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“Have we found anything promising yet?” Pyetar asked.

“Our best alternative right now is… not ideal. But we’re still looking.”

“What is it?” Iryana asked. She knew it was going to be horrible.

No one seemed to want to tell her. But her grandmother eventually said, “There is a rather large network of ice caves. It would be extremely difficult and dangerous to reach, but with the staff we shouldn’t have to worry about them collapsing. And even in the case of an avalanche, we would be mostly protected and able to dig ourselves out. We’re still looking, it’s just the best we’ve found so far.”

“I would really like to not be buried in ice caves while the gods fight it out in our valley.” Iryana couldn’t help the frustration seeping into her voice.

“I can start sending out scouting missions as well, see what we can find,” Pyetar offered.

Iryana hoped they’d be able to stay at the temple. It felt in her heart like the right place to be, but she knew that was likely wishful thinking.

As much as she hoped otherwise, this wasn’t over yet.

She spent the rest of the evening on watch before returning to get an update from Pyetar. He was understandably frustrated.

Pyetar was relying heavily on Vaneshta to convince the various groups to agree to his watch schedule; there was just so much distrust between everyone. Anytime he proposed anything where only soldiers were handling the riskier areas, many of the groups balked and kept insisting some of them be assigned as well. The soldiers would listen to Pyetar or the major, but Vaneshta had a way of convincing the other groups that worked with them; it was just time-consuming.

When Iryana made it back to her room, it was very late, and Hadima was already there. She was in the same clothes as before, stained with dirt and blood, and staring blankly at the wall.

She barely glanced up when Iryana entered and sat beside her.

“I was so scared,” Hadima mumbled as Iryana wrapped herself around her older sister. “I don’t know if I’ve really slept since we got here. Everyone is so unhappy and stressed, and I don’t know how to make it better. And you and Misha weren’t here, and you could have been—”

“It’s all going to be okay, alright?” Iryana soothed. “We’re here now. And I love you. We’re going to get through this together.”

Hadima nodded slightly. “I just don’t know if I can keep doing this. Keep fixing everyone up and acting like it’s going to be better soon.”

Iryana smoothed her hair down and took a bracing breath. “You know, you’re like how you described dad from before. You’re strong and resilient. He was probably scared all the time. He just hid it for everyone else’s sake. Like you do. He was that rock for you, but for me, it’s always been you.”

Hadima squeezed her tightly. “Do you really think so?”

“I do.”

That seemed to settle her.

“So… how is your magic?”

Iryana winced. “Not great, but we’re safe enough for now. I can keep from using my forgings.”

“I worry about you,” Hadima admitted, then she grimaced slightly, like she wasn’t excited for what she was about to say. “Perhaps… do you, uh… want to talk about mom?”

Iryana stiffened. “No.”

The thought—no, she couldn’t handle that yet. Panic made her hands tremble.

Hadima sighed. “Okay… maybe another time. I’ve also been thinking of some other options we could try…”

“Let’s just not worry about it for now. There are more imminent problems, and we both need to focus.”

“Fine, unless it starts to get worse.”

Iryana nodded, relieved. On top of everything else, she just couldn’t let herself think about her magic. How she lacked the peace to make her magics settle. Iryana pushed those fears and worries away.

She held her older sister for a while before they broke apart to get changed and slip under the blankets. Iryana rubbed Hadima’s back as they huddled together for warmth. Hadima quickly slipped into a deep sleep. Iryana didn’t join her until she felt Misha climbing in beside them. Then all her sisters were in one place again. That at least felt right. She fell asleep between them.

By the third day of the Lying Moon, Iryana was in a dreadful mood. She wasn’t the only one. In fact, everyone else was why she was in such a terrible mood. People were cold, cramped, and hungry. Many were grieving and still recovering from injuries. All of that together made people horribly irritable. She was tired of breaking up fights.