Page 81 of Wind Rider

“Moon Woman, is all well?” Adira fell back beside Mari. “We were trading with the Saleesh women when suddenly they stopped speaking to us and closed their shops. Mari, Sora, did we do something to offend them?”

“Nothing except tell them the truth,” Mari said. They’d passed through the village and were winding up the trail beside the river.

“It was me, and not any of you,” Dove’s voice drifted over from behind Mari, where she walked carefully beside Lily, keeping her arm linked tightly with the younger girl’s.

“No. That’s not true. It wasn’t you, Dove. Father John asked you for a vision. It is not your fault that he didn’t like what you saw,” Mari said.

“What did she see?” Sora asked.

“The death of the Saleesh, if they do not leave the river for a full cycle of seasons,” Dove said.

Nik glanced over his shoulder at Dove, his eyes wide with surprise. “What kills them?”

Dove shook her head. “I couldn’t see that. I only saw a tide of shadows, like mist and darkness, and Iknewwith certainty that the tide would drown them if they did not leave here.”

“That is horrible!” Adira gasped. “There are so many children in the village. The women must know about the danger.”

“We tried to talk with Father John about the vision, but he wouldn’t listen,” Mari said.

“He threatened us,” Danita said.

“What?” Nik motioned for Wilkes to fall back with them.

“Dove had a vision their priest didn’t like. That’s why everything got shut down so fast. And Father John threatened them,” Nik caught Wilkes up.

The older Warrior’s eyes narrowed. Beside him, Odin growled deep in his chest, and Wilkes’s hand rested on the Shepherd’s broad head.

“Warning the women won’t do anything,” Mari said, careful to keep her voice low, even though Brother Joseph was at the head of the group, many yards away from them, and still moving at a pace so brisk the Pack almost had to jog to keep up. “They don’t have a voice in the leadership of the village.”

“It is true none of them said so much as a word after Father John ordered them to stop trading,” said Adira.

Sora snorted. “It seems the leadership of their village isn’t all theydon’t have a voice in—not if they have to be silent whenever that priest speaks.”

“That’s pretty much what Antreas told me about them. Men make the rules. Women obey. He said the women don’t believe they should have a say. They believe their priest knows best because he speaks to the Mother for them,” said Danita.

“But she’s a goddess. Why would they believe what she says must be interpreted by a man, and only a man?” Isabel said.

“Because that’s how they’ve been raised. Look at them—they’re prosperous, swathed in jewelry. Their children are healthy. I saw not one thin, sickly person in the entire village, and I asked if there was an infirmary that might need our help. There is not,” said Sora.

“Wait,no onein that village is sickorinjured?” Mari said. “I find that hard to believe.”

“The woman I traded with said that they have a maternity lodge and midwives, but that they rarely need any other type of Healer. They insist they already have everything they need.” Sora shrugged. “Good for them, but I would not live silently.”

“Is it such a bad trade?” Adira said. “Compliance for safety and prosperity?”

“Safety and prosperity?” Jenna responded quickly. “It’s suppression and slavery. Shouldn’t the question be, Is it such agoodtrade: safety and prosperity”—her voice was thick with sarcasm—“for the freedom to have a say in their own lives, their own governing? How much different is that village from the floating cages the Tribe of the Trees locked us in?”

“Yeah, and how safe and prosperous are they going to be when the shadow tide Dove saw drowns them?” Isabel said. “They don’t get a voice in deciding what should be done about the vision, but they sure will pay the consequences for the decision that was made for them.”

“Do you want Wilkes and me to slip back into the village and try to warn someone else?” Nik said. “Maybe their response would be different if the vision was told by a man.”

“Father John said that if we mention the vision to any of the Saleesh people upriver he would find out and declare that we are not to be allowed passage,” Mari said grimly. “It might be selfish, but I’m not willing to risk our people on the outside chance someone will stand up against Father John.”

“How about I feel out Brother Joseph?” Nik said. “He’s younger. I’ll strike up a conversation about Dove’s vision, like I believe he already knows about it, and see what his response is.”

“That’s a good idea. But if he reacts like Father John back off right away,” Mari said.

“Oh, I will. I agree with you completely. We can’t risk our Pack for people who will not listen.” Nik jogged off toward the front of the group, with Laru padding silently beside him.