Elena wrapped herself in a dark gray cloak as wind and snow lifted a corner of the carriage curtain.
She sat beside the window, her fingertips brushing the frosted glass as she gazed at the straight streets outside.
Winter had settled in, and snow fell thick and fast. The world outside seemed reduced to white and bitter wind.
Yet Red Tide City looked utterly different from the rest of the Northern Frontier.
Rows of hardy pines and cypresses stood along the streets, their branches coated in frost and snow but still neatly aligned, sheltering and adorning the city.
The houses along the way curved into semicircles, their snow-covered domes gleaming softly in muted crimson and dusky gold through the white mist.
Each domed house was half embedded in the earth, its eaves curving down along the terrain like a warm refuge that had grown naturally from the snowfields.
The low murmur of flowing water rose faintly from beneath the road. These were the heating channels Louis had designed, filled with warm water in winter to prevent ice from forming. Even in the heavy snowfall, the carriage wheels did not slip.
Elena watched quietly, her breath fogging the glass. After a while, she murmured, "It's incredible..."
She had lived in the Red Tide Fief for nearly two years, yet the city still amazed her.
Snow in the Northern Frontier had always represented hardship and death. Here, it had become part of an orderly landscape.
People passed at the street corners: craftsmen pushing wooden barrels, children leading snow dogs, and women carrying food through the mist.
Everyone was busy, but no one seemed frantic.
She remembered her astonishment when she first arrived. Now, a long-forgotten peace had begun to take root in her heart.
The bells of Frost Glaive City from over