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Vaneshta squinted uneasily at the baby, but then Lidishta started making silly little cooing noises at her and Vaneshta melted instantly.

“We should let them get some sleep,” Hadima said a few minutes later. Iryana helped herd everyone out of the room.

“Thank you,” Vabihn said quietly to Iryana and her sister as they left the room.

Iryana smiled.

Later, Pyetar caught her eye across the hall, one of his scouts with him.

“Do you have an update?” she asked when she reached him.

He nodded; the scout looked anxious at his side. “We should pull the leaders together.”

She tried not to worry, not yet. Still, she rushed to tap all the leaders of the various groups and summoned them for a meeting.

When they sat in the First’s room again, Iryana was tense. The room had become their default meeting space given how difficult it was for Iryana’s grandmother to move around.

“There was movement along one of the ridges after this latest series of quakes. My scouts think there’s a high risk of an avalanche,” Pyetar explained, looking grave.

She knew it was coming, but it still struck her right in the chest, like a knife between the ribs.

“We still haven’t found a better location,” Simota, the earth settlement leader, admitted. Worry was clear on her face. “Have your scouts?”

Pyetar shook his head. “If we have to leave, I think the ice caves are the only choice. Limhiz’s magic will keep us safe there.”

“We wouldn’t all survive the journey,” Rakoshya, the water settlement leader, pointed out. Her watery eyes were more distant than usual. “The path we’d have to take is extremely dangerous even without the dakii now in the mountains, and it won’t allow us to bring carts or sleds.”

Iryana immediately thought of Soyara and the baby, who was barely a day old.

“But,” Rakoshya added, “my seers have been sensing danger here, slowly getting stronger. We may not all survive if we stay, either.”

“We could hope the quakes are over, but there’s been no sign of them weakening or slowing,” Pyetar explained.

Vesima looked at Iryana. The others did too, their gazes pinning her down.

Her heart pounded and her stomach soured.

Why did they always want her opinion? The clans were known for taking charge in these situations, but she was only Third, even if her grandmother was pushing more and more of the leadership onto her shoulders. This was more than that, though.

She didn’t want to choose between two bad options that could both lead to death. How could she trust herself to choose right? But they just kept staring at her, waiting for her to speak.

Play the part, she reminded herself. Ignore your fear. Ignore your feelings. It was the only way she could stomach it.

“The war could technically end at any point,” she said, hesitantly. All of Istri could be destroyed at any moment, too, but she didn’t mention that. “We could keep a close eye on the ridges, wait it out. Give people longer to heal. That way we can avoid people dying on that journey unnecessarily.”

The others nodded their agreement. No one wanted more death.

Iryana waited as the others left first, busying herself with tidying the First’s room. The quiet was suffocating with nothing to block out her mind’s chorus of doubts. You made the wrong choice. You’re just a child. You can’t lead the clan.

Her hands shook as she folded a woolen blanket, her back to the First. She was so worked up even her magic was agitated, crashing back and forth against her sides. Her tattoos itched and burned.

Pyetar was lingering on the balcony when Iryana slipped out of the room. She approached him, stopping a respectful distance away. They were in full view of the crowded bottom floor.

“You doing alright?” he asked softly.

“As well as I can. You?”

He offered a tired smile. “As well as I can.”