Our meeting with Toniva was nice and quick with just one little twist. Our guide slid forward to stand in one of her council spots as did the other guides. Apparently, they were the leaders of the tribes who had given her their allegiance.
Esie didn’t show any surprise with that development, so I kept my face impassive as well. The Tribe Master’s audience chamber was less a chamber and more an area set aside in her command post. It clearly sent the message that the Swirling Waters tribe wasn’t in the habit of hosting outsiders and they would prefer to continue on that way if they could. The command center was nestled just to the side of the heart of Bramble Watch and they had taken pains to make the building look like those surrounding it, if a bit bigger. There were other large buildings too in the outpost to act as decoys or backup command posts, if this one was destroyed. The tribespeople proudly declared that Bramble Watch had never been overtaken by the fish horde, but it seemed they kept themselves grounded enough to still prepare for the possibility.
The room was a simple affair, similar the commander’s tent on the shore. A map dominated the center of the floor. It was woven out of reeds and painted using a pungent paste I didn’t recognize. Major areas of the delta were marked out and stones, differentiated with more colorful pastes, were adjusted as reports came in to display the delta’s forces vs the horde. The stacks of stones on the fish’s side made the Swirling Water’s tribe forces look pitiful in comparison.
Messengers and aides hurried about as they tried to keep the war front’s information up to date and organized, but there would always be more lag than the whisper women in our group were used to since the tribesfolk couldn’t talk on the wind.
Our makeshift meeting area was avoided by the workers and that was only thing that marked it out. It was bare of comforts or decoration. Tribe Master Toniva stood in front of a bramble woven wall, two guides turned tribe leaders stood on her either side, so that we had five people looking at us expectantly.
Esie took the lead again and explained that our plan was to wake up the Water Frond Snake and that the whisper women would also be committing fighters to the fight, if the Swirling Waters tribe would have them. Toniva accepted both and that was that.
I waited for someone to explain what exactly was needed to wake up the delta’s savior, or at least the time frame we were planning on taking to complete the task with Juniper but no one went into anything remotely useful. Instead, Toniva asked to speak with her daughter, Juniper agreed, and they both disappeared into an area hidden by thickly woven reeds.
I was tempted to eavesdrop, but there wasn’t a good way to do it unless I wanted to march right up to the doorway and press my ear to the mats in full view of everyone. So I stayed where I was and listened to our guide ramble on about the fighting and how things went in this or that year and his speculations about how all the fighting would go this time around. He was very sure that it would work out one way or another. I would have paid better attention, but he was a terrible storyteller. He’d jump from one event to the next without ever really finishing the first because a detail in one would remind him of the other and when he got started on the second he’d be reminded of a third and so on. It left me with more questions than answers, and I was glaring daggers at him by the end but he kept on going, oblivious. The rest of the tribe leaders seemed more than willing to let him talk. Ana encouraged him, too, by asking questions, but I couldn’t be too annoyed about that since I got more insight from her questions than anything else the man said.
It didn’t take long before the other tribe leaders were pulled back into the business of keeping the delta from being overrun, Ingrasia and Esie made their way over to the map, and Ziek kept a careful eye on everyone. Kaylan sat against the wall, eyes closed, and there was an even chance she was using her blessing as the Far Listener as there was that she’d decided to take a nap. Hattie had excitedly engaged a tribe member in conversation, and after a long pause Nix and Ambervale went to look at the map as well.
I followed their lead and left Ana to decipher our guide’s ramblings on her own. The map wasn’t the most detailed thing but it did mark the major waterways through the delta, the killing grounds scattered around, and the major regions in the area as the Swirling Waters tribe designated them. I adjusted my mental map to match. Then I recreated the current status of the war front on my mental map as well. It likely wouldn’t be relevant for long, but it could still help me gain a better understanding of our situation and what the Lady Blue’s motivation might be. From what I saw, it was going exactly like everyone had said: she was focusing on her attention on the main waterway that was the shortest route to the river leading back to First Shore Lake and the tribe was putting most of their fighters there to keep the horde from advancing, but they were gradually being ground down to nothing.
I made a mental note to ask more about the areas that were largely being ignored because fighting small skirmishes across dozens a small waterways wasn’t something the tribesfolk currently had the manpower for, especially when they were thought to be frozen over and protected. That could be the case but those places were prime opportunities for the Lady Blue to do something sneaky and devastating while attention was directed elsewhere, like she had before.
One other area of particular interest was called the Den and it had a long curled line in it that looked suspiciously like a snake. If the Water Frond Snake was an actual creature I had only one guess now about where it resided. The area in question was situated between two of the major water ways and wasn’t far from Bramble Watch.
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Juniper and her mother rejoined us not long after that. Juniper looked proud and determined as Toniva settled her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. The whole buzzing activity of the command post paused as everyone focused on the pair. There was something grim in Toniva’s expression, but her voice was the same when she spoke.
“The Pearl Bearer understands and accepts the risks inherent to waking the Water Frond Snake. Let us fight, let us feast, let us pray.”
The tribesfolk responded as one. “Let us fight, let us feast, let us pray.”
