Page 170 of Moon Chosen

They walked on in silence for a little while until Mari’s curiosity couldn’t be still. “So, your father is Leader of your Tribeanda priest?”

“A priest, or priestess, is always Leader. There’s also a Council of Elders that rules on Tribal business and upholds laws and such.” Nik paused and then added. “So a Moon Woman is what you call your Clan’s Healer?”

Mari had told herself she was ready for Nik’s questions. He’d overheard enough to make his curiosity dangerous, and before they’d left Sora had pulled her aside and vehemently reminded her thatno onefrom the Tribe could know the extent of a Moon Woman’s abilities. Mari agreed, but she wasn’t looking forward to lying to Nik. She’d promised herself to tell him the truth—just not all of it.

“Mari?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, a Moon Woman is a Healer, but it’s more complicated than that. Like I explained before there is usually only one Healer per Clan, and we always live apart from our people,” she said.

“Why?”

“Safety.” She sent Nik a pointed look implying what the Moon Women had to stay safe from was his Tribe and their Hunters.

“Oh, I see.” He looked away from her and Mari breathed a mental sigh of relief. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Guilt made Mari’s response sound more abrupt than she’d meant it to, so she added, “It’s the way our world is.”

“Sometimes I think our world needs to change.”

Mari mimicked Sora’s sarcastic snort. “Just sometimes?”

“Yep, sometimes. When I was in your burrow watching Sora grumble about us not staying for her feast, and Jenna playing that strange card game with little Danita, and you buzzing from the front room to the pantry and back again and again while you loaded up your medical pack—well, that’s some of the times that I don’t think the world needs to change,” Nik said.

Mari stared at him, not knowing what to say.

“Do all of your Healers have gray eyes?”

His question surprised her and she scrambled for an answer that wasn’t a direct lie.

“Why do you ask?”

“Your eyes are gray, and so are Sora’s. You’re Moon Women. That new girl, Danita?”

“Yes, that’s her name.”

“Her eyes were gray, too. I heard you tell Sora to train her. And the Earth Walker who told me where Jenna was being held last night was the only female who would talk to me—her eyes were gray, too.”

“Did she tell you her name?”

“Yes—Isabel.”

The knowledge that one of the girls Leda almost chose to apprentice was imprisoned settled within Mari like a sick secret.

What would Mama do? What would Mama do?

“Mari, is something wrong?”

“I know her. Isabel was a—a friend of Mama’s.”

“I suspect you know many of the Earth Walkers on Farm Island,” Nik said.

Mari nodded.

“I don’t know what to say about that.”

Mari looked at him, meeting his gaze with a frank fierceness that caught her off guard. “You could say that you’ll help me figure out a way to free them.”

“Your friends?”