Marked by the Four Beast Lords After Transmigration

The lower crews reached the buried corridor shortly after sunrise.

Nia heard the work before anyone opened the inner seal.

Muted impact carried unevenly through the stone while packed snow loosened somewhere beyond the entrance in heavy muffled shifts. The sounds blended beneath the hearth crackle and the quieter movements near the bath entrance.

Mari had already finished dressing.

Thick wool layers rested properly secured beneath her outer wraps while she tightened the straps on the travel basket near the wall.

“You’re leaving the second they clear enough room to walk through, aren’t you?” Nia asked.

Mari crouched briefly to retie one loosened strap.

“If I stay through another storm, my sons are going to start climbing the mountain themselves.”

Nia glanced up from her tea.

Mari tightened the basket strap once more.

“My sons already think I stay up here too often during winter.”

Kael checked the inner latch again after another impact rattled faintly through the corridor stone.

Snow dust loosened from the upper frame.

“Still holding,” he said.

Mari pulled one glove tighter over her wrist.

“If the mountain collapses after this storm, I’m refusing to help rebuild it.”

“The mountain survived you already,” Shen said from near the hearth.

Mari pointed toward him without looking up.

“You get away with too much because your voice stays calm.”

Shen checked the kettle briefly near the hearth.

Nia took another sip of tea before her smile became too obvious.

Outside the sealed corridor, distant voices traveled faintly through the stone.

The crews were getting closer.

Mari straightened afterward with one hand briefly pressed against her lower back before reaching for the basket again.

Nia noticed the movement this time.

The stiffness looked familiar somehow. Not weakness. More like the kind that settled into people who spent decades hauling winter supplies through the mountain corridors.

Mari caught her looking.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“That answer sounded dishonest.”

Nia took another sip of tea instead of answering.

The corridor barrier shifted suddenly with a low grinding sound.

Everyone looked toward the entrance at once.

Packed snow loosened heavily beyond the inner seal before a muffled voice shouted faintly through the stone.

“Clear enough now.”

Kael crossed at once toward the barrier.

Cold entered the room the moment he pulled the inner seal open.

Snow collapsed inward across the threshold while sharp wind followed behind it.

Nia pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

The corridor beyond looked almost entirely white. Only darker stone remained visible near the lower edges beneath the packed drifts.

Two workers stood farther down the partially cleared passage bundled heavily in snow cloaks while steam curled visibly from their breathing.

“One more storm like this and the western vents are freezing shut,” one of them muttered.

“We reinforced them before the last snowfall,” Kael answered.

The worker grunted once before nodding toward Mari.

“Your household’s been asking whether you got trapped up here.”

“I did get trapped up here.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Unfortunately.”

The worker snorted once.

Shen moved by habit toward the entrance to help clear the remaining snow packed near the lower threshold.

Cold followed him farther into the residence whenever he crossed near the opening.

Nia felt it at once beneath the blanket wrapped around her legs.

Kael noticed too.

“Back farther from the entrance,” he said without looking toward her.

“I’m fine.”

“Mm.”

That answer clearly meant he did not believe her.

Still, she stepped another pace back while Shen secured the loosened snow near the wall.

Mari finally reached for the travel basket.

The room shifted subtly after that while Mari adjusted the basket strap over one shoulder.

“Send word once you make it home,” Nia said.

Mari looked at her for a second before snorting softly.

“I’m walking down one corridor.”

“The corridor was buried.”

“For one night.”

“You complained the entire time.”

“And I’ll keep complaining downstairs too.”

Nia smiled despite herself.

Mari adjusted the heavier wool gathered near her shoulders again before lifting one hand toward her hair.

The movement shifted the darker curls near her temples just enough for Nia to finally notice the curved shape beneath them.

Nia blinked.

“Wait.”

Mari looked back.

“Are those horns?”

For half a second Mari simply stared.

Then she laughed.

“You’re only noticing now?”

“I still miss things sometimes.”

“You spent days trapped in a mountain residence with me.”

“I thought that was just normal mountain clothing.”

A quiet sound near the hearth felt suspiciously close to amusement.

Mari shook her head.

“Ram,” she said. “Upper mountain bloodline on my father’s side.”

“That explains a lot actually.”

“It explains why I wasn’t suffering through the storm like the rest of you.”

“You spent half the night complaining about your back.”

“After forty, complaining becomes medically necessary.”

That answer came easily enough that Nia laughed before she could stop herself.

Mari adjusted the basket strap over one shoulder afterward.

“You’ll figure the rest out eventually.”

Then she stepped into the corridor.

The workers shifted around her while snow crunched beneath their boots farther down the passage.

A few moments later, she disappeared around the lower bend.

The residence quieted almost at once afterward.

The rooms felt smaller once Mari disappeared down the corridor.

Kael secured the inner barrier once the workers cleared the remaining snow from the entrance.

The heavy latch settled firmly back into place.

The colder air slowly receded again after the draft faded.

Nia lingered near the entrance longer than she meant to.