“Make preparations for her purification and show our guests to their quarters. In three days time, after the rituals are complete, we will show them the might of our guardian.”
The tribesfolk cheered and my stomach plummeted. Something wasn’t right here. Toniva might have asked for her daughter back to wake the Water Frond Snake, but the way she was gripping Juniper’s shoulder didn’t speak to a proud mother, but rather one that was desperately trying to keep her daughter close. Juniper wasn’t fighting her grip and didn’t seem defeated, which made that desperation look less controlling and more protective…all of which turned my thoughts back to the mysterious risk that came with waking the Water Frond Snake. Juniper had refused to tell me what it was, but now I was more determined than ever to find out for myself.
I also had more options now. I could press Juniper for the answer again and see if she was more willing to talk now that she was home; I could try to speak to Toniva but it’d be a toss up if I could get a minute of her time between being told not to cause trouble and the amount of work she had as the Tribe Master, never mind the fact that she might not be willing to tell an outsider even if I was a whisper woman in her eyes; I could ask a random villager or three but there was no guarantee they’d actually know the risk or, again, tell me if they did; and, lastly, I could ask Morwen since she seemed to know during the meeting but I’d have to find her first.
I weighed all my options and decided to go with the one that would most likely provide me results. I walked back over to where Kaylan was sitting and squatted down in front of her. It was still impossible to tell if she was faking the nap or not.
I whispered, “I accept.”
She blinked her eyes open and yawned. “Scheduling your first lesson all on your own?”
“You said to send a whisper if I accepted. I whispered. There’s information I need to know.”
There was movement behind me as our guides started gathering up everyone who wasn’t part of the tribe to take us to our quarters. Kaylan didn’t look like she was in any hurry to move. “You mean about your friend over there? I could tell you or”—a sudden glint came into her eyes—“I could teach you how to learn for yourself.”
This was why I had gone to Kaylan. I could have gone with any of my other options, but I was only good at getting information out of people when I made them angry and that wouldn’t bode well if we had to spend any length of time here. Also, if I knew how to listen in or get information for myself I wouldn’t have to constantly feel like I was asking for help by asking others to tell me what information they knew. I could just find out for myself.
I lifted my chin. “I want to learn.”
“Wonderful. As you should.” Kaylan rolled to her feet in one smooth motion and I glowered up at her as I hurried to stand back up. The sudden movement had caused me to flinch and I didn’t appreciate it.
She smiled past me at the tribe leader turned guide trying to get us to join the others. “We’ll be going our own way. Not to worry—we won’t need a guide.”
She gestured for me to follow her, winked at someone that I didn’t catch though I assumed it was Esie or Ingrasia, and ambled out of the command center. I kept pace as she led me through the outpost. We stopped in an three way intersection that connected several hubs of the outpost. Kaylan leaned against a wall like it was hers alone and I did my best not to block the foot traffic. Better that than get in a needless fight.
Snatches of conversation reached us but I couldn’t make out anything groundbreaking. Just a few sentences here and perhaps one half of a conversation about something that needed repaired there.
“Let it wash over you, but also try to make out the faintest voice you can hear. Overtime it should help you hear the quietest conversations. Don’t forget about the other sounds, too. When put together they can tell a story without anyone saying a single word.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes and focused on my hearing. Of course, the Far Listener didn’t think twice about issuing instructions to listen to half a dozen different things at once.
It was easiest to keep my focus on the voices. Whenever, I tried to pay attention to other sounds I found myself slipping back into listening in on a conversation instead. Which was frustrating and only made me want to pay attention to them more. It didn’t matter if they were unpredictable, infrequent, and largely background noise. I would—
Kaylan flicked me on the arm and I glared at her. She shrugged.
“Try not to become so focused that you ignore everything immediately around you. That’s a good way to leave an opening for someone to take advantage of you. What do you hear?”
Nothing remotely interesting or helpful. Just to have an answer I said, “A village.”
She smiled. “Good.”
“What?”
She chuckled. “This is a village and you hear its collective sounds. That’s good. A lot of people like to narrow it down further and say ‘talking’ or make it so broad their answer is utterly unhelpful such as saying they hear ‘people’. Doing what? How many? Are they a group or a whole bunch of individuals? Your answer address all of those questions. A village tends to be a midsized group living together. In this case there’s more people than that implies, but otherwise it’s a decent answer.”
I crossed my arms. “This doesn’t help me with whatever is going on with Juniper and the Water Frond Snake.”
“No need to rush things.” Kaylan pushed off the wall. “But we can head to our next location.”
I followed her again without protest until we were striding up a walkway that lead outside Bramble Watch’s walls. She noticed right when I slowed. She stopped and turned to smile conspiratorially at me.
“Why not go two for two? Sneak away to scout on a battle front. I could hide up in the branches if it makes you feel better—really make you feel like you’re out all on your own.”
I couldn’t stop my small sigh of annoyance at her goading, but I still marched out past her and into the delta. The guards looked like they wanted to stop us but they didn’t have the courage to gainsay a whisper woman. No doubt, however, someone would be running for the command center as soon as they were out of our sight.
Kaylan slipped back in front of me and from the direction we were headed I knew she was taking me to the Den.