Path of the Whisper Woman

I took my final drink of Knife Dancer's Revenge and doubled over in pain as the potion got to work. It felt like I got punched in the heart only for it to try to race away from the danger. No doubt this wasn't a potion meant to be drunk three times in quick succession. I had to breathe shallowly around the pain as I slowly stood back up and worked to ignore the potion's own revenge on me.

Luckily, I didn't need to worry about fighting my way through a horde of fish again. Something had gone through the fish when Ambervale finally died, like a ripple of wind across long grass, and they scattered from the immediate area like they smelled blight on the breeze. It tempted me to see if scattering her remains near all the waterways into the delta would keep the fish at bay, but no one wanted to see what might happen if the fish decided to devour her flesh like they had been so desperate to do with the crystal, and the disgust that arose with handling any of it swiftly put the temptation to rest.

As it was, the whisper women were busy doing the ritual to turn what remained of Ambervale's abomination of a body and all the fish corpses into sand. The tribesfolk were focused on the walkway. It had been cracked and partially pulled down by the horde, so now they were busy cutting the broken parts free and fixing up the rest to make it more difficult on the fish if they tried the same thing again. Juniper and I had been bundled off onto a spot near the walkway so that we were in clear view of everyone else, but not in the way of their work. The dead fish that should have been where I was standing had been among the first to contribute to the sand bar.

I didn't like getting set to the side like a child, but I hadn't been able to move or think properly as the true crash from the potion started to hit me and I liked that even less. I had bent all my focus on getting the final swallow to my lips. Now that I had I could function like normal again but the next crash loomed large in my mind. I had nothing to offset it and not nearly enough time to do everything I needed.

Juniper wasn't doing much better than I was. Holding her water sphere for so long and pushing an untold amount of water into it had drained her energy. A blessing didn't normally have any ill side effects, but her trick through the pearl definitely wasn't a normal occurrence. She sat staring at where she had killed the abomination while she stroked Cascade's head absently. I wasn't sure if she regretted it or if it was the simple shock of going from fighting for her life to nothing at all.

"The Lady Blue never saved her," Juniper said.

"Did you expect her to?"

Juniper shook her head. "But Ambervale did—until she decided to swallow the crystal. Or maybe she thought that was the Lady Blue's salvation."

The abomination's grotesque form was still all too clear in my mind and it was only made worse by watching Hattie and Morwen toss…chunks into the hole Ambervale had been caught in. "I don't think there's any salvation in that."

We lapsed into silence. Part of me wanted to press Juniper about her ruminations since Juniper had no reason to pity the traitor, and there wasn't a note of that in her voice, but I wasn't sure what other reason she might have for bringing it up. Still, I could ask her about it later so I wouldn't lose my chance to complete another bit of business. I shared a look with Cascade who curled protectively around Juniper's waist before I left her. She'd be safe enough with the snake.

Rather than interrupt anyone's work I set off for the two people had simply watched during the fight and didn't do anything to help now that it was over.

Yolanda and Britta. Scales sect head and second. Perhaps I should have been afraid of challenging them, likely I would have been, but the Knife Dancer's Revenge didn't allow much in the way of fear and I was past caring about consequences. I wanted answers.

I dragged myself up a tree and onto the walkway until I stood before the pair. They saw me coming and Yolanda's gaze felt like a physical weight as I got closer to them.

"Have you come to judge us, girl?" For a brief moment, the sect head's lips twitched into something like a smile before it was gone again. "Perhaps you should have been a Scale. You have the instinct for it."

I kept my back straight, chin held high. This woman had once held my future in the palm of her hand but I wasn't going to cower anymore. She could still answer for her choices like I would for mine.

"You didn't help. I'd like to know why."

She looked past me and swept her gaze over the battlefield. "Not all of us are warriors. Perhaps your experiences have skewed your perception, but there are those of us who do not devote hours upon hours to the fighting arts."

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"This is Heliquat's territory." A flicker of pride warmed my skin when I didn't flinch from saying the goddess's name, but it had nothing on the incredulity swelling in my chest.

You couldn't survive in the goddess's territory without fighting. There was always something to threaten you whether it was fish swarming the shores or an enemy at your back. You had to be alert, ready. Mishtaw fought as did Esie and Ingrasia even though they weren't Peacekeepers. It was one of the first things we were taught even if Jin had been a terrible teacher.

