The streets of Esler Tigo were hung with banners and flags that fluttered in the chilly wind. Decorations made of tree branches were nailed to every door. Candles flickered in every window. The city was just as cold and snowy as it had been all winter, but it was beautiful. Inside, the palace was just as decorated. The hallways were brightly lit and smelled like the freshly cut pine branches that were woven and tied into various shapes and placed on almost every surface.

Just as Jale had described, every evening there were ceremonies held at the temple and feasts in the palace. The feasts were so large that people from the city were able to attend. The feasts also included presentations—singing, dances, dramatically choreographed fights, even a play.

Tanden loved the feasts. Even though he, Soren and Jale were still given seats at the governor's table, there was a bit of a chance to mingle with the regular people who attended. There were also the presentations, which captivated him to the point where he often forgot to lean over and whisper translations for Soren. Luckily Jale was there to make sure Soren knew what was going on.

Just after noon on the last day of the festival, there was a knock on their door.

They were relaxing in the large stone tub, letting the water warm them up. The thick curtains covering the windows didn't completely block out the freezing air, so that even with a fire burning, parts of the room always had a bit of a chill. The bath was a nice way to warm up, and a nice way to pass the time.

Soren was sitting with his back to Tanden, who was gently rubbing his shoulders. At the sound of the knock, Tanden's hands stilled. Soren opened his eyes drowsily. "Ignore it."

"Ignore it?" Tanden echoed. "What if it's important?" He kissed the back of Soren's neck, then called out something in Tallenese.

It was Jale who replied, in Teltish, "It's me."

"Oh, come in."

Soren sat up, suddenly wide awake. "Come in?"

Jale stepped through the door, glanced over them, and apparently decided that she didn't care about what she had walked in on. "Get dressed," she said, as she wandered over to one of their clothing chests and began to dig through it.

Tanden kissed Soren's neck again before climbing out of the tub. He wrapped a towel around his waist and went to join Jale. Soren's eyes landed on Tanden's back, and his tattoo. It really was a very impressive tattoo.

"What are you looking for?" Tanden asked.

"Something you won't freeze in," Jale replied. She pulled out a thick woolen tunic and shoved it into Tanden's wet arms. "Get dressed, come on. Soren, unless you want to wander around Esler Tigo naked and wet, I suggest you get out of the tub."

Tanden shot him a grin over his shoulder. "If it wasn't so cold—"

"Stop." Soren waited until Jale was looking through the chest again, before stepping out of the warm water and quickly grabbing a towel.

"So what's going on?" Tanden asked. "I thought the special Singing was tonight."

"It is tonight," Jale said. "But we're going to go see the... the... big carved ice art."

"Sculptures?" Soren guessed as he joined them.

Jale shrugged. "Maybe. This is the most important day of the festival. There are things to see." She dumped the armful of clothing she had picked out onto the couch. "I'll wait in the hall. Don't get distracted, Tanden."

"Me?" Tanden asked.

Jale didn't reply, just gave him a knowing look before abruptly leaving their room.

Soren laughed as he started to get dressed. "She knows you so well. It's nice not being the only person keeping you in line."

Tanden tossed his towel aside more dramatically than was necessary. "I'll admit it, I'm going to miss her once we're back on the Wanderlust."

"We can visit her whenever we're in Till," Soren said. He pulled on his boots, his dark furred jacket, and finally his hat. A moment later Tanden was ready, and together they walked into the hallway.

Jale was there, talking to her pretty servant friend. Jale was dressed in her usual travelling clothes, but the other woman was dressed more elegantly in a light-coloured wool jacket and a ruddy brown scarf which wrapped around her shoulders and head.

Tanden addressed the women in Tallenese. Jale replied in Teltish.

"This is Prayri. And before you get any ideas, Tanden, she has an eetorikey. So be charming all you want, it won't work. Let's go."

They began to walk down the hall, talking quietly. Soren and Tanden followed. Outside, it was a beautiful afternoon. Cold, but sunny, with very little wind. Fat snowflakes drifted down gently, sparkling as they caught the light.

The main streets had been cleared of most of the snow. Soren definitely didn't envy whoever did that job, but he appreciated it as Jale and Prayri led them through the city. It seemed like everyone in the city was out that afternoon, enjoying the nice weather and decorations. Soren saw plenty of couples walking hand in hand. He started watching the people instead of admiring the decorations, and as he watched, he realized, possibly for the first time, how comfortable the people were with eetorikeys and eetos.

He saw a woman walking, each arm linked with a man at her side. He saw two men, one with a child sitting on his shoulders, standing very close together while they talked. He saw a man holding hands with a woman, who was holding hands with another woman. He saw a group of four adults watching two kids playing, and realized they could be one family.

Tanden was a few steps ahead, talking with Jale and Prayri. Being charming, certainly, because he always was. He was attracting attention— Soren knew he was as well, but he tried to ignore that. Suddenly Soren found himself thinking about what the other people on the street were thinking. Would they think Tanden was married to the women? Who would they assume was the eetorikey?

The thought made Soren laugh. Tanden and Jale were so similar, even if she had been interested it never would have worked.

