Progress was slow across the Dragon’s territory. After the dragon left them, they had spent what remained of the day resting and healing. Kachaark’s arm had been dislocated. Singmij had to be almost held down because she kept trying to stand up, then would get dizzy and fall over. Chesfi finally laid across her legs to keep her from moving. The wound in Tseetsaa’s side needed several healing sigils before it stopped bleeding and her sister was sleeping so deeply, Nuliyaa feared she’d stopped breathing several times.
When everyone was healed enough to move on, they had to stop three times a day for Sinchach to change out the healing sigils he’d applied to everyone’s wounds. With Tseetsaa wounded herself, changing the sigils took over twice the time it had taken before. And most of their party was limping even with the healing sigils.
And Nuliyaa hadn’t missed how Tajak seemed to hover around Tseetsaa as much as he did Sinchach.
Every time Nuliyaa looked at her younger sister, something inside of her shriveled. If she hadn’t insisted on being a part of this company, if she’d simply signed the papers and left the running of it to Cheeyt, Tseetsaa and Miyt would be unharmed in their apartment in Wumaltsmaas.
As she helped Miyt prepare their evening meal as Sinchach moved from person to person, Nuliyaa met Cheeyt’s eyes. “Maybe you were right.”
Cheeyt blinked. “What was I right about?”
“Maybe the three of us shouldn’t have come.”
“Nuliyaa,” Miyt murmured, reaching for her middle daughter’s arm. Nuliyaa slipped out of reach, not bearing to have her mother try to smooth this over as she always did.
Cheeyt crossed her arms. “Of course I was. None of you are prepared for this kind of work. You should have stayed at home and let me take care of the company.”
“That don’t seem fair,” Nuttulch said suddenly.
Why was he speaking up on her behalf? She’d gotten in the middle of his and Saknuu’s relationship with Cheeyt, too. Her sisters were right: she was always inserting herself where she didn’t need to be.
Cheeyt’s head whipped around and she glared at him. “Stay out of this. They’re not your family.”
“Might as well be,” Saknuu said quietly.
Cheeyt’s pinched lips showed she had heard him, but she didn’t reply.
“I agree with Nuttulch,” Singmij said. Cheeyt’s head jerked up like Singmij had struck her. Singmij held Nuliyaa’s gaze as she continued to speak to Cheeyt, “Your family has proven themselves capable again and again. You said yourself, Nuliyaa’s job is to manage the people. Tseetsaa is becoming an adept mage’s assistant. Your mother provides temperance. You all work well together, especially considering how unusual our travels have been.” Now she turned her words to Nuliyaa, “I have never seen the journey between Nengmek and Keeyl this problematic. This work isn’t too dangerous for you.”
Cheeyt spun around and stalked off. Singmij sighed, pushed to her feet, and followed.
“If anyone is to blame,” Chesfi said, “it is me for pushing to go home.” Then the Malk shrugged and dropped her chin to rest on her front paws. “Only I am not to blame, because I did not tell the poachers to come after us.”
Nuliyaa almost chuckled. The words were so very Chesfi.
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“I’m glad we’re here,” Tseetsaa said, shoving her hand out from under her littiichangs to grab a bowl of the stew Miyt was dishing up. “I didn’t want to live in Wumaltsmas anymore.”
Miyt’s hand froze on the ladle and she suddenly looked disturbed. “How can you say that? You seemed so happy at home.”
Tseetsaa’s eyes blew wide. “Oh, nothing, I was just bored.” Then she shoved a bite of stew and rice into her mouth.
Nuliyaa traded surprised glances with Nuttulch and Saknuu, then she caught Tajak’s expression. He was staring intently at Tseetsaa and Tseetsaa was very pointedly not looking at him or Sinchach.
One day Tseetsaa was going to tell her what had happened between her and the two Nengmekians.
Miyt watched her for a long moment before saying, “I would have been happier with less violence on our travels, but I have enjoyed being able to see something outside of the city borders.” She reached for Nuliyaa’s arm again and this time Nuliyaa let her. Miyt gave her arm a gentle squeeze before handing her a bowl of stew. “You did not force any of us into this journey. I may wake up with a few more aches in the morning than I did at home, but if I had thought it was getting to be too much, I would have returned home long before now.”
“Singmij had the right of it,” Kachaark said. “This isn’t what life with the companies is like, especially small outfits like this. Don’t let Cheeyt’s fears fire up your own.” Nuttulch and Saknuu lifted their mugs of tea in agreement.
***
Nuliyaa was finally starting to see sense. She was doing it too late, after they had already uprooted their lives. And of course everyone was going to try to defend her. They never listened to Cheeyt.
“Oh, no,” Singmij said, hobbling after her. “You’re not getting out of this conversation. I’ve been wanting to have it with you since Grove.”
Cheeyt spun on her and demanded, “How can you say all that when this little scheme of Nuliyaa’s nearly killed you? I shouldn’t have let her talk me into accepting this job.”
Now Singmij crossed her arms. “Let’s not forgot I was one of the people who offered this job to you, or that I would have been looking into the poachers with or without all of you. It’s my job.”
“And you would have had trained people around you to help!”
“Then why haven’t you trained your family?”
Cheeyt froze. “They’re all I have left,” she whispered.
Singmij looked over her expression and nodded. When she spoke, her voice was softer. “You are so scared to lose them, you have hobbled them. My actions have put them in far more danger than your sister’s have, but you’re not angry at me. You’re angry because your family chose to step out of the safe little box you built around them.”
“That isn’t what is going on here at all!” Cheeyt snapped. “This is my family—stay out of it!”
“Then I will offer to train them,” Singmij said. “Your family is full of capable women and they deserve more than to make decisions out of fear. I hope my children grow up to be the type of people your sisters and mother are.”
“If you go against me in this,” Cheeyt said, “whatever is between us is over.”
Singmij stared at her, then gave her a tight nod. “If that is what you want.” Then she pivoted on her heel and hobbled back to their camp.