Shards of the Broken Heart

It was dawn when we reached the snowy stretches of the north. It was the first time I had seen snow in my life. The distinction between the ground covered with snow and the one without it was pretty. The morning rays of the sun reflected from the pure white snow illuminated the surroundings in a beautiful picture.

Alice was very excited to see snow for the first time. She bent herself down from the carriage and tried to scrape off the snow. She made a small ball of snow and started to juggle it between her hands cheerfully. She then proposed to have a snow fight within ourselves.

I was happy to play with her, but Anais suggested that we first find a play to stay and then could spend some time to play in the snow. Alice was a little disappointed but agreed to her words,

We continued to drive for another half a day before we reached human settlement. The ‘Snow Rekins’ were very useful in our travel through the snowcapped lands. Most of the grounds were covered with thick snow, and the non-native beasts could not traverse through them.

The Snow Rekins instinctively passed through regions with low snow thickness. And even in the thick snow, they were able to move freely, although we were quite slower than before.

The first human settlement we came across was a small nomadic settlement. Anais was well-spoken in their language and thus helped us communicate with them. According to her, the nomadic tribes settle in a different area for a few weeks before moving to a different location.

They generally hunt the beasts found in the snow region. Some even travel to the greener pastures in the south in search of food for their livestock, family, and tribe. So it was pretty lucky for us as they planned to leave for a different place in a few days.

The nomadic people had a different physiology than ours. They had robust bodies. They were short but wide. Even the women in their community were quite sturdy. They had a primitive form of living. They used to wear animal furs covering their whole body to protect them from the cold. But it could be seen that they had less amount of clothing than required, indicative of their strong metabolism and vigour.

The houses in which they lived were temporarily prepared from snow. These were hemispherical dome-like structures which had a small entrance. They covered the house's interior with animal furs to keep it further warm. This small hemispherical building was called ‘iklew’ in their tongue. With the help of Anais, we managed to barter for an ‘iklew’ to stay in for a day with some food and medicinal herbs.

We planned to stay with them for a day before continuing our journey. We got an ‘iklew’ big enough for all three of us to sleep in. Anais instructed her ‘puppies’, the Snow Frekins, to play around in the snow and get rest for a day. The beasts howled a bit in happiness and started horsing around in the snow.

As cultivators, one did not need anything else to eat to sustain. But still, we siblings liked to taste the different cuisines from each place we visited. And thus, we also partook in the taste of the nomadic food. They prepared some local fat-based meat for us.

To insulate from cold, many animals store fat in their body. Thus, the animals found in the north were very rich in fat. We cooked the meat on fire. The sizzling sound and the enticing smell of the meat lit up our dormant pseudo-hunger. Even Anais was tempted by them. We three gobbled up the hot and sizzling pieces of meat with relish.

After satiating our craving for some new tastes, we took a little rest. But my sister could not remain still as she was still hung up on the snow fight. We invited Anais to play with us and then played for many hours till we were satisfied. We made balls out of snow and threw at each other. After playing, we used the snow to make figurines according to our wishes. Alice made a cute bunny doll, and I tried making a small castle. We were both happy with our creations as they looked pretty good.

But when we turned to look at Anais’s creation, we were dumbstruck. Her creation was too beautiful, too dazzling that we both were stunned. She had sculpted three humans, one man and two women, having food while sitting around a fire.

After closer inspection, we found out that this sculpture was of us when we were eating the fatty meat. Her sculpture was minutely detailed as it contained our expression with much detail. Anais was still giving some finishing touches to the sculpture and had not noticed our face.

Seeing such a beautiful sculpture of ours, Alice was so moved that her eyes reddened, and she walked towards Anais and hugged her. She repeatedly said it was beautiful while praising Anais’s artistic capabilities. Anais, with her signature smile, accepted the praises lauded at her by Alice and then looked at me. I gave her a thumbs up and also praised her art with a smile.

Even though I had met with Anais for a bit of time, I had felt a connection with her. Our time spent together was way less than the time I spent with the Luna sisters. But still, I was more expressive towards her. I always felt like we two had some sort of camaraderie between us. Even my instincts tingled to trust her indiscriminately.

After playing around and taking a rest for a whole day, we thanked the nomads and continued on our journey to Ruvendin. We passed across many nomadic settlements and even some small cities and towns but didn’t stay there for much more extended periods. After another week of our travels, we finally reached Ruvendin.

This northern city was the capital of the north Duchy under the Vangan Empire. It was surrounded by mountains from all sides, only leaving the entrance to the city open. It was a naturally fortified city.

