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“Go show your affection to someone else.” Edvar pushed her away.

Iryana smiled, looking over the rest of the group. And then she noticed a smaller figure running toward them from the main house. Iryana blinked in surprise as Misha slowed and hesitated at the edge of the crowd. Her spine was straight, but her hands dug into the shorter dress over her trousers.

Iryana approached her little sister, though she was at a loss for words. She’d have assumed Misha was there for Levek and Edvar, but it was Iryana that her eyes followed. Misha wasn’t wearing a cloak or a jacket, as if she hadn’t expected to run out here.

“Have a safe trip, Third,” Misha said quickly. Iryana thought she could see some tension in her eyes, perhaps worry, as Misha chewed on her lower lip.

“Thank you.”

Misha shoved a wrapped bundle into her hands, looking off to the side to avoid meeting her gaze. Iryana frowned down at it.

“Some salted fish. And a few pies,” Misha teased with a shrug, but her voice was tight. “I remember you were always awful at making the sides stay together.”

Iryana had gotten a lot better at making pies since she’d last made them for her sister. It had been many years after all. But Iryana could tell that Misha wanted the exchange to stay light. Iryana was just grateful she’d come at all.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t end up in the kitchens with our aunt,” Iryana agreed, taking Misha’s lead.

Misha relaxed slightly and nodded. “Truly for the best.”

Iryana hid her smile by slipping the bundle into her pack.

“We’ll be back in about five weeks.”

Misha tensed again, opening her mouth as if she wanted to say something else, but then Misha darted around her and headed for their cousins.

Iryana ran her shaky hands down her coat. It was progress. Technically. She just hoped that she wouldn’t return to some disaster, to sentiments darkened even more against the brigade. And she hoped she would return no less whole than she had left.

As the goodbyes finished, the departing group drew together near the gate. Iryana walked up to them.

Edvar knocked his shoulder into Levek, who nodded. The three unforged charges from the settlement huddled close together. They had their packs, their fire-imbued clothing, and their weapons. Everything would be carried on their backs so they could move quicker. They were ready.

“Let’s go,” Iryana told the party.

She nodded to the guard to open the gate.

Chapter Five

Climbing down from the hanging valley they called home, Iryana led the party through the forests of the Yuresh Valley toward its mouth, where they would meet up with their escorts from the 18th. Edvar took up the rear, with their charges between them. There were usually fewer dakii in this part of the valley; the brigade had been doing a better job lately at keeping them out. But the dakii were still learning—acting strangely. Iryana was on guard.

The forest was always loud in autumn. The crisp wind rustled the drying leaves and needles, blowing them to the ground to crunch beneath their feet. It was impossible to avoid stepping on the golden needles that had fallen from the larch trees. All that rustling and crackling made it harder to tell when the birds and critters went silent.

She still felt a hint of conflicting nostalgia when she took the path to the Myura River Fortress. The poorly kept trails were so familiar to her she could race down them during the height of a moonless night.

Her body recognized the path and begged to go faster. Iryana was used to running the entire way to the fort. Her muscles protested the slower hike, but their charges from the settlement were not in shape to go trail running.

On her own, she could reach the fort in several hours, but it took most of the day to walk it—at least when the paths were in good shape, like they were in autumn. Their charges had already asked for frequent breaks and updates on how much farther they had to go. While she was sure they were in training to defend the settlement, their regimen was nothing compared to a guardian’s training. Particularly a guardian living on the border. She tried not to think of them as sheltered and soft, but it was hard not to compare their strength and discipline to Levek’s. Iryana suspected it was going to be a long trip to the temple.

At least her old team would be there. Her friends. And she was looking forward to seeing Pyetar, even though there’d be eyes on them near constantly. Perhaps she could even avoid mentioning the conclave visit to him. Avoid mentioning the fate that likely awaited her.

Despite not having her family’s troubled history with the 18th, the unforged visitors seemed to have just as much prejudice against them. It worried her, but she doubted they would have the confidence to say anything.

“How much longer?” one of their charges, a young man named Novish, asked for the tenth time.

Finally, because it meant they’d stop asking, Iryana was relieved to answer, “We should run into them any moment now.”

A soft chorus of cheers rose up and Iryana looked back. She met Edvar and Levek’s smirks, which seemed to say, the unforged have a rude awakening ahead of them. Facing forward again, there was a smile on her face.

It felt good to be on her cousins’ side.