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“The soldiers could help hold our posts,” she pointed out, jaw stiff.

“I need time to evacuate as many from the Sky Valley as possible. Not lure more of these monsters to our border.”

“Thelbiz wants the soldiers evacuated too. You would defy a god?” She was perhaps overexaggerating how much Thelbiz cared, but she truly couldn’t believe the duchess. “You’re air-forged. Lake Vrasho exists only because of air magic. He is your god.”

“If Thelbiz really needed me to put all my people at risk, he would have come to me himself.”

“That’s not—”

“He clearly didn’t care enough to do so, and you said it was a warning. We will take that warning and protect our people as best we can. The danger to the gangs is of course unfortunate, but that doesn’t signify compared to the survival of my people.”

“Doesn’t signify?” Iryana snapped. Vesima put a hand on her knee, likely to suggest she calm down, but it was too late for that. “Taking in the soldiers will save countless lives. You may not consider them your people, but they are Istrins. We’ve already abandoned them once.”

“Sometimes sacrifices have to be made,” the duchess said, unmoved.

Iryana just stared, wrestling with her rage and disbelief. She could almost see where the woman was coming from, but for Iryana, the brigades were as worthy of protecting as all the others.

Perhaps it was her guardian blood, generation after generation of oaths, that filled her with a strong need to stand up for those around the Dovaki Post. Her first duty was to those people.

Her voice was hard as she declared, “The Kleesolds will accept all refugees. We will offer shelter and protection for any who need it and will gladly accept help from those who offer. Together we will hold the border as long as we can.”

Then, realizing she had spoken for the clan without having cleared it with her grandmother, Iryana turned to her with a plea in her eyes. The First hesitated for one small moment that almost broke Iryana’s heart, but then she nodded. The other clans were staring at her in shock, but Iryana couldn’t worry about that.

Turning back to the duchess, she watched the woman grind her jaw.

“You’re not seeing the bigger picture here,” the duchess argued, face growing red.

“No,” Iryana agreed. “But that isn’t my duty. My duty is to the flesh and blood of my people.”

“The soldiers aren’t your people. They’ve set themselves as our foes and taken advantage of you.”

Iryana shook her head. “We did that to them, and I won’t allow us to abandon them again.”

“You think you have that authority?” the duchess sounded aghast.

Iryana raised her brows, incensed. “You can’t order us to forsake our people. We’re guardians. It’s our right, and our greatest duty, to protect them.”

“The laws of old Istri have fallen just like its crown.”

Iryana didn’t have a chance to respond before Vesima cut in, voice sharp as steel. “The clans have defended your border for over a decade, risking our lives for the people of Lake Vrasho and the Sky Valley. Do you think your border would have held without us? The fighters you send to the border to help rarely make it longer than a year before running back home to safety. We have sacrificed so much to hold this border. This duty you ask us to forsake is the same one that has kept us defending you all these years.”

Iryana just stared at her grandmother in awe. The duchess clenched her jaw, but she had to know the clans didn’t have to answer to her.

“The Omisolds will also accept all refugees,” Sorahn cut in. “The River Brigades have helped us immensely the last few moons. We will not abandon them.”

Iryana nodded her gratitude when Sorahn met her eyes. He was a good man. Perhaps she understood what Hadima saw in him.

“I agree with the duchess,” said Tagahn. “There is no benefit to accepting more risk. We prioritize our post and the settlement as a whole.”

After months of hating that man, Iryana finally lost it. “Cavta Post isn’t even accessible from beyond the border during winter. The additional metal-forged wouldn’t put you any more at risk. I can’t decide if it’s prejudice or cowardice that is your greatest sin.”

“Silence!” The duchess slammed her hand on the table. “Behave according to your station, Third of the Kleesolds.”

Iryana clenched her jaw, sucking in a deep breath through her nose. Vesima stood beside her, and Iryana expected her grandmother to scold her. Iryana tucked her chin to her chest and braced herself.

“The behavior of a Third…” her grandmother started harshly, “should reflect her oaths and her honor. Her duty to fight for her people and protect them.”

Iryana looked up, staring in shock at her grandmother.