something strange about Snowfall. As if the townsfolk are trying to hide something from any outsider. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, Kona Godi?"
"I was raised in Fiskby. I've never been to Snowfall."
"But there is at least one Godi in every town, is there not? Surely one of your siblings or relatives lives there?"
She nodded. I noticed her knees were pressed together and her hands by her side, gripping the fabric beneath her tightly. It was obvious she was still not ready to return to face her family after running away, doubly so considering she had lost a leg.
"Never mind, it will be some days until we arrive. You'll have time aplenty to think on what you could say."
As we made camp that night, we actually had tents that we could erect that were stored on the roof of the wagon. There were two that were each of decent size, and one smaller tent for the carriage driver, who was a royal guard. Naturally, Kona and I opted to share a tent, leaving the other tent to be shared by Nigel and L. Once the tents were made and set up, Kona and I set our sleeping bags within. Though I saw that only Nigel brought his sleeping bag into his tent, while L tossed his inside the carriage itself, I suppose he would have to remove his mask to sleep, so he wouldn't want anyone nearby. But why keep it secret from us?
I noticed that not only did L sleep in the carriage, but they draped fabric over the windows so you couldn't see in or out. Additionally, the carriage door could be locked from the inside. As for the driver of the carriage, he didn't speak to us or anyone, for that matter. I never once heard him utter a sound.
Settling into bed the first night next to Kona, with a tent sheltering us for the first time in what felt like forever, I lay there in the dark, working up the courage to ask what I wanted to ask. Or thinking of a better way to ask it.
"So uhh… do you know what Godi is in Snowfall?"
"Yeah."
There was a silence. I turned my head over towards her, awaiting her to continue. For a moment, I saw her eyes twitch down to look at me.
"The elder women of the clan live in Snowfall… my grandmother will be there. If she's dead, then it will be my mother."
"Your grandmother? Why is it only the eldest woman that go to Snowfall?"
"There's something special about that town. That is all I know; only the elder matriarch is allowed to know. I assume that's what we're investigating."
"Well, if it's something cultural or religious, then it shouldn't be an issue, right? We just explained it to L, and then we can leave."
"It doesn't work like that… the empire doesn't like secrets… unless it's their own. They like to know all and be all mysterious; to challenge that is folly. Elder Ævinlangr should know that more than anyone, she knows full well what happened to Halralda."
"Haralda?"
"Haralda Godi, she was our leader during the war of colonisation. A legend among our people, she is the greatest warrior to have ever lived. Maybe I'll regale you with her story one day."
The days would pass in an eerie silence as the presence of our new companion left us all feeling a little uneasy; none of us knew if he was acting as our equal, superior or prison guard. If we said something out of turn, he might report or punish that action. So we stayed quiet and endured the long silence until finally we arrived at the town of Snowfall.
The town was called such simply because this was the furthest south snow would travel. This town acted as the border between lands that were green and white. As I stepped out of the carriage, there was a dry chill to the air and a softness underfoot, unlike anything I had felt before. The snow had some give to it when trodden upon, but once compacted beneath one's feet, it grew hard; it was an odd sensation.
The buildings were not made of the wood I was used to seeing, but rather whole tree logs stacked atop each other to act as walls. The roofs were draped in snow, but on the edges were thatch, and the underside of the overhang was wood; each house had a chimney protruding from the ceiling, and some of the larger buildings had multiple. People were walking about, market stalls in the distance, the town was small, perhaps around the same size as my hometown.
As I stepped slowly and took in my surroundings, the others also departed the wagon behind me. Kona departed and rushed forward toward the town as she stood with her head high and her arms wide.
"Hlýðið raustu minni, menn þessa lands, langförull lamb er heimkomið til fjár síns, kona goði er heimkomin" He shouted into the air. As she yelled, people stopped walking and turned to stare. Once she stopped, even the winds were quiet.
L walked up beside me and mumbled in my ear. "What the fuck did she just say?" I simply shrugged, not taking my eyes off the spectacle, wondering what might come next.
"OOOORRRRAAAAAAAA!" A unified scream erupted from the village and once again quickly fell into silence as the door to the largest building creaked open, and from inside stepped forward a woman, tall, slender and buxom with long blonde hair and a large, strong frame. She wore a fur dress and walked with a commanding stride from the door and down the steps, onto the snow. She looked to be only in her forties, with few signs of age showing on her skin. As she approached, Kona lowered her arms. There was no way this was her grandmother.
The woman walked closer, revealing her height to be even greater than that of Kona's, even if only by a little. She walked up and wrapped her arms around Kona. "Verr velkomin heim, dóttir" After a moment, she glanced towards us; her gaze was like fire, as if just with her eyes she had put a curse upon us. "And who might these men be?" She released Kona from her embrace, spinning her around to face us and draping an arm over her shoulders.
"Mother, these are my friends. Nigel Fenring and Shinya Akame." She pointed to each of us in turn.
"And the masked one?"
"Why are they in royal guard clothes? And who's the masked one and the one sitting atop the carriage still?"
"I don't know them. The masked one is called L. We are currently working for the crown… It's a long story. Everyone, this is my mother, Haralda Godi, named after the hero of old."
"Now, daughter, please explain." Haralda stepped to the right, away from Kona. Lifting her leg and bringing it down fiercely, stomping into the joint of Kona's prosthetic leg, causing it to buckle and her to fall to the snow-covered ground. "Why is my youngest daughter missing a leg?" With her left leg still lifted, she kicked Konas' shoulder, causing her to lift off the ground and flip onto her back. I wanted to intervene, but seeing her strength to kick someone of her size and weight so hard she lifted off the ground, made me terrified to get too close. I feared that if she kicked me, it could be fatal, depending on where she landed the blow.
Haralda stepped over Kona, who was coughing on the ground. "I do hope you lost it in battle." Kona nodded frantically in response. "And who can attest to this claim?"
I stepped forward on instinct, drawing her gaze to me. "You? You are the only one of her friends who hasn't sustained injury by the look of you." She glanced over to Nigel, then back to me. Of course, from the outside, I looked like a normal, healthy person, when in truth I should have died a dozen times over.
"Kona and I have fought and trained together. She is a fierce and mighty warrior. The leg was lost in battle as she saved my life." I looked down at Kona, who had her eyes shut as her face scrunched up. All of it was a lie.
"Kona, you saved this boy?"
"He saved me countless times in turn!" Kona looked up to her mother, fury in her eyes.
Haralda glanced between Kona and me a few times before taking a step back. "Ah, I see what's going on here. You there, red-eyed boy, how old are you?"
"Sixteen"
"So not only is he under the age of twenty, but he is younger than you. I trust you realise what this means"
Kona stumbled to her feet, pushing herself up off the ground as she faced her mother. "Yes, I understand."
Haralda smiled and nodded before leaving. The crowd of onlookers that had gathered around began to murmur among themselves as Kona walked towards me.
"Care to explain yourself, Godi?" L said, stepping forward.
"I ran from an arranged marriage."
"Oh… well… good luck, Akame, don't die."
The comment caught me by surprise, causing my head to snap to the side to look at L. Die? Why would I die? What's going to happen to me?
"Sorry, since I'm back north, my arranged marriage is still on. Unless of course… You kill him in an arena."