The crowd in the center of the village grew well before dusk as food was brought out and set up. Men followed the food to snitch a bite before the late meal, while their wives swatted them away and tempted them instead with wine. At this rate there would be none left for Trina's Day, but no one would mind. The Feast of Lovers would be a success with or without wine—new romances were already forming between the survivors.
As dark fell, the crowd became restless and rowdy, impatient for the naming of their Monster Tamer and the feast to follow. Gar was helped to the front of the fire circle to witness the naming, and Kaye took her place at the High Priestess' table before she nodded to the drummers to begin calling the crowd to settle. When the noise died down, the drum gave one final, loud beat, and Monk stepped out from his tent. He walked to Kindra's and called her out before leading her to the front of the fire circle.
Kindra turned and knelt. The drops of warm oil hit her back. She waited, muscles tense, for Monk to say her name, but there was only silence. She glanced at her sister, face highlighted by the fire, but Kaye watched Monk with a secretive little smile as if they were co-conspirators.
Kindra's gaze fell to the dirt as the familiar shame welled up. Pike's taunts rang in her ears, calling her Nameless, a failure. She braced to stand and leave the fire circle when Monk's voice finally called out, loud and confident to the perplexed crowd.
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"Clear Water!"
At first, nobody cheered. Her warrior name was River—they had already used it. Now the new chief was declaring them wrong. They looked to each other in confusion before Monk turned to the crowd, his eyes clearing from their vision.
"The Bride of Eoin, Monster Tamer of the Seven Tribes of Aleda, saw the path clear before her and took it, although the rest of us were mired in muddy water. She is the clean rain that washes away the old, to bring life to the new. The constant river, that wears away the rock which tries to block its trail. The raging floodwater, against which no man can stand.”
He grasped her arm and helped heave her to her feet, the smile on his face warm instead of taunting. The look in his eyes full of pride. “Clear Water Odion. The first woman warrior of Fie Eoin.”
Kindra swallowed hard and blinked tears from her eyes as the name settled on her…within her. Gar was the first to cheer, and the other warriors chimed in, chanting "Clear Water, Clear Water" until she turned to face them. She was speechless—Clear Water was a more powerful name than River, but she was already attached to the other. Still, their chants and the warmth of her mark where the oil clung was enough to convince her that Monk was right, and finally she stepped forward with a grin to accept their congratulations.