Ahead, Ella could see wide avenues filling the spaces between single-storied houses made of ice. Some were larger, others smaller, while some appeared more functional: perhaps storehouses or places where men worked at manual labour.
The brothers, Doelan and Straun, whooped and set off, bidding farewell to Ella with little more than a wave. Ella felt a little let down after their journey together, but she knew the two men were happy to be home.
"Come with me," Ada said. "We don't have inns like your people, but I know where you will be welcome."
Ada led Ella down one straight road and then another; unlike Seranthia, at least this city was laid to a grid. Ella was confident she'd soon be able to find her way around.
Tall Akari nodded to them as they walked past, some alone, others in groups of three or four. Ella saw men carrying children in their arms — rearing a child here obviously wasn't just a woman's responsibility — and women carrying fish in baskets, fresh from the catch.
Ada stopped them at a house with a door of dark wood, no different from many others they'd passed. She knocked.
"Yes?" an old woman's face poked around the door. "Ah, Ada! You're back, are you?"
"Only just now," Ada said, smiling. "It's good to see you, Oma Jen."
"And you're seeing me before paying respects to your father?" Oma Jen frowned, but Ella could see the woman's eyes sparkle. "Off with you, and not another word!"
"Oma Jen, this is Ella. She's a guest of my father's."
Ella opened her mouth to disagree, but closed it again. She'd come to Ku Kara uninvited, but Ada probably knew what she was doing.
"A foreigner, are you?" Oma Jen regarded Ella, her wrinkled features peering through thin white hair.
"From Altura," Ella said.
"I have absolutely no idea where that is," Oma Jen said. "Come in, I'll give you a room and you can refresh yourself after your journey. The hearth's warm and you look pale as a ghost. Then, once you're defrosted, you can tell me where Oltoorah is."
Ada grinned at Ella. "My father will no doubt host a feast tonight, at the palace. Rest yourself, Ella. I'll send someone to come and get you."
"Thank you," Ella said.
She watched Ada go with a sense of loss. She was in a strange land far from home, and Ada was the closest thing to a friend she had here.
"Are you coming in?" Oma Jen said. "You're letting the cold air in."
"Of course. I'm sorry," Ella said.
"Call me Oma Jen," the old woman said.
"Thank you for having me, Oma Jen," Ella said.
"Now that's more like it. Are all Oltoorah girls so pretty?"
Ella smiled as Oma Jen fussed over her. Perhaps she would like Ku Kara after all.
~
AT THIS time of year and so far north, it stayed light late into the evening, and Ella had difficulty knowing what time it was. She made herself ready early, not wanting someone to show up and be waiting for her, and now she sat in the bedchamber Oma Jen had given her, staring into the mirror.
Ella was wearing a thick dress of dark silver; grey was the chosen colour of the Akari, and she wanted to make a good impression. Killian's pendant on its silver chain sparkled on her neck.
She regarded her green eyes seriously.
Ella was nervous.
This was a situation Miro was more experienced with. Ella had only met Dain Barden twice, once inside the chamber in the Sentinel's body and again at Miro's wedding, which obviously hadn't ended well.
There was a soft knock on the door and Ella stood up. She opened the door, expecting to see Oma Jen standing on the other side, and drew back in shock.
She faced the white-eyed stare of a revenant. He had died an old man, and most likely died recently, for his flesh hadn't yet begun the process of decay. His back was hunched and he had a small white beard. The revenant looked at Ella and spoke.
"Summons," he drawled.
Ella wondered what he would do if she said no. How much of the creature's thought process remained? Could it think independently? It must possess some of its old character. Perhaps he had been a servant in life.
Even as she was repulsed, Ella was fascinated by the lore of the Akari. She was here to ask Dain Barden about his essence; the Akari possessed the only replenishable supply, and if one of the Evermen crossed, he may have come this way. But she was also here on her own, private quest.
Ella's kernel of an idea involved learning the Akari's secrets, and discovering how the Akari managed to animate the dead.
It was her only chance of bringing Killian back home.
~
THE REVENANT led Ella to the Dain's palace, a sprawling structure with a grand entrance of wide steps. The entry hall's roof was supported by hundreds of pillars of ice, a forest of crystalline trees each as thick as Ella's arm.
Ella was welcomed by a living seneschal, while thankfully the revenant disappeared. The seneschal was a thin man with a sepulchral voice.
"Welcome, Enchantress Ella," he said. "The Dain is celebrating the return of his daughter, and is pleased to invite you to feast, however unexpected."
It was a subtle way of reminding Ella she had come to Ku Kara uninvited.