Her gaze moved over Caleb first, then Keegan, and finally me.
She didn’t smile.
“We heard the horns,” I told her, hoping that would lead into conversation.
“And you feared we were attacking your boundary?” she asked calmly.
“No, not yet,” I said truthfully. “But I feared you were about to.”
A flicker crossed her expression. It wasn’t amusement but curiosity.
The crowd behind us shifted again. She stepped closer, just enough that I could see the strain at the corners of her eyes. She was tired and stressed, bearing the weight of her people on her shoulders.
“It has been three nights,” she said. “Three nights of waiting while our homes remain unstable. Three nights, while you speak of patience. Our land doesn’t have time to wait. The food supply is dwindling. The swamps are…” she stopped and looked at me.
Her words weren’t shouted.
They didn’t need to be.
“I know you want to go home,” I said. “I would too, but we can’t rush it. We’re working on magic to reverse whatever the Priestess did. I know how it feels to miss your home.”
“Do you?” she asked.
Behind me, I felt Keegan tense. He wouldn’t strike, but his protector instinct was ready.
The leader’s gaze flicked briefly to the Wilds.
“We tested the line,” she said. “It pushed back. I thought you trusted us.”
My stomach dropped.
“We do. That line you feel isn’t to keep you out. It’s to keep the Priestess out.”
“You say this, but it pushed back in our direction.”
My chest tightened. That wasn’t supposed to be how it worked.
“How hard?” I asked.
Her jaw tightened, and she looked at each one of us before returning her gaze to me.
“Hard enough.”
A low murmur rolled through the gathered orcs again, and my birthmark warmed.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as I touched my hip.
“You feel it,” she said.
It wasn’t a question.
The air shifted, and I met her gaze fully.
“Yes,” I said. “It’s not us trying to keep you out, but there might be something trying to come in.”
And somewhere beyond the ridge, farther than the Wilds, farther than the perimeter, a third horn sounded.
The leader turned her head toward the sound, and the crowd stilled.
