When Kindra stepped out of Oak’s tent relief flooded Gar’s eyes, but she couldn’t bring herself to smile. She held an evil truth now—one that only she knew. Her father had given up.

Kaye’s voice rang in her ear, “and the wisdom to know when the fight is finished.” Still, Kindra couldn’t imagine her father giving up.

Gar grabbed her elbow. “Did he hurt you?”

“He knocked over the table, that’s all.” She looked at Petoskey, who stood with crossed arms and a deep frown. “He confessed.”

“To which parts?”

“All of them.”

Petoskey nodded. “Get her inside. I’ll grab the others.”

Gar handed back her dagger and spear and followed her to the Odion tent. She propped the spear against the wall, threw the dagger on her cot next to the flute, and wrapped her arms around Gar’s waist with her cheek against his chest.

He smoothed her hair. “What’s wrong?”

She swallowed. “I don’t know how we can win.”

“Of course we’ll win. We have the Bride of Eoin, and a monster horse.”

She pulled away and he kissed her, but a cold draft announced the others. Monk winked as he entered, and everyone took seats where they could.

The Odion tent was barely large enough for Kindra, her Honor Guard, Petoskey, Wolf, Gull and Ocelot. They were crammed into the small space, sitting on the cots and floor where they could. The wind was picking up outside, temperature dropping as the storm turned from rain to sleet after the mid-winter thaw.

Not one to let uncomfortable silences linger, Kindra spoke. "Oak has admitted to selling the Seven Tribes to the Obsidians. He helped them kill my father at the battle for Deer Valley, and we’ve been paying the Obsidians restitution since.”

“He told you that?” Wolf said.

“He told me a lot more than that.”

Gar squeezed her hand. “About your father?”

She nodded. “Oak called it a sacrifice of one man so the rest of us would live.” They were all silent and she swallowed the lump in her throat before looking at Petoskey and Wolf, her father’s best friends. “Did Fennec say anything about Oak before…”

They shook their heads. “Nothing,” Petoskey said.

“And did…” She paused and looked at her father’s sword on the post. “Did he say anything about why he wanted me to be a warrior?” Kindra told Oak it was because Fennec knew it was her dream, but was there another reason? Vengeance? Or was her father delusional from the fever?

“If you’re wondering if he asked us to help you, then yes. He did.” Petoskey said. “Even a girl as tenacious as you would need help.”

“But did he tell you why?”

Petoskey shrugged. “He knew you would try anyways, and he knew Oak would refuse.”

Gar squeezed her hand again. “It isn’t important, why. What’s important is that he believed in you, and so do the rest of us.”

She dropped it. Whatever her father’s reasons for asking her, she had to make the decision on her own.

“So,” Monk said after a long silence. “Oak admitted to killing your father and selling us to the Obsidians. What do we do now?”

“We kill Oak,” Gull said, “And go to war.”

“We can’t win,” Wolf said.

“We have the horse. Kindra said they fear horses.”

“Horses,” Petoskey said. “We have one horse.”

Monk sat forward. “We have better warriors.”

Gar shook his head. “They have more warriors. Even Fennec couldn’t take on more than three men alone.”

Kindra tuned out the discussion as she thought on what Oak said. There was no way to know if her father had truly given up, or if it was another of Oak’s lies to destroy her family. But if it was no lie and Kaye returned? Oak would hand her over to the Obsidians, which would force Kindra to choose. She’d been willing to take Kaye’s place before, and there was nothing Kindra wouldn’t give up to keep her sister safe.

“What if my father knew?”

The discussion around her died off. “Knew what?” Petoskey said.

“Knew what Oak did. What if he knew and didn’t tell anyone?”

“Why wouldn’t he tell someone?”

“He was dying,” Monk pointed out.

Kindra ignored him. “What if he knew and he didn’t say anything to keep the peace? He’d lost the battle, he knew he would never fight again, and if we rose up against the Obsidians, they would destroy us.” She looked at each person in the tent. “What if he took that secret to his pyre to protect us?”

A part of Gar looked relieved. “So, you don’t want to go to war?”

“Oak’s right,” she said. “We can’t win with half a tribe and a horse. We need allies. Allies who can fight, not just the Dacians. We need time to train the rest of the Seven Tribes and anyone else who will join us. The men of Fie Wain can handle a sword and spear, but we must teach them to handle it in battle.”

Monk smirked. “Don’t you think Oak will notice if we start training the other tribes to fight?”

“Not if he’s dead,” Gull said.

Monk grinned, but his father frowned. “If we kill Oak, the Obsidians won’t wait for us to build an army. They’ll attack immediately.”

“So, we give them something they want,” Kindra said. “Something to keep Obsid occupied while we build an army under his nose.”

Petoskey’s reply was immediate. “No.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s the only way we can win.”

Petoskey shook his head. “Absolutely not. We’ve given the Obsidians too much already.”

“What makes you think we have what they want?” Wolf said. “If what you say is true, we’ve been giving them food and weapons since the battle. What could we possibly give them to buy back the Seven Tribes?”

She took a deep breath. “A son.”

They were all silent for a moment, then Monk slapped his thighs and stood. “Let’s find Kaye then, who’s with me?”

“Sit down,” Kindra said. “We’re not giving him Kaye. He doesn’t want her anymore.”

“We won’t give him the High Priestess,” Gar said.

“He doesn’t want her either.” Kindra looked at Petoskey, but his lips were pressed together in a thin line. She looked to the flute beside her and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to do this, but she had to tell them, at least. “He wants what Oak promised him. The last Odion warrior.”

Gar squeezed her hand so hard she winced. “No.”

“We can’t do that,” Cougar said.

“Never,” Gull said.

The only one who didn’t speak was Petoskey.

Kindra kept her eyes down—she couldn’t bear to look at any of them. “It would buy us time. While Obsid thinks he’s won, you gather and train an army.”

“No,” Gar said again.

“Even if we did that,” Wolf said, “He would hold you hostage against us. If we attacked—"

“No,” Gar said, louder.

Kindra finally looked up. “Send me a sign and I’ll leave before you attack. It wouldn’t be difficult.”

Monk shook his head slowly, for once looking like he was at a loss for words. “They would have a guard on you at all times. You’d never get away.”

“I can take care of one guard.”

“No!” Gar yelled and dropped her hand. “We’re not talking about this because the answer is no. You aren’t going to Fie Obsid.”

“It’s just to buy us time,” she said.

“We don't buy time with you!”

“We were willing to buy time with Kaye.”

Everyone was silent. The wind howled between the tents outside and when Kindra spoke again her voice was soft. "I may not be a named warrior, but I've made the blood-bond same as you. It's my duty to protect Fie Eoin—it’s my duty to give my life. They’re going to take me anyway, just like they took Kaye. This way we can negotiate instead of Oak."

Gar looked around, desperate for help. "We can't trade people. We can't trade Kindra."

Only Monk would meet his eyes. "Kindra’s right. We were willing to trade Kaye, and it wasn't her choice. If this is Kindra's choice, we can’t stop her."

Gar stormed out. Kindra bowed her head and clasped her hands against her lips as Wolf followed. When they were gone, she looked at the others. “Does anyone else object?”

“I think we all object,” Cougar said. “But Monk is right, it’s your choice.”

Kindra forced a smile. “Just think, if you don’t win, I could be the mother of the next Obsidian chief. If nothing else, I’ll raise him to respect Aledans so we don’t have to do this again.”