Raithe didn’t feel quite so foolish anymore. He was far from happy, but the hug was nice. He’d never wanted much. Dureyans didn’t have dreams the way others did. Food and warmth were all they cared about, and until that moment Raithe’s plan was to be alone in the wilderness. But now he saw how lonely, how empty that would be. He found himself nodding.
“And as for the Fhrey…” Persephone looked over her shoulder at their camp near the well. “Who knows how long they’ll stay. To be honest, they scare me. They scare everyone…except you.”
She was wrong. The Fhrey scared him plenty. Why they hadn’t killed him, he wasn’t sure. The Galantians appeared impressed by the novelty of a Rhune who refused to give in, a Rhune who would fight. Leaving before the novelty wore off was the smart thing to do, but the idea of going without her made his stomach sink.
Perhaps given some time, I’ll be able to convince her to come.
Persephone sighed and looked at the lodge. “Well, I suppose there’s no point in delaying any longer. Best get at it.”
“Be careful in there,” he told her. “I mean it, Persephone. If you have any problem, yell. Yell real loud and then get out of the way. I’ll do the rest.”
“Thanks, but attacking the chieftain probably isn’t the right approach, and I doubt it would help my case.”
“Works in Dureya.” He smiled.
She started back down the ladder and paused. “It’ll be okay; you’ll see. I’ve known Konniger for years. He was my husband’s Shield, after all. I just need to explain my side of things. Oh, and you can call me Seph. You’ve earned that.”
—
“The Galantians said they’ll help us,” Persephone declared, standing before the chairs in the center of the lodge’s Great Hall. Delwin and Tope Highland had come along. The two men stood beside and slightly behind her. Tope’s boots were muddy after a day spent turning soil on the ridge. He wasn’t known as a fighter, but years working in the high fields had made him strong. Delwin held his shepherd’s staff in one hand and a big floppy hat Sarah had made for him in the other. He wasn’t a warrior, either, but as close to a brother as Persephone had. Both men were eager to get home after a long day’s work but had agreed to come with her.
“Help us how?” Konniger’s tone was more than skeptical but shy of sarcastic, a low smoldering growl of reluctant tolerance.
Konniger and Tressa sat in the First and Second Chairs, wearing stone faces. Maeve and Krier stood to either side as was proper for the chieftain’s Shield and the Keeper of Ways. The formality was grating. She was being received like a stranger. Worse even, Persephone smelled cooked meat and baked bread, but the food had been cleared before she entered. Even a stranger would have been invited to dine with them.
Persephone refused to look at Hegner, who stood in the back. She also avoided Maeve’s and Tressa’s eyes and kept her focus on Konniger. “If other Fhrey come, come to destroy Dahl Rhen, they’ll speak for us. They believe it’s possible to prevent what happened in Dureya and Nadak from occurring here.”
There were others in the hall, including Riggles, who farmed the fertile southern fields, and Devon, the huntsman who had been Sackett’s close friend. All of them had something in common—she didn’t know them well, and some, like Krier and The Stump, she didn’t like. There were others, too, new faces that clustered in the shadows behind the First Chair.
Not one of them greeted this news with a smile.
“Why would they do such a thing?” Konniger asked.
“Because these Fhrey oppose what the other Fhrey are doing. They disobeyed their leaders and refused to burn Nadak and Dureya, and—”
“And yet Nadak was burned,” said one of the strangers who stood behind the chairs, a man with a grizzled face and an accusing stare. She didn’t understand where all the hostility came from until she noticed the hammer broach pinned to his shoulder. He was from Nadak.
“True, but they didn’t do it,” she explained. “They tried to stop it. These nine are renegades. They don’t want to hurt us. They can’t return to Alon Rhist, so they’re looking for a place to shelter. But if the others do come, these Fhrey will speak on our behalf, convince their kind to spare us. Don’t you see that if—”
“If the Galantians are outlaws, why would anyone listen to them?” Konniger asked. “And since they are criminals, won’t their presence put us in greater danger? Harboring fugitives will prove to Alon Rhist that we’re troublemakers. Allowing these renegades to stay will make matters worse.”
Persephone clapped her hands against her sides. “If the Fhrey do intend to burn Dahl Rhen to the ground and kill every last man, woman, and child, how could matters get worse? Don’t we stand a better chance with these Galantians as allies?”
“If is the important word in what you said. What if the Fhrey have already enacted the full extent of their retribution? If they have no plans on attacking us, we’ll give them a reason to change their minds,” Konniger said, a stern look on his face.
“Our best option is to appease them,” Tressa said. “Maybe if we handed over these outlaws. Could we do that? Could we send word to Alon Rhist and tell them they’re here? Wouldn’t that prove we’re not like Dureya?” Tressa’s eyes widened with excitement. “We could hand over the God Killer, too! I’m sure it would impress them. They would see we aren’t a problem. They might even reward us.”
“According to Nyphron, the Galantians’ leader, the Fhrey of Alon Rhist have been ordered to eliminate all Rhunes. This goes beyond retribution for one Fhrey’s death. They are bent on killing all of us.”
“Nyphron?” Konniger stopped her. “So you’re on a first-name basis with this Fhrey?”
“He told us his name, yes.”
“He told you is what you mean,” Tressa said. “Why hasn’t this Nyphron presented himself to Konniger? Why hasn’t he come before the chieftain?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they’re expecting someone from the lodge to come out to speak with them.”
“And I’m wondering why these outlaws are so willing to help us. Why would they go against their own kind?” Tressa asked. “What’s in it for them?”
“I’m not sure. Which is why you should go talk to them.” Persephone was getting frustrated now. “I would think you would want to find out such things.”
“And I think you can’t help butting in. You can’t accept it’s me, and not you, sitting in the Second Chair. You forget who rules Dahl Rhen now.” Tressa’s face had turned red.
“Tressa,” Persephone said in a quiet voice. “People who lead don’t need to remind others who the leader is. All I want is for you to do your duty.”
“All you want from me! How dare you stand there and demand—”
Konniger patted his wife’s hand, apparently trying to calm her. “I think there is a bigger point being overlooked.” He gazed sternly at Persephone. “Up until a few days ago, everything was fine. Now two of the dahl’s most capable hunters are dead and we have been overrun by not only the famed God Killer but a contingent of Fhrey warriors whom you invited in against my orders. The whole thing seems a bit too convenient for my taste.”