6
MIKANDRA STEPPED into the hall, which seemed impossibly warm and smelled of freshly-baked fish bread. Taerzo closed the door behind her.
She stomped the snow off her boots on the mat, slipped them off and put them next to the men’s boots lined up next to the door. She selected the smallest pair of slippers she could find on the rack under the cloak stand. They enfolded her feet with luxurious warmth, and the fur that lined the inside had not yet flattened with use.
She followed Taerzo—wearing similar footwear—across the hall into the living room, where traditional oil lamps burned in sconces and their flapping flames made grotesque shadows on the walls. With its marble flooring, antique hearth and hand-crafted furniture, the house was the epitome of old-fashioned noble Endri household
