She only hoped it would be enough.
She puffed a sigh and left the gardens, turning her feet in the direction of the guild. She returned, if only for something to do. On days off, she ordinarily would be restless, but circumstances only made her even more impatient. She spotted Kaja and a couple other huntresses resting on blankets near the cliffs. Kaja waved to her, and Aloisia raised a palm in response. After taking her mare back to the stables, she strode to the cliff edge where they lay.
“Come sit.” Kaja patted the blanket beside her.
Neiris poured her a stein of weak ale as she settled on the coarse fabric.
“I was just telling the girls about our new friend from the woods.” Kaja grinned.
Aloisia almost spat out her ale. “Kaja!” She cast a cautious glance at Mavka.
“What? Was I not meant to say?”
She shook her head, though she supposed it didn’t matter any longer. Not now Kaja had already told them.
“I thought they’d find out, eventually.”
“Do not worry, child,” Mavka said. “It is his prerogative to live where he wishes. It is not our responsibility to decide whether he should be there. As long as he poses no risk to the guild or the town, then he is welcome to stay, as far as I’m concerned.”
Aloisia stared at the lead huntress. She hadn’t expected this kind of response. “Fair enough.”
“You’re likely concerned about Dhara’s reaction to this, too.” Mavka raised a brow. “So, I will handle her. I do not see why the shaman cannot stay.”
“What if he is here illegally?” Neiris asked.
“That is his business, not ours. And, anyway, there are plenty of citizens who did not land here legally. My family amongst them.”
Aloisia smiled. Mavka’s family, like many within Teneria, were from the Southern Territories. Generations ago, many people had fled those lands, and many of them had landed on the southern coast of Teneria.
Kaja nodded. “Teneria welcomes all.”
While Aloisia wanted to believe as much, she wasn’t so sure it was true. Those had been different times, with different people, and a different monarch on the throne. And whilst Teneria had welcomed those from the south, they had not been as friendly with those from the north, where she suspected Inari was from.
“Where is Dhara?” Aloisia asked.
“In Ravencross,” Mavka said. “She took Morgan with her to aid in some chores.”
“Ah. Speaking of chores, I’m helping Tristan later with handing out the food, if anyone wants to help.”
“I’ll join you.” Kaja shrugged. “I’ve got nothing else to do.”
“Great. The more, the merrier.”
As the conversation turned, Aloisia glanced towards the forest. Restlessness stirred within her once again, and she fought the urge to get up and pace.
Mavka clasped her arm. “Be still, child,” she murmured under the surrounding conversation. “If only for a moment. It’ll help.”
Aloisia squeezed her hand and tried to pay attention to the conversation, to no avail. If her sisters noticed her absence, they said nothing of it. Her focus kept turning back to Fynn’s home with the guard outside, back to Mother Lusana and her infuriating calm, back to the Forgotten Gods marching south.
On and on her mind whirred, never still, never ending. She wondered, briefly, if it would ever end, or if this were how she would be consumed from now on. Forever moving, forever thinking of the next thing and the next, fearing if – for a moment – she stopped, paused, for too long, the reality of it all would come crashing through the dam she had built around her heart. Cracks were showing already, but she patched them up, keeping truth at bay, if only for a moment longer.
Aloisia stood outside the Temple, once again, this time with Kaja at her side. She kept glancing to the low building she had been led to earlier that day, wary in case the Modäiti appeared again. Hopping from foot to foot, to keep from pacing, Aloisia was almost knocked off her feet when Kaja nudged her.
“There they are.” Kaja pointed, approaching the Temple entrance just as Tristan and two other priests bundled out the doors, arms laden with boxes.
Aloisia trailed behind and grabbed a couple boxes from the priests along with Kaja.
“Thanks for helping,” Tristan said, leading the way to the outskirts of town.
