“Not to mention Tova is practically unassailable by riverway if we have no answer for Water Strider’s creatures.”
“The southern sorcerers are working on it.”
Xiala tried not to react, but Iktan’s words startled her. It was the first xe had spoken of being in league with Cuecolan sorcerers, and it chilled her like no other war plans had. She had to get the information back to Serapio, but how?
“Land is still our best option if we move before summer,” Nuuma continued.
“You are forgetting. You have yet to convince Hokaia that war against Tova is necessary. It was a cleaner argument when Water Strider and Winged Serpent were with us. The enemy was clearly the Crows, murderers and breakers of the Treaty. Practitioners of dangerous magics. But if the city has united around Carrion Crow…” Iktan spread xir hands.
Nuuma’s jaw tightened. “They slaughtered my niece and a dozen others of my clan. They killed my Shield captain. I will convince Hokaia, no matter the cost.”
There was a commotion at the door. Raised voices, a woman in protest, and the rumble of a Shield soldier denying her entrance.
“Stars and skies!” Nuuma cursed. “Let her in. Let her in!”
The voices quieted, and a woman pushed through the doors, looking exasperated. “Why are they always so fucking literal?” she complained, before flopping onto the bench next to Ziha. She leaned over and embraced the girl. Ziha hugged her back.
“Because I command them to be literal,” Nuuma said. “Where have you been?”
“Where you commanded me to be, Mother. Securing passage down the river for Ziha’s army.” She turned to Ziha now. “Seems the rumors of your eyeball taking shook a few stubborn heads loose. We should have no trouble with the barges tomorrow.” She sniffed the air. “Was there soup?” She looked around the table, face expectant. “I’m starved.”
“They’ve run out,” Nuuma said flatly. “What’s this about eyeballs?”
“A disciplinary problem.” Ziha straightened. She glanced quickly at Xiala and then at the new woman, whose presence seem to fortify her against her mother. “I handled it.”
“Save me from the tyranny of daughters.” Nuuma rolled her own eyes heavenward. “I don’t want to know.”
“I’m Terzha,” the new woman offered to Xiala.
She had a smattering of freckles against her brown skin and dark brown eyes that danced in the light. She was tall, as tall as the matron and twice as broad, solid muscle underneath her white uniform. Her smile was wide and genuine.
“Xiala.”
Iktan leaned forward. “Terzha is Nuuma’s firstborn daughter, the next in line for matron.”
And now it made sense. The confident firstborn, the striving secondborn who could never quite please. They were a standard kind of family, after all.
“And the weather?” Nuuma asked.
“We scouted west before we lost all daylight, and I asked the boatmen. They’re always good at reading for storms.”
“And?”
“Clear skies tomorrow and the next day, but a storm follows next week. Rain likely on the grasslands, snow in the mountains, but we’ll be in Hokaia by then.”
“What’s this?” Iktan asked.
“I told you we must accelerate our plans. The river route will take too long. We fly to Hokaia tomorrow at first light.”
“We?” Ziha sounded wary.
“Myself, Terzha and Iktan, the Shield. You will stay and complete your mission of bringing your people down by river. Layat is a week behind us. He is escorting select Golden Eagle families from the Great House who did not wish to stay behind in an unstable Tova. Not all will make the passage to Hokaia. Those you will accommodate here. The rest will come with you.”
Ziha’s face was a mixture of disappointment and relief, as if the distance from her mother was to her liking but she understood the inherent demotion in being left behind.
“Xiala will come with us, too,” Iktan said.
Nuuma’s brow furrowed. “We have a dozen eagles and already thirteen riders. You will double with Terzha, but I would not ask one of my Shield to share their mount.”
“She comes with us, or I do not.”
The matron’s mouth tightened, but she did not gainsay Iktan. “Who is she, again?”
“A bargaining chip,” xe said, voice smooth and detached as she’d ever heard it. It was that killer voice, the one that shivered like claws dragged along her spine. “She is precious to the Odo Sedoh, which means she should be precious to you, Nuuma. If the opportunity comes to strike against him, she will be our weapon.”