Kindra, the High Priestess and Cougar made it back long before the others. As they walked into the village, Oak met them. His arms were crossed, and a deep frown cut across his forehead.
“I warned you about going to Fie Obsid,” he said.
Kindra stopped in front of him and glared. As far as she was concerned it was his fault for allowing the Obsidians to take Kaye in the first place. “If you want the Odions dead you can kill us yourself.”
His face flushed, and Kindra thought he might hit her. “Excuse me?”
The High Priestess put a hand on Kindra’s shoulder, whether in comfort or to keep her from attacking the chief she didn’t know.
“Loria Odion has been murdered and Kaye is missing.”
Oak turned his glare on his sister. “So, Kindra speaks out of grief again, is that it?”
The priestess squeezed Kindra’s shoulder. “It is. If you will excuse us, I need to make preparations for Loria’s pyre.” She steered Kindra to her tent and sat her on a cot. The High Priestess busied herself building a fire against the cold that settled while she was away and prepared tea.
“Thank you for coming,” Kindra said. The woman nodded but continued what she was doing, so Kindra spoke again. “Chief Obsid said Kaye is over the mountain, with the river men.”
“I know.”
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That hit Kindra like a punch to the gut. “How did you know?”
The High Priestess handed her a cup of tea. “It was Aleda’s plan.”
Aleda’s plan? Had the priestess seen Kaye’s fate in a vision? Kindra knew better than to ask about the future, so she asked about the past. “Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have gone to Fie Obsid if I knew she wasn’t there.”
The woman sat across from Kindra and sipped her tea, calm. “You would have tried to go through the pass, instead. Do you remember what happened to the warriors who tried to go through during the Starving Winter?”
Kindra nodded. There had been an avalanche and the men were killed. Kaye was safe from the Obsidians until the snows melted, at least.
“Corbin said she can’t fly anymore.”
“I wouldn’t trust everything the Obsidians say.”
“They also said part of the truce with Oak was to exclude any Odions from becoming warriors.” Kindra took a sip of tea and watched the older woman’s face, but it was immovable as she thought about it.
“That makes sense. Your father was the last Odion warrior. When he died no one expected his daughter to take his place. Even I would have given my blessing to that, at the time.”
It didn’t make any sense to Kindra. Everything about Oak’s treaty with Chief Obsid felt wrong. Why make a second treaty at all? The Obsidians had already won Deer Valley—why give them more?
“Why did Oak allow me to become a warrior, then?”
“I doubt he expected you to succeed.”
Kindra was silent for a long time as she thought about what she’d learned in Fie Obsid. The High Priestess stared at the flames while they finished their tea, and Kindra stood. “Thank you, priestess. I have to get ready for the pyre.”
The woman nodded. “Clean up and rest. I must find your aunt and tell her the news before she hears it from someone else.”
Kindra bowed and returned to her tent. No longer her mother’s tent; no longer her father’s. It was Kindra’s sole responsibility now. It felt even emptier than it had two days ago, and Loria’s things stared at her as if asking when their owner was returning. Kindra threw all of the clothes, brushes, utensils, and other things that reminded her of her mother as far under the double cot as she could before collapsing on her own cot to sleep.