I found Prevna in the meal area where most Sprouts and some Saplings gathered. It was a wide space with plenty of ice vines and cushions for a crowd to make use of while a few of the Seedling Palace’s unique cooking stones took up space on one side. A handful of firestarters were busy there now preparing for the next meal.

Prevna sat with a small circle of other Sprouts but I didn’t call out to her right away. Wren and Dera sat across from her holding court while others I didn’t recognize sat between them. Rather than interrupt whatever bit of gossip or story they were gossiping about I made my over to the firestarters to break my fast. It was later than when the morning meal was typically served since I had elected to follow Esie’s example and walk over to where I thought Prevna would be.

If I had used the shadows I might have popped up directly behind her and, while that was fine during our game, it wasn’t when she was in the middle of a conversation with the others. Last time, I had nearly scared Dera out of her wits when I suddenly appeared behind her and Prevna. So now Prevna blocked me when she was having a particularly good conversation that she didn’t want to be ruined by screaming.

Since my presence even without popping out shadows unexpectedly could dry up conversations, I took the hint this time and settled elsewhere in the eating area to eat while I waited for her to finish up. I’d have my own time with her once we returned to the lower Broken Spear Peaks and that wasn’t something anyone else in that group could come close to beating.

Chirp fluttered down onto my head as soon as he noticed me and the bowl of food in my hands. He let out a strong, demanding chirp before he fluttered again to land on the edge of my bowl and opened his beak wide.

I glowered down at him and ate my next bite without offering him anything. “This isn’t yours.”

He chirped again and went after my fingers in protest. I fumbled, nearly dropping the bowl, before I got his beak captured between two fingers. “No.”

He went after my fingers again as soon as I let him go. I repeatedly told him he wasn’t getting anything but in the end he got a berry and a few seeds from my meal. Wren noticed our antics and offered me a smile over Prevna’s shoulder which, in turn, alerted Prevna that I was there.

Chirp went back to Wren, immensely proud of himself, as soon as my bowl was scraped clean. Their conversation wrapped up not long after that and the girls I didn’t know left the area and I took over one of the vacated cushions as soon they were gone.

Dera gave me a worried frown as soon as she noticed my injuries and the stiff way I moved while Wren smiled and raised her eyebrows. “It seems as though you’ve had as eventful of a trip as Prevna said.”

I gave Wren a tight smile back. I wasn’t still wasn’t sure how to deal with her despite no longer getting as nervous as I used to when she looked at me. There was always still some phantom reaction of that, given how she grown even more into her looks, but now my uncertainty around her was more born from never clearly knowing of what she wanted from me.

She was friendly, of course, just like she was with everyone. Open and charismatic and skilled at keeping conversation from stuttering to stop. But I still didn’t understand why she put in the effort with me when I did little to reward her friendliness. I would have understood it more if she mainly talked to Prevna while I just happened to be around, but now she always directed more of her comments at me than she used to.

I could understand Dera’s kindness better. She never seemed to fully let go of the time I had fallen from the thin paths and the blame she placed on herself for that. She was interesting too, in that, while she never seemed to get used to how harsh I could be she didn’t avoid me but she also didn’t try to force me into conversation.

In comparison, it felt like Wren had some type of agenda. Which could be the case, though I wasn’t sure what it could even be, or I was being paranoid like Prevna sometimes liked to tease me about. Either way, it meant I could never quite get words out as easily as everyone else in her presence.

Prevna smiled back at Wren as well with a glint in her eye before she played off the fight in healer’s caves as nothing more than adventure. “You should have seen the death bringers. I’m sure they regretted the attack more than us in the end.” She leaned forward. “I’m more interested in whatever the fog in the inner valleys is hiding.”

Wren and Prevna went back and forth speculating on what we’d find there—everything from the Dawn Crawler the pickers had hinted at to hidden treasures and crazy monsters.

Dera took advantage of a quiet moment while they were thinking of more possibilities to ask, “Do you think you’ll be able to find Mishtaw’s new relic soon? We heard from one of our mentors that we might be able to earn our next boon before the warm season finishes.”

Prevna tilted her head. “The mysterious conditions will be met?”

She nodded.

Wren added, “It’ll still be dangerous, but she said things are looking more favorable this year than they have since we became seedlings. She wouldn’t say more than that but I’m glad that we’ll finally be able to progress with our boons.”

Dera asked, “Do you think Mishtaw will let you even if you haven’t found the relic yet?”

