“You would forget altogether if I did not feed you myself,” Dogan says, trying to draw her attention to him.
Sensing Dogan’s tension, I stretch, sighing. “I will continue my spinning later. Now, I seek rest.”
After they leave, I continue spinning, because it makes me feel closer to Asha.
It is impossible to stop thinking about her, and the more I do, the more haunted I feel.
There was never happiness for me on Tempest, only duty, and I only know that because Asha is the one thing that has ever brought me joy.
Which is why I must do everything I can to see that she is saved and returned to Penticar, where she belongs.
Grixis finally enters the hut, carrying with him a bowl of soup.
“Here,” he offers it to me.
“How is the village?” I ask.
He sits in the chair Nori was occupying. “Excitable. Some still do not believe that Asha was able to communicate with a terragulf. But Elena made a joke, saying if she could get through to you, she could get through to anyone.”
I chuckle. “She is not wrong.”
“My Elena is ever making me laugh.”
Dread creeps in my gut because I hate what I must tell him. Since there is no telling how he will react to such devastation, I decide it would be best to request he call a council.
“We must talk,” I tell him.
“Speak your mind.”
“Not just us, the council. Both. It is of the utmost importance.”
His forehead furrows. “Do you care to discuss anything with me first?”
I shake my head.
He frowns. “I will call for one in a few days, after you have fully recovered.”
Sensing his frustration, I change the topic. “Any word from Brock or Haelden?”
“No, but I do not expect to see them again for at least another cycle of the moon.”
“Hopefully, they will see no signs of the Veriskans.”
“Thankfully, they have not been close to the village, which means they are unaware of the women we harbor.”
“Good.”
I finish my soup quickly, grumpy there is not more, but knowing not to complain.
“There is talk about animal domestication come mud season,” Grixis says, which sounds more like a riddle than a truth.
“Animal domestication?”
“Apparently, in Penticar, they keep animals in all forms, including birds.”
“Whatever for?”
“Many reasons. They even ride them into battle.”
