“That’s a wish, not a solution.” She rose to clean up and dress. A bubble of tears still lodged under her ribs, making it hard to breathe, but she didn’t succumb to it. The time for weeping was done. She needed a clear head to plan. She studied Azarion where he still reclined in their bed.
His mouth was set in a thin line, his visage dark. “Spring will be the best time to attack Kraelag. The Empire won’t expect us to march our forces while snow is on the ground and the rivers arefrozen.” He captured her hand when she returned to him. “Moving an army across winter landscape is slow and difficult. Gilene, I can’t guarantee we’ll reach Kraelag in time to stop the Rites of Spring. Even if we’re standing before the gates, it may not be enough to save you and the others from the immolation.”
Gilene saw it in his eyes. Desperation. Fear. Fear for her and what she faced. She squeezed his fingers. “I’m not afraid,” she lied.
“I am,” he snapped. His expression shuttered, and he stood to yank on his clothing. “You’re determined to go back.”
She looked away. “What else can I do?”
He came to stand before her. “You can stay here! You’re anagacinnow.”
Gilene chuckled, a humorless sound. “A concubineagacin.”
He was anataman, an unmarried one with alliances to forge. His people would expect him to marry.
“Be my wife,” he argued. “Treasured and beloved.”
That bubble of tears threatened to burst inside her. Gilene closed her eyes. “Stop, please. Your words only make it harder.”
“I don’t want it to be easy, Gilene!” He gripped her arms to give her a light shake. “I want it to be so hard, you’ll change your mind.” He kissed the bridge of her nose. “I understand your devotion to your family, though I think they and the entire village are cowards. What they demand you do for them, what they expect you to do for them... it’s cowardice, and I can’t find sympathy for them. Are they really worth your sacrifice? Your suffering?”
“You’re about to go to war. Will you ask these questions of every Savatar warrior who follows you?”
He scowled. “Your village elders have enslaved their fire witches for how many generations?”
“For as long as any of us remember,” she said in a small voice.
Azarion’s scowl turned even more ominous than before.“Release me from my oath to leave Beroe untouched by the Savatar. It deserves a razing as much as Kraelag.”
“No it doesn’t. The village isn’t full of evil people, just a lot of frightened ones with families. Would you not put Tamura and Saruke before your clansmen’s sisters and mothers?”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “How does anyone answer that question until they’re forced to?”
“They don’t, not if they can help it.” How she wished she didn’t have to answer it now. Or ever.
Gilene caressed his jaw. “Wife of a chieftain,” she said, wistful. “I would rise up in the world.”
Azarion leaned his cheek into her palm. “And I would be made exceptional by the union,Agacin.”
“You already are, Azarion Ataman. The ancestors for whom your mother has so much reverence would be proud of her son.”
“And yet I still can’t change your mind.” She shook her head, and he growled low in his throat. “You’re a stubborn woman.”
She smiled at his accusation. “It’s why I will prevail.”
Her words made him pause, and he stared at her until the heat of a blush crawled up her neck to her cheeks. “Of that,Agacin, I have no doubt.”
Once they were both dressed, he ushered her out of theqaraand across the camp where everyone had gathered around the Ataman Council to hear an abbreviated explanation of Azarion’s plan.
Erakes was as good an orator as Azarion, and in no time he had incited his warriors to such an eager state for battle, they were ready to mount their horses and ride for Kraelag in that moment to take on the Empire single-handedly.
“What happens now?” Gilene asked, leaning against Azarion’s side as they stood at the crowd’s periphery.
“Theatamanswill return to their clans and do as you’ve seen Erakes do: inform the clan what’s to happen. We’ll then meet with the Goban people to offer an alliance. I’d be surprised if they refused. They’re the ones most vulnerable to the Empire right now.” He kissed the top of her head. “I promise I will do all in my power to make sure we reach Kraelag by the equinox.”
Gilene held on to the promise of that hope with both hands. The coordination alone for such a task was monumental with no guarantee of success. Even if the clans of both peoples agreed to ally themselves, their chances of failure were equal to, if not greater than, those of victory.
“Do you truly believe it’s worth so much chaos and death?” She knew his answer, knew he’d asked this question of himself many times before she did.
