Chapter 13 #3
“She and I are having fun. At least we were until an hour ago.” Sitsi pulled her long braid forward and twisted the end around her hand. “She thinks you chose her for the Stormguard Legion for me. She won’t even look at me now.”
Kai snorted. “You know better, I hope. I love you, but whose thighs you spread mean nothing to me.”
“Talk to her for me?”
Kai squeezed Sitsi’s knee. “I will.”
Sitsi’s face lit with a smile. “Thank you, sister.”
Sitsi bounded off the lip of the step and entered the throng of their immediate family, where she stole their eldest niece from Doli’s arms. Tse spun his second wife around and into his arms, causing her to burst into surprised laughter.
They kissed, and Kai’s heart exploded with warmth.
After all these years, they continued to love each other. To be so blessed—
The prickles of attention rose to Kai’s skin.
Atsadi and Fala, hands clasped atop his thigh, smiled at her.
“What?” Kai asked, shifting her weight from one numb buttcheek to the other.
“Nothing,” Fala said with a shrug. “We were just admiring your lovely smile.”
The clan matriarchs rose to the dais, saving Kai from a response, and silence unrolled through the hall. Near the roaring fire, the music ended, and the females lowered their instruments.
Shadi caught Kai’s eye as she sat in the center, her chest rising with a deep breath. “Quiet, please,” she said, her voice carried by the room’s natural acoustics.
“Honored clans,” Shadi went on once the hall quieted, “we, your matriarchs, wish to address the unrest stirring within our sacred mountain. We would offer you wisdom and guidance, as we have for generations, before these words of dissent divide us and all that we have built.”
“I agree we need wisdom,” a male shouted into the hall. His words came down like a blade. “But how can you do that when it was you who put us in this predicament?”
Whispers tore, wild, through the cavern.
The male rose from his place within Rising Moon’s clan—the same male Atsadi had been speaking to before they walked in.
Atsadi stiffened.
“Who is he?” Kai asked.
“Usti Rising Moon,” he whispered. “First Son of Inola Rising Moon.”
Rising Moon’s matriarch.
“While you sit at the head of your council,” Usti went on, “a right our foremothers passed on by blood, what actions are you taking to protect us from starving?”
“Usti.” Inola gripped the arms of her chair and leaned toward him, spitting her words. “Is it you stirring this fear and distrust?”
“I speak the truth that you and the others would hide.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Tell the clans how I lie. Better yet, you should have that honor, Misae White Spirit.”
The White Spirit matriarch sat with her back stiff, chin high. “You do not command me, Usti Rising Moon.”
“What happened to our trade with Eslodel?” Usti asked. “While Kai Silver Wolf holds games to distract us, claiming to build legions for wars we never wage, who’s repairing our trade deals?”
Misae’s white teeth flashed. “You should keep your words to what you know, miner.”
Murmurs erupted at the slight. There was no greater disrespect than to refer to someone by the trade assigned by blood and birth, especially those from the working clans.
In response, several dozen males rose within every clan to stand with Usti.
Kai half-expected Atsadi to rise as well, but he only shook his head, mouth dipping into a frown.
Usti raised his arms to envelope these men. “These are not my words alone, Misae.”
The moment settled across Kai’s shoulders like ice.
She knew the look on these males’ faces—defiance.
They were preparing for battle. Unease rippled through Stoneheart Hall, a place forged by legacy and unity, and a deeper tremor went through Kai.
These were warriors, but they were not hers. She did not command them.
Usti Rising Moon did.
“Hunting the frozen wastelands above won’t sustain us,” Usti said. “And our enemies don’t deserve lenience. Our people require leadership brave enough to take action. Shadi Silver Wolf, I call on you and every other matriarch to relinquish your seat immediately.”
Kai gripped her bone handle.
Atsadi put his hand over hers, his eyes wide.
Husband or not, this was not his place.
Kai shook her hand loose and stood. If they wanted a battle, they would have it.
The standing males across the hall took notice, and weapons appeared in their hands. Firelight glinted off the blades of spears and swords.
Kai’s air thinned. She stared into each male’s eyes, but all she saw was blood, and the ghost of screams filled her ears. She was still that little girl with hot blood smearing her face.
