Sparks showered among kindling, but failed to take. Another rain of sparks

illuminated the small confines of the kalan. Tiny bits of igniting metal turned to embers

and with a little extra air, embers became flames. Rin held her shaking hands over the

clay stove, trying to absorb some of the escaping heat into her icy flesh. Fire started,

she wrapped her cloak tightly around her chilly body and shifted past the blankets hung

around the kalan in a desperate attempt not to waste the warmth. The door slid to the

side and the sound of squeaking boards resounded around the tenant house courtyard

as Rin and several of her neighbors made their way to the communal well.

Their breath made ghostly clouds in the morning air, illuminated by the rising

morning sun to the east and the single magic lantern near the latrine. "Po." Rin bowed

to the older lady in front of her as the woman turned, bucket full. "Rin." She bowed

slightly and shuffled off. Cold hands pulled up a bucket full of colder water that splashed

into her own container. Water gathered, she bowed slightly to the next person in line

with a quiet, "Po", and shuffled back to her room. Taking time to first warm her hands

above the kalan, she set the water to heat up. Working by rushlight, vegetables and

ginger were cut and set into a bowl of millet that had been soaking since last night. Rin

placed the bowl by the kalan along with a single speckled egg and found a comfy spot

to relax in the gently warming tent of blankets. The sound of neighbors setting about

their morning chores breaking the monotony of the ever present waterfall.

The door slid open and a sort, heavily cloaked, young woman crossed the

threshold. Bouncing in a vain attempt to keep her body from cooling further she swiftly

shut the door, kicked off her shoes, dropped her cloak, and slipped into the tent of

blankets. She let out a teeth chattering sigh of relief as she thrust her trembling hands

out over the cooking millet.

“Te,” said Rin. Acknowledging her sister’s presence.

“H-how much w-wood did y-you use?”

“Less than yesterday.”

“G-good.” Her reply ended in a long bout of teeth chattering.

Rin motioned to the bucket of water set off to the side. Steam streaming out of its

top like a warm pond on a chilly morning such as this. Mika looked at it with equal parts

desire and dread. With a sigh, she began stripping.

Rin set a makeshift table with fresh water and the millet-vegetable dish as her

poor sister bathed with the duality of exposing bare skin to both the torture of cold

spring air and the pleasure of hot water. Cleaned and dried from horn to tail tip the

pretty dark haired Akumajin wrapped in a warm blanket and no longer quivering began

shoving the meager breakfast into her face with reckless abandon. She froze, as if

having just realized she was eating sand or something to that effect.

“Rin?”

“Hmm?”

“Is there egg in here?”

Rin gave her older sister a smile and a nod.

“Is there egg in yours?”

“No.”

Mika scooped up her bowl and thrust it toward her younger sibling.

“No!” Rin protested.

“You eat this. You need…”

“No!” Rin interrupted with a hiss. “I get leftovers at the teahouse. Eat!”

Mika hesitated.

“Eat.”

Mika gave her sister a nod and tried to hide the gratefulness in her tired eyes.

“I have to go.”

The older sister nodded. “Be safe.”

“Get some sleep okay.”

The morning sun lit up the world in a glorious prism of reds, oranges, and

yellows. Casting long shadows over, businesses, residential lots, and the multitude of

empty buildings. The constant roar of the falls all but disappeared as she passed the

abandoned bakery recently inhabited by a gang of six. Their eyes bore into her as she

passed, just as they did every morning and every night. After entering the back door of

the teahouse she quickly stripped down to her undergarments and exchanged her warm

robes for her underskirt and cheongsam. Rin smoothed out the wrinkles as she waited

in the line with the other girls to use the room’s only mirror. Once she found her

appearance acceptable she handed the mirror to the next girl in line and headed into

the teahouse proper.

“Rin.”

“Yes Amo.” Rin replied instantly, bowing to the proprietor of the teahouse.

“Come in.”

Rin entered the side room where a seamstress was putting the final touches on

an outfit for someone Rin hadn’t seen before. The girl stood straight and tall. Easily a

head taller than Rin, but most people were. A slim and elegant Oni-Kai with flawless

skin, long and silky black as night hair, and a face that seemed too perfect. Her hair was

parted, the left half hung off the outside of her perfectly curved horn exposing her

gorgeous facial features. The right however, remained obscured by a silky sheen of

black. The way her body filled out the white underskirt and green flower print

cheongsam; Rin wasn’t sure if the dress made the girl look noble or if it was the girl

making the dress look noble.

“This is Illiesku, Nar, Arakna.” Rin’s boss looked to the girl as if to confirm she

had pronounced the name correctly. Illiesku nodded slightly.

“Il-li-es-ku?” Rin confirmed.

“Yes, she’s from the kingdom of Her Excellency, the Most High Ro-Kon. Please

train her in today.”

Rin bowed. “Yes Amo.”

Illiesku bowed slightly to Rin. “Please forgiveth mine accent. I have not yet

become accustomed to your dialect.”

Rin instantly stiffened into a deep bow only just barely stopping herself from

dropping to the floor in prostration. This was obviously the reason her boss had

specified that the girl was from another kingdom. Just because the girl spoke like a

noble didn’t mean she was a noble, though it was still unnerving in the extreme.

“It will be fine.” Rin said, winching at the stiffness in her own voice. “Please follow me.”

She led the girl into the rear preparation area. “How are you at making tea?” she asked

and mentaly prepared herself for the authoritative aura of Illiesku’s speech.

“Hmmm. I fear that I do not remember the process.”

“Huh?”