"Sit down," Falla orders, his voice carrying the absolute authority of someone accustomed to being obeyed in medical emergencies. "Running toward Stonevein scouts is not a survival strategy."
"But—"
"He's right," Kai says, though he doesn't look happy about it. "Whatever they want with you, charging straight into their arms won't solve anything. It'll just get you killed and probably start a war."
The casual mention of war makes my stomach clench. As if my individual fate wasn't complicated enough, now there are political ramifications to consider. Clan conflicts. Border disputes. People dying because I couldn't disappear effectively enough to avoid detection.
"They'll kill people looking for me," I whisper, the words scraping against my throat. "They already have?—"
"Then we make sure they don't find you," Shae says firmly. "The Frostfang territory is large, and we know every path and hiding place. A few Stonevein scouts aren't going to locate one human woman when the entire clan is working to keep her safe."
Her confidence should be reassuring, but all I can think about is Ressa. My best friend, who ran in the opposite direction when the orcs chased us through the forest. Who might be hiding somewhere, cold and hungry and terrified, while I sitin a warm longhouse eating preserved fruit and being offered protection by people who think I'm blessed by their god.
Or who might already be dead, cut down by Stonevein blades while I was stumbling into a religious festival and getting myself declared divinely chosen.
The thought makes my chest tight with grief and guilt in equal measure. If Ressa is alive, she's probably assuming I'm dead too. But what if she doesn't? What if she is looking for me?
Which means Ressa could be in trouble. She could be hurt and not able to get back to the settlement. She could be trying to find me. And if the Stonevein orcs find her...
"I have to warn her," I say, standing again despite Falla's disapproving look. "My friend, Ressa—she's probably still out there, probably looking for me. If the scouts find her?—"
"They'll use her to get to you," Kai finishes grimly. "I know. It's a common tactic."
The matter-of-fact way he says it makes my vision blur with rage and helplessness. Common. As if the systematic terrorizing of humans is just another military strategy to be acknowledged and planned around.
"So we send word," Shae says, her voice cutting through my spiraling thoughts. "Frostfang scouts can move faster than Stonevein trackers, especially on our own territory. If your friend is smart enough to stay hidden, we can find her before they do."
Hope flares in my chest before caution smothers it. "You'd do that? For a human you don't even know?"
"We'd do it for you," Shae corrects gently. "And because protecting the innocent is part of who we are."
The simple statement hits me harder than any grand gesture could. Not because of politics or divine intervention or clan advantage, but because it's right. Because leaving Ressa to diewould be wrong, and they won't do wrong things even when it would be easier.
"Besides," Falla adds with dry humor, "you'll be completely useless as a divine bride if you're consumed with guilt about your friend's fate. Medical fact."
Despite everything, I almost smile at that. Trust a healer to frame moral action in terms of practical outcomes.
"It's settled then," Kai says, though something in his expression suggests he's not entirely happy with the decision. "I'll speak with our scouts about expanding their patrol routes. If your friend is alive and hiding in this area, we'll find her."
The certainty in his voice should be comforting. Instead, it reminds me of how thoroughly my life has been taken out of my own hands. I'm not making decisions anymore—I'm just reacting to choices other people make on my behalf, hoping they align with my own desperate wishes.
"Thank you," I whisper, because gratitude is all I have to offer. "For all of this. I know it's not what you wanted."
The admission hangs in the air like a confession. We all know this situation is insane, all understand that divine intervention is just coincidence dressed up in religious language. But we're trapped in it together now, bound by circumstance and clan politics and the desperate hope that maybe, somehow, we can find a solution that doesn't destroy anyone's life.
"What I want," Kai says quietly, "is for you to be safe. Everything else we can figure out later."
The simple honesty in his voice makes my throat tight with emotions I can't afford to examine too closely. Because the terrible truth is starting to settle in my mind like sediment in still water: maybe the safest place for me really is here, surrounded by people who think I'm blessed and worth protecting.
That doesn't mean I'm going to marry him. It doesn't mean I'm going to become some kind of clan trophy or divine symbol.But it might mean that running away isn't the smart choice anymore.
It might mean that for the first time in months, I have the luxury of staying in one place long enough to figure out what I actually want instead of just what I need to survive.
The realization terrifies me almost as much as the Stonevein scouts do.
6
KAI