Until she wasn’t. Females appeared at her side and back: Otekah, Niabi, Tiponi, Pamuy, and Poloma. Her Stormguard Legion.
As if the past were a band stretched too far, it snapped, and the situation before her clarified. Kai wasn’t that little girl anymore, defenseless against the males who would destroy everything she loved.
Resolve burned through the ice that held her captive, and Kai loosened the grip of her bone handle. Drawing her weapon would be seen as a reason to attack. She would not be the one to make the first move. She would not put all these innocent lives in danger.
On the dais, Shadi stood with Doli and Tse at her sides. They, too, kept their weapons sheathed, but their expressions made it clear—they would draw blood if given a reason.
Around the room, Kai’s warriors slid into and through the levels like wraiths. No standing male was left uncovered.
Kai and her Stormguard took measured steps toward the dais and put themselves before the council of matriarchs, her mother included.
The entire room stilled like a held breath, all eyes on Kai, First Daughter to the Grand Matriarch. Their future leader and commander of the Stormguard Legion.
Kai met Usti’s glare with her own, unyielding, and gave a derisive laugh.
“Did you believe you could bend the will of this council so easily? Let me remind you—the strength of our people does not come from threats. It comes from the blood we spill together in battle, the lives we protect, and the oaths we swear to the clans. And as long as I draw breath, no male—nor female—will undermine that.”
To the room of hidden warriors, Kai sent out her order. “Unarm these males.”
It happened before any of them blinked. Prepared to battle, they might have been, but true warriors they were not.
Shadi stepped up to Kai’s side and stared Usti up and down. “Was there anything else you wished to add, Usti Rising Moon? No? Then I suggest you sit and let us discuss our shared problem in peace.” She gave him her back but whispered in Kai’s ear. “He will not be silenced, I fear.”
“He’s done for now.” She met her mother’s eyes. “Leave him to me.”
Shadi nodded, and then a hint of a smile appeared. “You fight your destiny, but you just proved to this entire chamber why you should not, Brightest Star.”
Heat pricked behind Kai’s eyes, and with her throat thick, she could only nod in response.
Kai and her Stormguard descended the dais, then stood like an arrowhead directly in front of Usti, who kept his peace throughout the rest of the meeting. His inaction was the only thing preventing his forced removal.
Without further disruption, Shadi and the rest of the matriarchs explained how they came to be in this situation.
The now-dead king of Perean caused a major disruption in their supply chain in an effort to buy the hand of one of Shadi’s daughters.
Because Eslodel continued to utilize a portion of Perean’s navy to fend off pirates, they weren’t motivated to renew their previous trade agreement.
The few voices calling for a war against Perean were quickly dashed. They could go to war against an innocent population and its new king, yes, but that wouldn’t save their people in the meantime. It would only prolong it.
“First and foremost,” Shadi said from her seat, “we must restore trade routes. White Spirit will dispatch emissaries in the coming days. While we await their return, we will conserve.
“Steel Arrow will be tasked with intensifying their efforts to secure food. They will coordinate with Rising Moon to expand the storage of supplies, ensuring that even in the harshest conditions, we will not starve.”
This did not settle the discomfort within the hall, but it was the plan everyone needed to hear. And it was shared without the dire tone Usti had spread—and would continue to propagate in the coming days, Kai was sure—a problem for later.
“The world beyond these mountains has always been wary of our strength,” Shadi went on, “but if they learn of our vulnerabilities, they will seek to exploit them. Kai Silver Wolf,” she said to Kai directly, “you and your new Stormguard will prepare to defend this mountain. War is not upon us yet, but we must remain vigilant.”
Kai lowered her head in supplication.
Shadi stood and faced the eight matriarchs to her right and left.
“Our ancestors built this mountain with their blood. They gave us this home, trusting that we would protect it, not only with our strength but with our wisdom. I trust each of you as I trust the strength of our people. Together, we will endure. Together, we will rise.”
Kai slid her attention to Atsadi, one particular word her mother had said beating within her like a second heartbeat.
Trust.
Only an hour ago, outside this very hall, he’d been standing with Usti as friends. And when she’d gone for her sword, Atsadi had tried staying her hand.
He’d almost had her fooled.
It wouldn’t happen again.