Harold immediately comes to greet me. I give him a chunk of bread I saved and scratch his neck.
“Asha,” Elena says.
I turn to see her standing in the doorway.
“What you did was nothing short of amazing. You really came through for the tribe.”
I feel my cheeks flush with color. “Thanks.”
“Why are you packing your weaves?”
“I figured it’s time for me to move into the longhouse.”
“Is that your decision?”
I sigh. “Things didn’t go as I’d hoped out there.”
“Well, he came back singing your praise.”
“Yes, but…” I bow my head. “Whatever we had, it’s over.”
Her arms wrap around me, and I lay my head down on her shoulder.
“You’ll be fine.”
“I know…but it’s hard.”
“I’m sure it is, and one day in the future, when you have a big Tempest man by your side, he’s going to regret how he treated you.”
“You know what? I don’t think he will.”
We part, and she grabs a basket. “Let me help you move.”
“Aren’t you?—”
“I’m pregnant, not incapable…but seriously, don’t tell Grixis.”
21
RAMSEY
There is nothing I mislike more than sitting idly all day and night, but that is what Orvell has me do, and Grixis has made it clear that if I refuse, it will be at my peril. Which was an interesting word to use for simple mis-compliance, yet I do not want to add to his worries, especially when I have such dire news to share with him.
Sometimes, I misbelieve what I saw out in the woods, not because I think less of Asha, but because the whole situation was too fantastical, and I wonder if it could be a fever dream.
Never have we considered communicating with an animal of Tempest, least of all a terragulf, and for the smallest of us to be able to stop a deadly attack is something Grixis and others are keen to learn about, though I am tired of talking and wish to return to my hut.
But Orvell insists I stay one more day.
The door swings open, and Nori comes into the cleric’s hut, an enormous basket in her arms.
“I overheard you grumbling about being bored,” she says, placing the basket by the side of the bed.
“And?”
“I figured it was time for you to pick up a new skill.”
“I am a hunter!” I snarl.
