Icebound

Chapter 23

Anyu remained gaping up at the sea goddess, entirely unsure of how to proceed. This was a real and true deity if she'd ever saw one. Should she bow? Recite a prayer? Her mind quickly ran through all of the various ceremonies and rites revolving around Sedna, wondering which, if any, held any truth to them.

Before she could come to a decision, Sedna chuckled lightly and swam a little closer. Her voice had a sultry, rasping quality to it that would make any man blush. Anyu could only blink up at her stupidly.

"Don't be frightened," She said. She smiled, and it appeared she was attempting to appear friendly and kind, but the effect was ruined by those large, unblinking eyes. "I only need you to do something for me."

It was difficult to find a reason not to be frightened. This was another indweller after all, most of whom- according to Kano and Tavra- obeyed Siku's commands. This was Siku's granddaughter, for crying out loud. Had she heard about the human girl in possession of her grandmother's tamga, traveling across the tundra right now to try and topple her? Surely she wouldn't take too kindly to that. And even if she didn't know, what did Siku order indwellers to do with strange humans who wandered into their realm without her permission? Kill them? Torture them, and then kill them? Only it seemed that Sedna had something for her to do before killing her. That would at least buy her some time to find a way out of this impossible situation.

Somehow, Anyu found her voice. "Do something?" She repeated. "What... What do you require of me, mistress?"

Sedna's smile only seemed to broaden at the deferential treatment. "It is a task of grave importance, one that requires both skill and precision." She turned and reached for a long, slender box behind her, one that Anyu had been too distracted to notice before. It was wrought of pure silver, with an intricate design of spiraling whorls stretching over the surface. It was beautiful. Anyu could only assume it was a sort of scabbard. She wrung her hands at the implications. What was her task? To kill some dangerous sea beast? To destroy Sedna's enemies? Anything her mind conjured was either completely impossible or incredibly time consuming. She still had her quest to think about, not to mention Kano and Tavra. They wouldn't wait for her forever. And when they moved on, she would be right back to where she started: alone, afraid, and with no way to get back home.

Slowly, gracefully, Sedna drew out the strangest comb Anyu had ever seen.

The truly bizarre thing about it was it's size. It was easily the length of Sedna's forearm and about the width of her hand. It was a pure white and shined dully, indicating that it was carved from a bone. In a distant part of her mind, Anyu wondered at the immense size of the creature the bone must have come from. Unlike it's case, the comb was completely unadorned. No swirling patterns or lifelike carvings decorated the shaft. The teeth were straight, chiseled into perfect cylinders, and uniformly spaced. Made solely with functionality in mind.

Sedna held the comb delicately, as if it was a precious treasure or a sleeping child. After a brief moment of admiring the tool fondly, she held it out towards Anyu.

"Comb my hair, girl."

Anyu stared, but recovered herself quicker this time.

"You want me to... comb your hair?" She asked. "But..."

"I know," Sedna said mournfully. "It's grown horribly unruly in the years since I last had it combed." Years? Anyu thought, but had enough sense to keep it to herself. "You are the first woman to cross my lake in a long time, and I simply had to take advantage of the opportunity. Men always botch the job."

Anyu tried to move past the complete absurdity of the situation and think logically. This was a good thing, she supposed. It meant that Sedna assumed she was a random female indweller and didn't connect her to the insurgents on their way to overthrow Siku. And all she had to do was brush the goddess' hair. Anyu swam forward and took the comb from Sedna's hands. It was surprising light.