Then something else occurred to him. He didn't want other people assuming Tanden was married to the women. He wanted other people to know exactly who Tanden was with. So he took a few quick steps to catch up, and caught Tanden's hand.

For a second Tanden was obviously surprised, but then he saw who was holding his hand, and he smiled.

"Soren, mate—"

Soren cut him off by drawing him into a kiss. Right there, in the middle of the street. He knew people were going to watch. It was impossible to not watch Tanden.

When the kiss ended, but they were still standing so close together that their foreheads touched, Tanden said, "What was that about?"

"You're mine," Soren said simply.

"Aye." Tanden smiled. "I know."

"Everyone should know."

"Well, I do like the sound of that," Tanden said. "But if you're planning on taking me right now, I feel inclined to point out that we'll get very cold. Not that I'm against some experimentation."

"You two!" Jale interrupted before Soren could reply. They pulled apart to look at her. "If you want me to take you to see the," she faltered over the word, "sculptures, then you need to follow me."

"Our apologies, Jale," Tanden said. "Soren just suddenly remembered how irresistible I am."

He was teasing, but he was also right. So instead of arguing Soren just squeezed his hand and nodded. "Sorry, Jale. Lead the way."

She stared at them a moment longer, then started walking again. Still holding hands, Soren and Tanden followed her. Soon, they stepped out into a snowy square that probably served as a marketplace in warmer weather. Instead of little stalls, it was filled with sculptures.

They walked up and down the rows, in awe. Some of the sculptures were people, some of them were animals or plants. A few large ones were complete scenes. Some were made of clear ice that caught the sunlight, some were made of snow. They were all amazing. And, Soren realized, they were all temporary. It seemed sad to create such beautiful art out of something that would melt away. Jale and Prayri wandered around on their own, leaving Tanden and Soren to really take their time at each sculpture.

"This must be the prophet," Tanden said, as they paused in front of small sculpture made of snow. It was a little girl wearing a dress, and so lifelike that if it wasn't for her white face it almost seemed like she would come to life.

Behind the little girl, there was a tall woman carved from ice. "Tier," Tanden said. "I imagine. Interesting that we haven't seen any other art depicting the deities, isn't it?"

"They're more tied to nature than the Goddess is," Soren said. "Maybe the people don't need art to see them, if they can just look at the snow or the trees."

Tanden nodded the way he always did when he was listening to something that really made him think. "All right, maybe. I like that. We'll have to ask Jale." He tugged on Soren's hand to lead him to the next display, where three figures knelt in front of the fourth.

"Could it be the War of the Seasons?" Soren guessed. "The emperor and his three eetos?"

"Oh, probably," Tanden agreed. They admired the sculptures a moment longer before Tanden spoke up again. "If I had been born here, my life would be..."

"A mess, probably," Soren said. "If you were free to marry as many people as you wanted?"

Tanden laughed. "You're probably right. And then when I inevitably moved on, it wouldn't be nearly as simple as us both just going our separate ways. But the biggest tragedy would be that I would have never met you."

"Tanden..." Soren said his name without really thinking about it, and immediately regretted it. He wasn't actually ready to say what he had been thinking.

Tanden's eyes widened. "Oh, my name? This is serious."

"Oh. No." Soren shook his head, and shook away what he had been about to say. "No, it was nothing. I just think we should find Jale. There's probably more to see."

Tanden just looked at him. Soren knew Tanden didn't believe him, he just hoped Tanden would let it go. Finally, Tanden nodded. "Hmm... good point."

They found Jale and Prayri at near a busy stall, eating what looked like brown goo stuck to sticks. Tanden immediately forgot Soren's odd behaviour, curious about this new thing.

"What are you eating?" he asked in Tallenese.

Jale glanced at Soren, before replying in Tallenese. "Chilled syrup. I don't know what to call it in Teltish. It's made from sweet water collected from maple trees later in the winter."

"Boiled and boiled until it becomes thick," Prayri added. "It can be used as a sauce. Or chilled on fresh snow to eat like this."

Jale nodded. "This is last year's batch. It's traditional to finish off all of the last year's syrup during the Tier Kuin-shon. Try some."

Tanden let go of Soren's hand to pull out his small pouch of weis. "I'll be right back," he told Soren. It was easy to make his way through the crowd near the booth. Most people were already eating, and moved out of his way. He waited in a short line, and watched the man running the stall create the treat. It was surprisingly simply. He just lined up sticks on a clean layer of snow, then poured syrup over the end of each stick. As they cooled, he collected coins from the people at the front of the line. When they all paid and took a stick, he started the process all over again.

When it was Tanden's turn, he handed over more coins than he needed to, and picked up two sticks. Finding Soren in the crowd was easy. Jale and Prayri blended in, but Soren's height made him stand out. Tanden handed over one of the sticks before trying his own.

It was easily one of the most delicious things he had ever eaten. Maybe ever better than the iced cream. He bit off some of the sticky food and let it melt in his mouth. Soren looked equally delighted.

"Jale, this is amazing," Soren said. "Does this keep well? Maybe we could see about taking some back with us, to trade."