We entered the fortified city after paying an entrance fee. The infrastructure of the city was quite different from the others. The houses were made of metals, which was the opposite of general principles, as wood or kiln bricks are preferred over metals in cold regions.

But one could feel the heat emanating from the walls, making the atmosphere cosy in the freezing cold. The people here had a light skin tone with rosy cheeks and noses due to the cold. And even in the cold, the streets were bustling with the crowd. The people were wearing exquisitely stitched fur coats to shield against the cold.

We first settled ourselves in an inn for a night and took rest for a day. Alice and I planned to meet the Luna sisters the next day. I had asked Anais about her request, which I had to fulfil, to which she replied that whenever the time comes, she will ask me then.

Also, Anais was planning to stay in Ruvendin for a few more days so she could help us travel back after completing our work in Ruvendin. In the meantime, she could visit the carriage company branch or the other subsidiaries of the Beast Hall I Ruvendin. I was very grateful for her consideration of this aspect.

The next day, we siblings separated from Anais and went to the Lunas Residence. The Luna sisters had mentioned beforehand that their grandfather was the previous Duke. After getting injured and going comatose, the seat of the Duke was left vacant. The Duke Overthrowing is a thing in the Vangan Empire.

Here, the Duke had to maintain his control over his Duchy without any aid from the Empire. Any contenders are allowed to challenge the Duke for his position, andthe methods for this could be in the light or in the dark. This method helps select the most powerful contender to sit on the seat of Duke. It also decreases the chance of any Duke rebelling against the Empire as these challenges sap away the strength behind the defending Duke and the contenders.

In one such case, their grandfather was attacked by a group of contenders in an ambush. And now their household was nominally holding onto the house of the Duke as any other contender hadn’t found the seal of the Duchy, which signifies the authority over the Ducky as a Duke. This seal was the thing which was the reason the Luna sisters were ambushed and attacked beforehand in the forest.

There was a small hill at the centre of the city. The hill was covered in coniferous trees that were painted with snow. At the top of the hill was a black castle, which was very contrasting to the whiteness of its surroundings. This castle was the castle of the Duke and, at present, the residence of the Lunas.

At the foot of the hill, we were stopped by the guards prohibiting our entry. After giving our introduction and mentioning our relationship with the Luna sisters, they sent a messenger into the castle for verification and told us to wait. After a few minutes, a carriage was found coming down the paved road from the castle. The carriage stopped at the gate, and the door of the carriage flung open. From within, two young girls alighted.

They had short brown hair and black eyes. The older one had curly hair, and she had a bright smile on her face. The younger one had straight hair with her bangs dropping over her eyes. She was smiling but was a little shy, clutching her older sister while standing behind her. They were Elfie Luna and Seline Luna, respectively.

Seeing her friends, my sister’s eyes started sparkling, and she happily started moving in for a hug. The Luna sisters also reciprocated their affection by hugging her and giggling in happiness. After they separated, the Luna sisters looked at me happily surprisedly. I also moved towards them, nodded at them, and greeted them.

“How are you two doing? It has been many days since we last saw each other. I am very thankful for your support during our expedition in the realm.”

Elfie was the one who talked, while Seline just shyly nodded at me.

“It is great that you are back. Even though we knew you had your means, we still were a little worried about your safety. And don’t talk about the support…”

She looked at Alice and said in a complaining tone.

“… After leaving the Turquoise Realm, your sister beat us up because we left you alone and left the realm on our own. If the re-entry into the realm was not blocked, your sister might have run back to you even after you made way for our exit.”

Alice just winked cutely at them and apologised for her past rude actions towards the Luna sisters. After chitchatting a little more, the Luna sisters invited us into the carriage so that we could climb up the hill and enter the Duke's palace.

On our way, I noticed that the pavement on which the carriage was moving was made of pieces made of both bricks and metals. I asked about the unusual choice of material for the construction of houses all throughout the city. To this, the sisters explained that an underground thermal inlay was spreading out throughout the city.

The city of Ruvendin was the home to blacksmiths as there were many mineral mines present near the city. The abundant supply of metals and other minerals supported the growth of their knowledge. Many centuries ago, all the blacksmiths and mechanics living in the city formed a unanimous assembly to make an inlaid thermal line spreading all over the city.

This thermal inlay transmits heat through the metals to the various buildings. They also mentioned that due to that reason, no new buildings were built after the creation of thermal inlays, and the only way one could get one house in Ruvendin is by buying one from the current residents.