Free City of Ice by Laurence Yep

mother, Lady Miunai.”
    â€œAnd a gray hair for every day since you were born,” Lady Miunai said. “Where’s your father?”
    â€œProbably coming through the pass,” Roxanna said. “He should be here in a short while.”
    â€œWe’d better get ready to unload the wagons when they get here. See that our visitors are settled in the guest apartments,” Lady Miunai instructed, and clapped her hands. Immediately, clerks and servants began to come into the courtyard, pulling on coats as they did so.
    Roxanna led them through a wide doorway and into one of the clan’s cavernous warehouses. From somewhere down the corridor came the faint tinking of hammers on metal.
    Giving Leech a quick smile, she said, “You saved me with your magic just like I hoped. I’ve seen the toughest drovers break down into tears when Mother scolds them.”
    A faint scent of spices and teas lingered in the air of the chamber. Many of its shelves, though, were empty because of the freebooters’ siege, but there were still large containers scattered about: from huge ceramic jars to crates of medical supplies and books, baskets of woven twigs, and rolled-up straw mats that had been tied with thick ropes. All of them marked with the twin palm trees that Roxanna said were the family crest.
    Leech pointed at a jar that was as tall as him. “What’s in there?”
    â€œOlive oil from the sun-kissed Italia,” Roxanna said, and began to rattle off the original countries for the other objects. China, Azteca, Serendip—the whole world seemed to have sent something here for sale.
    Scirye knew that the Silk Road was the name given to several routes that connected the East to the West. Goods and ideas passed back and forth along it, but it seemed that it now extended even to the Far North.
    They followed Roxanna to a set of double doors at the foot of a broad staircase where they stamped the snow from their feet. Scirye had to blink when they reached the top of the stairs, for if the caravanserai appeared utilitarian down below, up here it burned hot and bright as flame. The rugs, wall tapestries, and ceiling murals were a riot of reds, yellows, and pinks showing hunters in forests, people feasting in fabulous gardens, and the strange creatures of the air and sea. The ground floor might be the commercial heart of the caravanserai, but the upper floor was its soul.
    Here the air was pungent with the smell of incense and perfume—as if Scirye had stuck her head into the center of a bouquet of exotic flowers. Fat fire imps squatted in large orange glass bowls in wall sconces, burning as fiercely as desert suns.
    When Roxanna took off her fur coat, her clothes were just as vibrant as her surroundings. She was wearing a crimson and gold brocade dress with a high collar over purple slacks that belled out above her boots. And Scirye caught a faint whiff of perfume as Roxanna handed her coat to Upach.
    Roxanna led them down a hallway past rooms that seemed to be furnished and decorated with souvenirs from around the world. In one, a fountain with tile mosaics tinkled musically.
    â€œFather calls this our little Chach,” Roxanna explained. “Our clan came from that city in Sogdiana.”
    â€œAh, it’s as lovely as this,” Kles said as he rode upon Scirye’s shoulder.
    â€œYou’ve seen it?” Roxanna asked excitedly, and then sighed. “I’ve never been there myself.”
    â€œI spent a month in Chach with the princess,” Kles said, looking around approvingly. “The temple to Nanaia—that’s our name for your Nana—was magnificent.”
    â€œThen you must see our shrine,” Roxanna said proudly. “It’s small, but the statue has been with my family for generations.”

10
Scirye
    They followed Roxanna through a maze of hallways to a small chamber. As befitted a busy place, they had heard some noise in the background