Page 121 of Sun Warrior

“Mari, Sora, may we speak with you for a moment?”

Mari mentally shook herself, refocusing on the now and then to see Adira standing nearby with several other Clanswomen beside her. Mari blinked and realized there weren’t just several Clanswomen with Adira—allof the Clanswomen except for Danita were with her.

“Yes, Adira? What is it?” Sora said.

“Of course you may speak with us,” Mari said.

“Should we leave you in privacy?” Nik started to rise, with O’Bryan and the other Companions following him.

Adira lifted her hand, staying them. “No, what we have to say you should hear, too.” Then she addressed her Moon Women, saying, “The Clanswomen have made their decision about joining your new Pack and journeying with you to Wind Rider territory.”

As Adira paused, Mari held her breath.

“We would like to join you,” Adira said.

“How many of you?” Mari asked.

“All of us,” Adira said firmly. “With the very strange help of that Companion named Davis, and the Goddess, we have remembered ourselves. We want to make a new life where we can live in peace without fear of being captured into slavery again, whether just some, or all of us, are captured. We don’t want to live like that again.”

“We also want more, and we believe the Goddess wants more for us,” a younger woman spoke up behind her, and the group nodded in agreement.

“So, we swear our oath to you, our Moon Women.” Adira knelt as she spoke, bowing her head and extending her arms, palms facing outward. Each Clanswoman knelt behind her, mirroring her actions. “We are no longer Clan Weaver, but we belong to something bigger now. And now we will call ourselves Pack.”

“I swear to the Pack!” came the combined shouts of the women.

“And we accept you!” Sora cried, clapping her hands.

“With great happiness!” Mari added, clapping with her friend.

Then all of the Companions stood. “To our Pack!” Nik cried.

“To our Pack!” the Companions shouted, and then everyone broke into cheers and barks.

Mari felt enfolded by the love and security of the Pack as Nik took her into his arms and, laughing, swung her around with a victory shout.

Maybe, just maybe, we can create a new world,Mari thought.Thankyou, Goddess, for touching Davis, and for reminding the Clanswomen that love is stronger than fear or hate.When the music began, Nik grabbed her hand and twirled her across the clearing while Mari laughed and, for the first time since her mama had been taken from her, felt as if she belonged to a family.

CHAPTER 27

Dove knew the God had returned even before He bellowed for food and drink. It was like the sensation of someone’s breath on the back of her neck just before they spoke. She didn’t need to see or hear Him to know He was there.

Her Attendants scrambled to obey his commands as his heavy footsteps sounded closer and closer to where Dove sat, quietly sewing tufts of boar hair around the hemline of one of her skirts.

“Dove! Your God returns victorious!”

She put her sewing down just before He lifted her roughly to her feet and pulled her into His arms, kissing her passionately. She forced herself to go soft and compliant under His touch, though she noticed that now even the taste of Him was different from that of her usurped beloved.

When she was free to speak, she bowed to Him, saying, “Congratulations, my Lord. Would You like to sit with me on the balcony while You eat, and tell me of Your victory?”

“Actually, I am hungry for more than food and drink.” He hooked one massive arm around her, lifting her off her feet, while He groped her body.

Dove could hear the shocked gasps of her Attendants and feel their stares on her. She wanted to break away from Him and run to the private area she and Dead Eye had made their bedroom chamber—andthen curl up and disappear. But Dove could not. Even if she escaped His unwanted embrace, He would just chase her as if she were an errant child—or, more accurately, a slave. And Dove had no way of gauging what He might do to her if He lost patience. So she submitted, though it humiliated her to know the young women who served her were witnessing the God’s rough treatment that was so, so unlike how Dead Eye, her Champion, her beloved, had been with her.

“You are soft and young. That delights me,” Death murmured into her ear. “You will make a lovely vessel for my Consort, whether the Great Goddess is ready to awaken or not.”

Dove felt a flush of hope. “Does the Goddess not wish to awaken, my Lord?”

“My Consort can sometimes be overly cautious, but I am very persuasive. Do not worry yourself, little bird. She shall awaken within you. I insist she shall.”