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  Snowed In: Nen and Anani

  By Nell Iris

  Published by JMS Books LLC

  Visit jms-books.com for more information.

  Copyright 2019 Nell Iris

  ISBN 9781634867993

  Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

  Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

  All rights reserved.

  WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

  No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

  This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Published in the United States of America.

  * * * *

  To Kris (best sounding board a girl could wish for), Amy (no tentacle porn in this book), and Addison (I’m definitely still talking to you) for doing your best to make me a better writer.

  To my husband for teaching me the laws of physics when I needed to know them and for the inspiration for the companionship ceremony words. You and I are the two halves of the cracked heart.

  To my daughter for being my number one cheerleader.

  * * * *

  Snowed In: Nen and Anani

  By Nell Iris

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 1

  “Nen. It is time for you to go to my son.”

  My breath stutters and I have to strain the muscles in my arms so my hands won’t fly to my chest. “Vasilissa?” My voice cracks, but the Vasilissa doesn’t comment on it.

  “He needs you.” Her gaze clouds over and grows distant, as though she’s seeing something not visible to anyone but her. I don’t know if the Vasilissa has the seer gift, but wouldn’t be surprised if she does. After all, according to legend, only the Spirit is more powerful than the Vasilissa, holder of the four natural elements, ruler of Elemiis and all lands.

  “He is…lonely. His soul suffers.” All color drains from her eyes until they’re as white as the snow during the Terrible Snow Rotation, and her breathing grows shallow. “He has been through enough for several lifetimes.”

  I learned a long time ago to hide my feelings, to never let my face or body betray what’s going on inside me. But at her words, a nest of serpents appears in my gut. They slither and hiss and threaten to make me nauseous. Has something happened to the Vasilieu?

  Her eyes roll to the heavens and she opens her palms. “It is time I right this wrong. I should have never let myself be dissuaded from my intentions. I should have been stronger.” The Vasilissa’s voice is hoarse, her words mumbled, and I doubt I’m meant to hear them. “He needs his soulmate, or he will perish.”

  I clench my hands into fists and squeeze so my arms tremble. I have no idea what intentions she’s talking about, but I’m startled to hear the all-powerful Vasilissa admit—even inadvertently—that someone had talked her out of her plans. Who has that kind of influence? The council of elders? Surely she can easily overrule them? And what did she try to do?

  My heart speeds up and I fear she will hear it thunder in my chest. I slowly take in my breath so I won’t startle her out of this state with any sudden noises, hoping she will reveal more.

  But her eyes clear just as quickly as they clouded over, and she straightens her back. “Take your time, Nen. We still have a little while before he and his sisters need to walk the bridges,” she says as if the previous moments didn’t happen.

  The bridges? The serpents in my belly multiply tenfold. “Are you ill, Vasilissa?”

  The Vasilissa shakes her head. “I am…” Her voice trails off and she lets her face relax. Every wrinkle smooths out, and for a single heartbeat, she has an air of peacefulness about her. “I am resigned to my fate. When I accomplish what I want, I will be forced to let the next generation take over.” She raises her chin and all traces of vulnerability disappear. Gone is the mother missing her only son, and before me stands once again the regal Vasilissa of Elemiis, with long hair braided and wound around the top of her head like a crown. It shimmers in whites, golds, and coppers, and is more majestic than if she wore a tiara made from the most precious metal.

  “Do you understand what I am telling you?” Her voice pulls on me. Demands me to obey. I fight to keep standing and not fall to my knees and bow before her. Not once have I done it since she banned me from seeking out the Vasilieu when he became of age, and I have no intention to do it now. Even so, I can’t figure out why she lets me get away with it. Everybody else is expected to kneel before their Vasilissa, including her children. At least in public. But not me anymore.

  “Vasilissa?” I keep my face in an expressionless mask. I understand completely but can’t believe what I’m hearing. Why does she want to send me to him now? The laws forbidding two people of the same gender to be companions are still in effect.

  Her eyes narrow into stormy slits, and her skin pales. The tug on my knees intensifies, but I lock them and resist. I cross my arms over my chest and try my best to present a calm exterior.

  “This is not a time for insolence. I have let you keep your…powers…secret—” she spits out the words “—all this time. Are you going to make me regret it?”

  The air sparkles with electricity as though a thunderstorm is approaching. Breathing grows difficult as if someone has circled my torso with a steel band and keeps tightening and tightening. The pull on my knees is unbearable and makes me stumble. Somehow, I manage to stay on my feet, but my arms fall to the sides. I avert my eyes, unable to endure the tornado building in her gaze.

  “No,” I mumble.

  The sparks fizzle out and I draw a deep breath, relieved when the pressure on my chest fades.

  “Good man.”

  My legs tremble worse than if I had run a hundred kilometers, but I remain standing. It takes all my strength to straighten my neck and look at her again. The storm clouds in her eyes have dissipated and I think I detect a glint of approval. I must imagine it.

  “I will ask you again. My son needs you.”

