Page 21 of Keldori By Daybreak

The hovel had never looked so inviting, with its few windows glowing a warm orange in the gloom of early, early morning. The voices of Darragh’s Watch still sang their song, and its haunting melody floated on the bitter winds that snagged at my cloak.

“How long do they sing for?” Orla asked softly.

“It’s a farewell song.” Ciarán jostled against my shoulder as his aunt, Odharnait, messed with the pack on his back, adding provisions and tightening its straps. “They’ll sing until we’re gone.”

“They’ve already been singing near an hour,” Orla said.

“The day Daithi and Ciarán left Darragh’s Watch,” Odharnait murmured, “we sang for four, because Daithi took so long with his goodbyes.”

“Oh.” Orla pulled her hood up over her freshly trimmed pixie cut. “Do you suppose that’s why Sabrina is taking so long? She’s trying to match that? Because if she is, there’s no use in us waiting out here in the cold.”

I frowned at the hovel. Sabrina was definitely taking her time but didn’t strike me as someone prone to lengthy goodbyes.

“Or,” I suggested, “she’s in there trying to convince Sorcha to make me stay. She’s not exactly a huge fan.”

“She’ll warm up to you! Everyone always does,” Orla promised me.

“No, they don’t,” I said in tandem with Ciarán. The contours of his cowl twisted in a hidden smirk, and Odharnait clicked her tongue at him in disapproval.

The music swelled as the hovel door swung open. Flickering light spilled from the doorway only to immediately be occluded by Sabrina’s stomping silhouette.

I staggered backwards, and she marched through a cloud of my breath where it crystalized on the freezing air, stopping only when we were nose to nose.

“Tell them you changed your mind!” Sabrina poked me hard in my chest armor. Ciarán moved to get between us, but I put my hand up to stop him. “You can’t go with us. Tell them!”

“I’m going,” I said.

“You’ll slow us down, or worse, get us killed!” She spun around, and her strawberry curls whipped across my face. “Sorcha! Make her stay!”

Sorcha hobbled down the icy path toward us. Fana chased after her with a bulging pack clutched against her chest and her too-long cloak billowing behind her. Curious villagers tip-toed out into the snow to watch the commotion, still carrying their song in halting, unsure voices.

“Unfortunately, the Lady Saergrim makes the rules.” Sorcha narrowed her eyes at me. “If you don’t want to listen to her, you shouldn’t have volunteered to be a Grimguard.”

Sabrina’s nostrils flared. “She can hardly walk, let alone fight! What happens if Ferrin sends men after us? She can’t defend herself!”

“I’m surprised. You’ve never shied away from a challenge before.”

“She isn’t a challenge, she’s a death sentence!” Sabrina turned to face the gathered villagers and raised her voice for them all to hear. “To all of us!”

“Sabrina.” Ciarán pulled his cowl down around his neck. “Wren is weak, and I know you don’t like her, but we swore to serve her.”

“You deserve better than a selfish Sovereign, and so do I.” Sabrina whipped back around to size me up. She scanned me from the toes of the boots Aoife had given me all the way up to the blue hood I had pulled over my hair. “You got Daithi killed. Ciarán deserves better than you.”

“Sabrina!” Odharnait hissed, and Ciarán stepped between the women.

“She was there when they killed your son!” Sabrina pushed Ciarán out of her way. “And she let them do it!”

“If you want to be angry at someone for that, be angry at me!” Orla stepped forward with a hand on her chest. “My uncle is the one who killed Daithi while I stood by. Wren didn’t even know what was happening!”

“You’re doing what you can to make it right,” Sabrina scoffed. “Wren just wants us to take her home, even if it means we fail.”

“I’m trying to help!” I insisted.

“Then stay out of our way!”

Sorcha cleared her throat to reclaim Sabrina’s attention. “As a Grimguard, you are sworn to obey—”

“Then I’m not a Grimguard any longer.” Sabrina faced the gathered villagers outside the hovel. “Does everyone hear that? I will not serve a Saergrim who cares more about herself than us! None of us should!”