“I want to see you back here in a week to take those stitches out,” I called as she hurried out the door.

At the end of the third quiet day, Noelle arrived with a couple soldiers. She looked haggard with dark circles under her eyes.

“The High Priestess requests your presence immediately,” Noelle said to me in a thin voice.

I left Christina in charge and followed Noelle to Estrid’s study. Not as elaborately decorated as her receiving room, it had a huge desk crafted from a dark wood. Estrid stood behind it, and Jael and a few high-ranking officers were standing in front. They turned as soon as I entered. The tension in the room pressed against me with such force I almost stepped back into the hallway.

Estrid’s expression remained serene, but Jael’s gaze burned with fury and indignation. Not good.

“Avry, please come in,” Estrid said, gesturing me closer.

When I approached, the officers made room.

“I won’t lie to you, Avry,” Estrid said. “We’re in trouble, and it’s hard not to believe that Prince Ryne abandoned us. Did he say anything to you before he left?”

I recalled our conversation after Ursan’s funeral. “He didn’t give me any indication that he was going to leave, but I told him something that might have been the trigger.”

“I knew she was keeping secrets,” Jael said.

“Jael, let me handle this,” Estrid said. “What did you tell him, Avry?”

I explained my theory about Ulany burying the dead. “I thought it was crazy, but Ryne said he’d look into the possibility.”

“And why didn’t you tell us about this before?” Jael asked.

“What would you have done?” I asked. When no one answered, I said, “You didn’t believe us about Tohon’s dead, so there was no chance you’d consider my speculation without proof.”

“Ryne figured out what Tohon was up to, and he took off without warning us,” Jael said.

Again, I asked, “And if he warned you, what would you have done? Nothing!”

Estrid smoothed the sleeves of her robe. “That is true. Then he was smart to leave. Otherwise he’d be stuck in this trap with us. At least we have some hope he’ll continue to fight Tohon.” She sank into her chair.

It took me a moment to catch up. “Trap? What trap?”

“Show her,” Estrid said.

Jael unrolled one of the maps on the desk. I recognized it as the same one she had shown me before. Except instead of just a red arc west of Zabin, a big red circle marked the map with Estrid’s camp right in the middle.

“We’re surrounded,” Jael said.

KERRICK

Kerrick was beyond bored. Locked up in his cell for the past seven days, he had nothing to do except brood over his situation and worry about Avry and his friends. Danny visited twice a day, bringing him food and information. The boys Danny shared a house with had lived in Krakowa before the tribes had invaded. Some had watched their parents murdered in front of them, while others had been separated by the chaos and confusion. A few had already lost their parents to the plague. Either way, the fact that the warriors hadn’t killed the boys outright was unexpected and worrisome. Kerrick wondered what else about the tribes the history books had gotten wrong.

When Danny arrived with his evening meal, he had more news. “There’s a house of Krakowan girls, too.” He slid the tray through the slot. His two guards waited by the door. “We had...lessons with them today.”

“Lessons?” Kerrick asked. The food was the standard fare—bread, cheese, a corn mash and a cup of water.

“Yeah. They’re teaching us how to read their...pictures.” Danny settled on the floor next to Kerrick’s cell. “They don’t use letters and words like us. They string pictures together to form sentences.”

“Is it hard to learn?”

“A few are tricky, but the others make sense, like a tree is a picture of a tree. As long as you can draw, it’s not hard.”

“And if you can’t?”

“Then you have to stick to verbal communications.” Danny smiled.

Kerrick was glad to see him smile. And the fact the tribes were taking the time to teach the children was an excellent sign.

“Did you learn anything else?” Kerrick asked.

“Yeah.” He glanced at the guards, but they appeared uninterested. “There are only two tribes left. I guess there’s not much food in the wildlands, or as they call it, Vilde Lander. They had joined together before attacking Krakowa. But they still refer to themselves as either a Sokna or a Jevnaker.”

Interesting and potentially useful. “Which tribe does Noak belong to?”

“Sokna. His father, Canute, is the leader and his sister, Rakel, is going to marry the Jevnaker’s leader, Olave, to bind the two tribes together.”

The word bind stood out to him and made him realize he hadn’t seen too many women in town since he’d arrived. Then again, he’d only been to the bathhouse a couple times. “Is that why Noak returned? For the marriage?”

“I don’t know.”

Too bad. The fact that Noak had traveled to Krakowa and not gone south to conquer had been bugging him since they’d headed north. Although there was no reason to hurry on the warpath. Thanks to Kerrick’s information, the tribes were well aware that there wouldn’t be an army gathering to stop them. At least the more time they spent here meant more time for Izak, Zila, Great-Aunt Yasmin and the rest of Orel to escape over the Nine Mountains.