“Of course.” My tone was just a little too harsh, so I drew drew in a sharp breath and tried to make it more neutral after she flinched. “She wouldn’t hold us back.”

Prevna agreed with me, “We might be pulled right back into the relic hunt afterwards, but if this chance is as rare as it seems I don’t think she’d make us miss it. Do you know how long we have?”

“No.” Chirp trilled and Wren smiled while she scratched his head. Then she continued, “Our mentor wasn’t certain exactly how long it would take before all the conditions were met. The only clue we got was that she thought the First Flurry would ruin whatever the conditions are, so they’d have to met before then.”

I wished the timeline wasn’t so murky but I was glad that we had at least some kind idea now of when we could earn one of the remaining boons. While practicing our shadow walking was important, we all knew we couldn’t become true whisper women unless we earned all four boons.

The conversation wrapped up soon after that as Wren and Dera had to head to a practice session, so Prevna and I went back to the healers’ nests to see the healer that had treated us the night before. He fussed just as much as he had then, but there was no denying that his treatments were working.

All in all, we ended up spending another four days at the Seedling Palace without word from Mishtaw while we continued to heal. By that point, I had half a mind to just walk the shadows back to wherever she was on the mountain but she was blocking her location and Prevna reminded me that she could very well be in the middle of a fight. If she was then our sudden appearance wouldn’t help her and we’d be more likely to get injured again too.

So we trained as best we could and saw a few others in the cohort, though the conversation mainly stayed the same with speculation about finally being able to earn our third boon. Prevna also refilled the poison in her fingers and I would sometimes take the time to look over the new poisons I had put in my pouch when she wasn’t there to question me about them. I knew she’d get too excited about them when I wasn’t sure if I’d actually use them yet.

Eventually, Sonya found us out on Mishtaw’s balcony. “Recovering well?”

I moved my arm a bit to show that my shoulder was healing quickly and well due to the fussy healer. “Well enough.”

Sonya glanced at Prevna too and she gave her own confirmation. Sonya sighed and folded herself down so she was closer to eye level with us. “Well then, here’s the deal. The purge is still in full swing. Jin is making sure every nook and cranny of the Cut is swept for potential death bringers which is causing most of the bands to flee. She wants them hunted down too so we can make sure no death bringers are among their number. Normally, Jin would have cut your mentor and her group loose by now so she wouldn’t have to deal with Mishtaw, but she knows about the relic hunt and she’s being petty.”

“Are we stuck at the Seedling Palace then?” Frustration burned in my gut at the thought. Of course right when I was given a mission by the Lady of Calm Waters I wouldn’t be able to even start it thanks to Jin.

“Depends.”

“On what?”

Sonya peered at me. “On how willing you are to dive into something you probably shouldn’t.”

Prevna chuckled and bumped her shoulder against me. “Normally she doesn’t even think about it.”

A smile twitched onto Sonya’s sharp face. “So I’ve heard. Best lay it out for you both then. Mishtaw isn’t ready to give up on her relic hunt, especially not when you were just catching a scent, but her and Eliss and their firestarters can’t get away from Jin’s command for now. You wouldn’t be good to have in the middle of the fighting and killing which is why she hasn’t sent for you, but, if you’re up for it, Mishtaw’s ready to call in another favor to make sure her trail doesn’t go cold. There’s those band folks you helped escort before and they say if you can help them get to where they need to go in the inner valleys to escape the fighting, they’ll help you find the relic.”

I felt Prevna stiffen next to me before she asked, “She wants us take them alone?”

“Aiy! No,” Sonya exclaimed. “She’d call in a favor like I said. I’d take you back and then there’ll be another whisper woman and her firestarter helping you along. I can’t stick with you since Jin would notice my absence, but you shouldn’t need to worry about that.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Who’d be helping us then?”

Sonya smiled. “Don’t know if you know her but Mishtaw would be calling on Nine Claws herself.”

We blinked back at her. “Nine Claws?”

“That’s her title as far as it goes and Jin has no sway over her since she’s not a Peacekeeper.”

Prevna pressed, “Mishtaw trusts her?”

“As do I.”

We looked at each other and had a quick, silent discussion before coming to a decision. Stuck in the Seedling Palace with no mentor and no choice but to wait or take a chance to help my mentor and my patron in one go?

We faced Sonya again and I said, “We’ll do it.”

She nodded slowly. “So be it, little diver.”

We gathered our things quickly and then Sonya held out her hands. We took them and she took us back to the lower Broken Spear Peaks.