"I will defend myself if necessary, but I find no reason to devote myself to the spear. Often I find the goddess's will is weapon enough. It is my place to bear witness and judge how the scales weigh, not press my finger to them and change the outcome." Not a flicker of shame passed Yolanda's features as she proclaimed herself above everyone who deigned to fight. Everyone who fought a monster and kept the fish from invading the goddess's shores.

I frowned. "You didn't hesitate to press your finger when you marched Ambervale through every shadow on the way here."

"Judgment born and done," Yolanda dismissed.

Ah. Understanding finally settled into my mind and snuffed out the frustration that had been building ever since I noticed them standing to the side. Yolanda was a woman born for her role.

For her, everything could be separated out and once a judgment had been made it was absolute. It wasn't that she thought herself better than everyone else, at least not entirely. It was that at some point she judged herself not a fighter and that was that. She saw no comparison between the violence she wrought during a judgment and the violence of fighting. Rather than it all being under one concept, she separated out each individual situation and judged it by its unique circumstances.

If she had to wield a spear in order to complete a judgment I had no doubt that she'd act without hesitation, but when a situation stepped outside the realm of trial and judgment she had no compulsion to act. Whisper women and tribesfolk could be fighting and dying right in front of her and she'd feel no need to act unless the situation brushed up against a previously determined judgment.

Perhaps not everyone in the goddess's territory needed to be a fighter, there were huntresses and the rest of the tribesfolk after all, but I had thought all whisper women had martial leanings. If only to survive all the dangers we could face, but if said whisper women rarely left the Seedling Palace then there'd be little to no true physical threats they'd have to face. They could rely on the work of everyone else spread throughout the goddess's territory without realizing what they were doing.

Any remaining trepidation I had about the Scale's sect head shriveled up and died. She was still dangerous, yes, in a social and political sense, but it felt a bit like a sheep had been hiding in a wolf's skin. As long as I could understand the Sect head's perspective I could influence the situations she might judge me for so that those declarations leaned in my favor.

As for Britta…I considered the second. I still wasn't sure why she seemed uncomfortably interested in me but it was clear that she followed Yolanda's decisions first and her own instincts second. From the way she caressed her spear, I think she might have liked to spear a fish or two, but she stayed back because Yolanda did.

This wasn't another conspiracy in the making or sabotage attempt. It was simply someone who held logic in higher esteem than empathy and her supporter.

Yolanda tilted her head to the side. "How have you judged us?"

"Wanting." I waited for my tongue to get me in trouble but I kept my gaze up and steady.

"Curious. I would have said the same thing of you."

"Why?" I challenged.

"You were given final judgment but you didn't take the final blow."

Everything was a technicality. "Exactly. I did as I was bid and my judgment was carried out. As you said not all of us are warriors."

Her eyes crinkled slightly with amusement. "But you consider yourself one."

"I fight when it's needed."

"And I don't?"

"I think you do whatever suits you best."

"Of course." Yolanda glanced back at Britta and then back at me. "I have trials to complete in the Palace. Britta will report your success here. I'll be interested to see what dilemma you bring to me next."

She started to walk past me before she paused again to look at me sidelong. "You have mentors enough now, but should you come upon a judgment you're uncertain of and that's worthy of my time, you may bring it to me so I can tell you how the scales balance in my eyes."

It was a boon, unlooked for but appreciated. She wouldn't make the judgment for me, but her long experience would likely offer up insights I couldn't see on my own. I still didn't like how she had just watched everything unfold and I wasn't sure I'd take her up on the offer, but I knew better than to deny it outright. Something about our sharp exchange had pleased her. I'd have to make sure my bravery didn't run out if I did ever bring a dilemma to her.

They continued past me and got Tribe Master Toniva to set the summoning branch down so they could depart despite everything else still going on.

I rejoined Juniper on the sand bar even though I was itching to head off for Bramble Watch to get as far as I could before the effects of my last drink faded away, but there were a lot of fish that had been killed and the whisper women weren't about to pass up the opportunity to add them to the shoreline. I tried to join the ritual, to have something to do, but Ingrasia gave me a long once over and sent me back to Juniper. It wasn't long after that the potion's revenge hit in earnest and I couldn't think of anything but the aching weakness radiating through my body. The journey back to Bramble Watch was little more than a blur when it finally happened but I think Cascade carried Juniper and me on her head through the waterways and the snake only forgot about not diving under the water once or twice. At least those unexpected washes got most of the muck off.