  “But…” I don’t know how to voice my question.

  “I will make sure the…obstacle…is cleared for when you return. Do you understand what I am telling you?”

  I do, but I don’t. What I hear is that she’s finally giving her consent for me and the Vasilieu to be companions. But I don’t understand how. If she was unable to change the laws fifteen rotations ago, how is it possible now?

  The look in her eyes tells me to not ask more questions. The serpents in my belly wiggle and worm. My heart picks up speed and I use all my willpower to keep my voice steady. “I understand, Vasilissa.”

  I doubted this day would ever arrive. I waited for something to happen, for change to come. Yearned. But when I still wasn’t allowed to leave the kastell and join the Vasilieu when he turned twenty, hope turned into despair since I couldn’t see a solution. My soul, too, has suffered, like the Vasilieu’s.

&
nbsp; “You will leave at once. I will have Bobo arrange a carriage for you.”

  “No, please. I prefer traveling on foot.” I need time to prepare. To calm both mind and soul. To find the right words to speak to the man who has never left my mind since I first laid eyes on him. Who holds my heart in his hands.

  I hope she won’t insist. She doesn’t. “Very well. The bridges can wait. I can wait. It will take some time before you will be able to return.”

  I don’t understand what she means but know better than to ask. Instead, I bow my head. “Thank you.”

  She steps closer and lays her right index and middle finger between my eyebrows. Heat and chill prickle my skin at the same time, and suddenly I’m overwhelmed with her emotions. Feelings of sadness and remorse and longing for her lost son invade my mind, and I bite my lip to stop from gasping at the intensity. It lasts only for a few moments before they disappear as quickly as they came. She nods once, and mumbles, “Yes. You both deserve happiness. This is right.” I doubt it’s meant for my ears.

  She withdraws her hand and I straighten.

  “Safe travels, Nen of the Gennandora Forest. My gardens will not be the same without you as their master.”

  She doesn’t give me time to reply; she turns so quickly, her floor-length kaftan swirls around her delicate body, making the reds, oranges, and yellows of the silky fabric appear like fire before it settles. She retreats behind the intricate, artful tapestry, leaving me alone with chaotic thoughts, a furiously beating heart, and feet aching to get going.

  * * * *

  Eight days. That’s how long I’ve walked. My feet are tired and the muscles in my legs ache, but I persevere. It’s not much farther.

  The weather has been on my side the entire way. Has the Vasilissa stabilized it for my sake? I shake my head. That’s an incredibly vain thought. She would never interfere with something that important unless absolutely necessary.

  It’s the end of the hot season, and eight days of continuous heat and clear skies isn’t unheard of. Yellow spots have started to appear on the leaves, but the rains should be awhile away. For some time, I’ve recognized several of the landmarks the Vasilissa’s Map Master told me about before my departure.

  I stopped at The Rearing Bear Inn for a meal yesterday but declined the room they offered me for free, even though they informed me the Vasilissa had insisted. I take every opportunity I can to sleep in nature and feel freer under an open sky smattered with the light coming from faraway worlds. And last night, Lady Luna hung heavy and full right over the treetops. She winked at me. For a heartbeat, I imagined I could reach up and touch her if I climbed the tallest tree I could find.

  This morning, I circled the village closest to the Vasilieu’s home because I didn’t want to speak to anyone. Then I walked past the ruins of the bridge. No one knows any longer why there’s a bridge deep in the forest close to the mountains surrounding Elemiis, far away from any body of water. Maybe it once crossed a stream or a river? It’s an exact replica of the ones leading to Ibere Island, the ones the Vasilieu and his sisters will have to walk to transfer their powers to the eldest sister, Gaia, who’ll take over from her mother and become the next Vasilissa.

  According to the Map Master, it’ll take only a day to reach the Vasilieu’s home after I pass the bridge. And Mother Sol is on her way down to rest, ready to hand over the heavens to her sister, while at the same time, creating a spectacular color show in the sky.

  A cat joined me after I passed the bridge and has followed me at a safe distance ever since. He’s snow-white, except for the tip of his tail, which is blue-gray. He started out walking behind me, but after a while, he looped around and ran ahead. Then he climbed a tree and kept his eyes on me from up there, before leaping to the neighboring tree, following my trail.

  Right now, he saunters next to me.

  “Are you keeping an eye on me, boy?”

  The cat flicks his tail in response.

  “Do you watch out for A…the Vasilieu?” I can’t make myself say his name even here, all alone in the forest. I haven’t allowed myself to even think it since he was driven away from his home fifteen rotations ago.

  Back then, he was little more than a lillefinch, with hair as white as freshly fallen snow, eyes as blue as the sky, and limbs gangly and fluttery. He was quick and curious and his face lit up with happiness when I answered his countless questions or just paid attention to his thoughts and ideas. He acted as if no one else but me listened to him or was patient with his musings. He had the most vivid imagination and always made up and told me stories while following me around in the gardens, watching me as I tended to the Vasilissa’s plants.

