Page 109 of Wind Rider

“What do you mean, young woman?” Father Job asked.

“Come on. We’ll show you on our way out of your village,” Sora said, grinning like she was having a wonderful time.

Scowling, the priest followed them as Mari and Sora walked quickly through the marketplace until they reached their gathered Pack. Then they turned to face Father Job and the curious Saleesh women, who must have been wondering why their trading had been interrupted.

Lily led Dove up to stand beside Mari. Nik moved to her other side. Sora stood beside him, with O’Bryan next to her. Wilkes, Claudia, Sheena, Jaxom, Mason, Rose, and the rest of the Pack spread out in a crescent-shaped group, canines beside them and their backs to the boats, facing the village.

“This is Dove,” Mari said, lifting her voice so that it carried across the market. “She has no eyes, but the Goddess gives her visions. She has seenthe destruction of the Saleesh people.” Mari ignored the priest, who was already blustering for her to be silent and calling for his “Brothers” to come to him.

Mari focused on the Saleesh women, who were staring at her with eyes wide with shock. “But you are not doomed. Dove’s vision showed that if you leave your village for one complete passing of the seasons you may return and continue to live in safety. We tried to warn you back at the first Saleesh village, but Father John refused to listen—or to share what Dove saw with the women of the village. If any of you would like to join us, we would welcome you, and if you would like to ask about—”

“We do not listen to the hysterical words of women or children!” Father Job’s face was florid and spittle flecked his lips as he shouted over Mari. Then his gaze found Wilkes and Adira—the two oldest members of the Pack. He focused on Wilkes. “You there, are you going to allow children and women to lead you?”

The corners of Wilkes’s lips turned up. He crossed his arms and studied Father Job as if he’d never seen a priest before. Then his answer echoed in the listening silence.

“I respect Mari and Sora. They are far better leaders than those we left behind at the Tribe of the Trees—who were all men. Who better to be led by than young people? They are our future. If you can’t see that, then perhaps it’s time you became extinct.”

As the priest sputtered Mari met Nik’s gaze and nodded. As they’d already decided, Nik stepped forward and addressed the priest, speaking clearly so that the listening women were sure to hear.

“If you will not listen to Mari, then maybe you’ll listen to the words of a man—a fellow priest. I am Nikolas, Son of Sol, Sun Priest for the Pack. Dove’s vision is true, and the reason I believe her isn’t hysteria. It’s logic. Dove knows she has a safe home with us. We didn’t invite her to join us because she is a Seer. We had no idea about her abilities when we accepted her. We invited a refugee to join us. Dove doesn’tneedto lie to be respected and treated like an equal among us.”

“That only means she’s secure to say or do anything without repercussions,” Father Job scoffed.

“I am not secure to say or do anything.” Dove stepped up beside Nik, her hand reaching out and finding his arm, which he offered to her. She continued in a voice that filled the marketplace. “The one condition the Pack had for me at my joining was that I give my oath that I will never lie. If I break that oath I lose my place among these good people I have come to care so very much about. I can assure you that I would not say anything that put my home with the Pack in jeopardy.”

“A woman’s words are as changeable as the wind.” The priest waved Dove away.

“Then consider this,” Nik said. “What does Dove—what do any of us—have to gain by telling you to leave your villages? It has caused us all sorts of problems with your people. Right now we know that you will probably not help any of us pass this way again should we desire to return to our forest. It would have been easier for Dove not to speak—and it would definitely have been better for our Pack if we’d silenced her.” Nik stared down at Dove’s open, honest face with sudden realization. “There isno reasonnot to trust Dove except for ignorance, arrogance, or prejudice. I trust her.” Nik looked up, meeting the gaze of the women who had not fled the marketplace. “Mari and Sora, our spectacular Moon Women leaders, offered you sanctuary with us. That offer stands. We will accept any of you who wish to leave and live.”

“Our women are going nowhere! Brothers! To me!” Father Job bellowed.

Young men wearing long, belted robes and carrying barbed lances rushed through the marketplace to line up beside the priest, effectively blocking any woman who wanted to leave. With one gesture from Father Job, they raised their spears at the Pack.

As one, the Pack drew their weapons. Some of them held loaded crossbows. Some hefted slingshots and began twirling them, so that the air was suddenly filled with the humming of angry bees.

And then the canines and Bast stepped forward—each one of them growling deep and baring their teeth menacingly.

The line of Brothers faltered—their faces paling at the might of the Pack.

“Women! Call out if you wish to join us!” Mari shouted.

“We will grant you sanctuary!” Sora cried.

Mari tried to make eye contact with the Saleesh women, as well as their Teteplate servants, though the majority of them had fled the marketplace with the children as soon as Mari began speaking. It broke her heart, but what she saw in the women’s eyes ranged from irritation and disbelief to a kind of nothingness—like they were unable to think for themselves.

Then one Saleesh woman stood and with a surety echoed by the woman closest to her, and then the rest of the women in the marketplace, she turned her back on Mari and the Pack—utterly rejecting them.

Disgusted, Mari shook her head and faced Father Job. “It seems your women have too long allowed others to think for them. But should that change”—Mari lifted her voice again and kept peering through the line of Brothers at the women, who had all begun to leave the marketplace, their backs turned to the Pack—“should you wish more out of life than being treated like cosseted children, follow us. We will grant you sanctuary and you will know a life of—”

“Leave this place! I never want to see any of your faces again!” Father Job roared.

“Oh, you will not.” Dove’s sweet voice cut through the marketplace. She was perfectly serene as she spoke the priest’s death sentence. “Father Job, very soon you will see no living faces ever again—and all who follow you will suffer the same fate.”

“She threatens me!” the priest sputtered.

“No, I do not threaten. I prophesy. I would pity you were you not leading so many into darkness.”

“Blind bitch!” Father Job curled his lips and spat at Dove.