"Yes," Tanden immediately agreed. "This... what did you say, maple?" He paused to translate what she had called it. "Maple syrup, irdka, and iced cream."

Jale laughed. "I'll talk to somebody about buying syrup and irdka. We won't have too much room in the Wayfarer, but we could probably take a few boxes of each."

"Excellent." Tanden chewed off the last bits of his chilled syrup, and then, like everyone else, dropped the stick onto the ground. "Excellent idea, Soren. In the meantime, what else is there to see, Jale?"

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of activity. They took a ride in a horse-drawn sleigh into the valley, where various activities were taking place. They watched children ride small sleds down hills. In the fields, families were building forts out of snow, or trying to create their own snow sculptures. On a cleared pond, people glided around on tiny metal blades that were attached to the bottom of their boots. Jale and Prayli talked a few men into lending their boots to Tanden and Soren to try. They both thought it was fun, but very difficult.

When it started to get dark, they paid for a sleigh ride back into the city. From there, they followed the crowds to the temple. People were settling around the big circular room, facing the pool in the centre. The only place that wasn't crowded was a temporary wooden platform against the far wall, where Reng Runolorinn, Orearaley, and Tier's Prophet were standing.

Jale found them a nice spot near the wall. She and Prayri knelt, and after a moment Tanden and Soren did as well. Tanden took Soren's hand.

Tanden expected some sort of speech, so he was surprised when suddenly the room fell silent and the only sound was a little girl's voice, singing. It was the Prophet. Her voice carried through the temple, sweet and clear. Then all at once the people started to sing with her.

It didn't take long for Tanden to realize that everyone was singing the Tier verse. He tried to follow along, but very quickly resorted to just humming like Soren was. The temple was filled with voices, all of them coming together perfectly. It was easy to imagine Tier hovering somewhere in the sky, listening. It was such a beautiful way to honour their gods.

When the Song of the Seasons ended, another song started. This one was new. Tanden went completely silent as he listened to the words. It was hard to translate the poetry, but he tried his best. Whispering so quietly he wasn't even sure Soren would hear everything, he tried to explain what he was hearing.

After the song ended, there were speeches. The Prophet spoke first. She blessed Esler Tigo, and the whole province. She talked about how Tier was pleased with the Kuin-shon festival, and she loved everyone. When she was done, Reng Runolorinn spoke about how pleased Esler Tigo had been to host Tier's Prophet during such an important event. He also vaguely mentioned the city's other special guests—with led to quite a few people turning to look for Tanden and Soren.

Some other important people did speeches. Some of them Tanden recognized from the palace, some of them were probably preachers. When the speeches were done, the Prophet once again led everyone in the Song of the Seasons. But this time, everyone sang the Tier verse together, and then everyone sang the Till verse together.

It took a long time to get out of the temple once the Singing was over. The Governor mentioning them in his speech meant that people wanted to meet them. Soren stood back a bit and let Tanden do most of the greeting. Tanden thrived on the attention. He had a smile and a few words for everyone who wanted to talk to him. He shook hands, kissed cheeks, and was his usual charismatic self.

As he watched Tanden, Soren's thoughts drifted back to where they had been earlier in the afternoon. For most of their relationship, Soren had been delighted that Tanden had chosen him. Some days it was still hard to wrap his head around. In their world, a man like Tanden was supposed to marry a rich, beautiful lady. Soren had been content with being a secret. Somehow that made their relationship, and their game, more exciting.

But being in Esler Tigo had changed things. People here didn't know who Tanden really was. They didn't know how unlikely the relationship was. They didn't care that Soren was a man. It occurred to Soren that he actually liked people thinking of him as Tanden's eeto.

Part of him also liked watching Tanden impress and dazzle nearly everyone they met. He liked that people were drawn to Tanden, and that people wanted him. It just showed that Tanden could have absolutely anyone he wanted, and he had chosen Soren. Soren liked people knowing that he was the man lucky enough to be with Tanden.

Tanden interrupted his thoughts by turning around and smiling. "All right, we can go."

The temple wasn't empty, but everyone who was left was trying to visit with the Prophet, or were still kneeling around the pond.

"Good." Jale had slipped away after the Singing, now she reappeared beside them. "Because there's something else you have to see."

Soren took Tanden's hand as they followed Jale. As soon as they stepped outside, he gasped and almost forgot about the mess of thoughts in his head, because the sky was beautiful. It was glowing. Rivers of green, purple and blue shimmered through the stars.

"Jale..." Even Tanden couldn't think of what to say.

"Tier is holding up her lantern," Jale explained. "She's very pleased with us. Come..." She took Soren's hand and pulled them both off of the road. She led them down a narrow alley filled with knee-deep snow. Finally, the path opened into a peaceful little yard behind the temple. The snow was pristine and untouched, and looked slightly purple in the light from the sky.

Jale let go of Soren's hand. "I think you can find your way back to the palace on your own."

"Thank you," Tanden said.

She smiled and started back down the path. "Goodnight," she called back to them.

Soren wasted no time. As soon as Jale was gone, he slipped an arm around Tanden's neck and pulled him into a kiss.