Kael crossed back toward her after brushing snow from one sleeve.

“You’re cold.”

“I was standing beside an open snow tunnel.”

His hand settled briefly against the back of her neck beneath the loose curls gathered there where colder air had reached her skin.

The touch left her suddenly far too aware of the colder air still lingering against the rest of her skin.

Nia forgot to move immediately afterward.

Kael looked down at her once before lowering his hand again.

“Closer to the fire.”

Nia looked away before he noticed how long she had stopped moving.

Shen fed another split piece of wood beneath the firestones while Nia crossed farther into the warmed room.

The residence settled into a quieter rhythm after Mari left.

Kael disappeared briefly toward the rear chamber to check the vent warmth near the sleeping room while Shen reorganized the remaining cedar bundles near the storage shelves.

Nia lingered near the hearth long enough to warm her hands properly again.

Nia stayed near the hearth while Shen reorganized the cedar bundles near the storage shelves.

He crossed behind her once carrying another armful toward the bath corridor.

Something smooth brushed lightly against the inside of her wrist.

The contact lingered there briefly before disappearing.

Nia looked down at once.

A pale silver shape disappeared back beneath the layered fabric wrapped near Shen’s waist.

Her eyes narrowed.

Shen stopped moving.

For the first time since she had met him, Shen paused.

Nia leaned forward slightly before narrowing her eyes.

“That was not a belt.”

Something smooth shifted beneath the layered fabric near his waist again.

Kael glanced once toward them from the rear doorway before the corner of his mouth shifted faintly.

“No,” Shen said after a moment.

Nia pointed at once.

“What was that?”

Shen looked briefly toward the hearth before answering.

“My tail.”

Nia looked at him for a long second.

“You have a tail.”

“Yes.”

“You’ve been carrying a tail around this whole time.”

The hidden shape moved once more beneath the fabric near his waist before stilling again.

Nia looked between him and Kael.

“You knew?”

Kael looked entirely unsurprised by the revelation.

“He’s a snake.”

“That does not answer why nobody told me.”

“You never asked,” Shen said quietly.

Nia started to argue before realizing halfway through that he was technically right.

Annoyingly, that was true.

Shen looked away first before reaching for another kettle near the hearth.

Nia remained distractingly aware of the place along her wrist where his tail had brushed her.

Outside, the storm continued pressing steadily against the mountain while the residence gradually settled back into its quieter rhythm.

Shen reached for the kettle hanging nearest the hearth after that with noticeably more careful movements than before.

Her eyes betrayed her by flicking once toward the layered fabric near his waist before she could stop herself.

The pale silver shape shifted beneath the fabric before stilling again.

Nia pointed toward him again immediately.

“You let me think that was a belt this whole time.”

Kael’s shoulders shifted once near the rear doorway.

Shen focused very carefully on the kettle instead of either of them.

“You never asked.”

Nia stared at him.

Shen repositioned the kettle slightly higher over the firestones.

“That still doesn’t explain why nobody corrected me.”

His expression barely changed while saying things like that.

Shen lifted the kettle away from the fire while the hearth settled lower behind him.

The movement pulled the fabric near his waist slightly tighter for a second.

This time Nia caught the smooth pale scales disappearing beneath the layered wrap before Shen shifted again.

The realization hit later and much harder than it probably should have.

“You’re a snake.”

Shen glanced toward her then.

“Yes.”

Nia looked at him harder.

“You really expected me to keep believing that was clothing.”

Shen lowered the kettle carefully onto the hook above the firestones.

Kael crossed back into the main room carrying another armful of split wood from the rear storage alcove.

“You thought his tail was clothing,” he said.

Nia pointed toward him.

“Because nobody corrected me.”

Kael dropped the wood beside the hearthstones.

“You kept calling it a belt.”

“And neither of you thought saying something might help?”

Shen poured heated water slowly into the smaller tea kettle before answering.

“You sounded confident.”

Nia stared at him for two full seconds.

Then she laughed despite herself.

The sound slipped out before she could stop it.

Shen’s eyes lifted briefly toward her at the noise before returning to the kettle again.

Something softer settled through her chest before she looked away again.

Probably because Shen still looked faintly self-conscious.

Subtle enough that she probably would not have noticed it a few weeks ago.

The pale silver tail moved once more beneath the fabric near his waist before settling again.

Nia noticed that too now.

That realization carried a different kind of danger entirely.

Outside, wind pressed steadily against the mountain beyond the sealed corridor while the residence slowly settled warm again.

The quieter rhythm after Mari’s departure settled around the remaining three of them.

Kael fed another split piece of wood beneath the hearthstones before looking toward Shen without much visible expression.

“You touched her with it on purpose.”

Nia nearly choked on her tea.

Shen finally looked genuinely caught off guard.

The pale silver tail tightened unmistakably beneath the fabric near his waist.

Shen adjusted the kettle again with steady focus.

“I was curious,” Shen said after a moment.

The explanation might have sounded more convincing if the tip of his tail had not moved again beneath the fabric near his waist.

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