  My favorite story of his was about the two princes in a faraway land who fell in love and raised a family. His being lit up with happiness when I told him I would very much like to live in that place.

  Everything changed just before the Terrible Snow Rotation. He grew silent and broody and stopped dreaming. His warm heart grew cold and radiated a bone-deep chill. His narrow, hunched shoulders almost broke me. His eyes turned white and lost their spiritedness. Brimmed with sadness.

  But no matter how much I wished it could have been different, it wasn’t possible. He was only seventeen rotations, and the laws state no Elemian can be joined in companionship before twenty. And I saw the way he looked at me. He wouldn’t have been satisfied with platonic love until he came of age. And, Spirit forgive me, I doubt I would’ve been able to resist him.

  I pleaded with the Vasilissa to be sent away instead of him, but she declined my request and forbade me to leave the kastell. Even now, I still don’t understand why she would send away her own flesh and blood instead of a lowly gardener, no matter how much the people whispered about the oddity of the male child of a Vasilissa.

  So, I had to watch him leave. It was the hardest thing I’ve done in my life.

  The Vasilissa offered him a carriage—just as she did for me—but he declined. He chose to walk, even though the snow had been deep in the middle of the Seventh Month. Accompanied by the Vasilissa’s most trusted valet and a dog, who pulled their belongings on a sled, he set off for the cottage near the border of Elemiis, where he has lived since.

  With a straight back and a fur-lined cape to protect him from the bitter cold, he took one last look at me and walked away. His misery and unhappiness hit me like a battering ram to my chest. Speared my heart so badly, I feared my life blood would pour out of me and leave me for dead.

  My chest was close to bursting with a mixture of grief and pride. Grief because I’d miss him more than I missed my mother after she died in my eleventh rotation. Pride because he showed what kind of person he was. One that would take whatever life and the Spirit threw at him and persevere. Stand up for himself and refuse to change or play along.

  But I would never forget the despair that penetrated my soul with that last look. I’ve never felt another being’s emotions as acutely as I did his. As if I was the one experiencing them instead of him.

  When he disappeared from my sight, I stumbled back to my tiny cabin at the far end of the Vasilissa’s kastell. As soon as my door closed behind me, I roared my ire. Screamed my throat raw. Cursed the stupid laws. Condemned every Elemian who couldn’t stop whispering about the Vasilieu. But most of all, I raged over the Vasilissa for listening to idle gossip and banishing her son for no other reason than for who he loved.

  Then I broke down into a heap on the earthen floor. Sobs racked my chest and I didn’t know if they were mine or his.

  Or both.

  And now, I will see him again in a few short moments.

  What will he look like? Will he remember me? Will he still have feelings for me as deep as before? The Vasilissa clearly believes he will or she would have sent someone else.

  I believe…hope…

  I stop in the middle of a step. The cat trots on, oblivious to my frozen state.

  What if he doesn’t want me anymore? What if resents me for his fate?
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  My legs collapse under me and I crash onto the forest floor. A sharp rock pokes my buttocks, but I ignore it.

  What if he resents me? What will I do?

  My mouth grows dry and I can hardly swallow. My heart vibrates in my chest, close to flying apart. My breathing speeds up.

  I draw my knees to my chest and hug my shins, trying to force myself to take calm, normal breaths. The proximity to his home coupled with my panicked thoughts makes it nearly impossible. My grip on my legs tightens. I slide down my hands and grab my ankles.

  Squeeze.

  Breathe.

  Squeeze.

  Breathe.

  Nothing helps. Not until a cold nose butts my hand. I peel open my eyes and am not surprised to see the cat.

  I unfurl, and he jumps onto my lap. Stretches out, puts his paws on my chest, and licks my face. His raspy tongue breathes life back into me and my hands embrace him.

  “Thank you, boy,” I mutter.

  He purrs and rubs his silky cheek against my bearded one.

  “Who are you, kitty?” I bury my fingers in his fur and scratch his chin. His noises grow louder with pleasure and he rubs leisurely against my hand that’s huge compared to his body.

  A little while later, he hops off my legs and meows twice in what sounds like a command before trotting off in the direction of the Vasilieu’s cottage.

  “Yes, Master,” I mumble, jump to my feet, and follow.

  The forest in this area is unusually lush. Fruits and flowers grow in every clearing where light from Mother Sol reaches the ground. The songs of hundreds of birds bounce between the trees. Even larger animals allow themselves to be seen and seem unafraid. A fleet-footed two-tailed fox whose fur glimmers in the evening light weaves between the trees alongside the path before it disappears out of view. A midnight black caribou with huge white-tipped antlers takes my breath away. And far in the distance, a red bear lumbers with its nose buried in the ground vegetation. I’ve never seen one in the wild—only in the Vasilissa’s Animal Park—and didn’t know there were any left roaming the forests of Elemiis. Maybe it has wandered into our lands from the outside. This place is close enough to the mountains, it’s possible.