Path of the Whisper Woman

There was no question who would be taking Juniper's mother through the shadow paths—if she did it, her and her mother would likely get stuck somewhere they shouldn't and that wasn't a complication we needed right now. Given all the trouble Juniper had with shadow walking in the past it was questionable if she'd even be able to bring Cascade with her, but I didn't have much practice bringing others with me either and suddenly taking two was a bit of a stretch. The hope was that since Juniper and Cascade were mind linked and Cascade was a magical snake it'd be easier Juniper to take her along than another person.

We stood just outside the shadow of the goddess grown pine tree. Cascade had made good time bringing us all here but rather than hurrying forward we stopped to collect ourselves before whatever came next.

Last time I stepped into this shadow I had been shocked and uncertain and frustrated. My reliance on Esie and Kaylan as pillars of support had been eroding and that final conversation before meeting the Beloved hadn't done much to shore up the damage. Going from that to getting further pressured and dismissed by the Beloved hadn't made for my best showing.

This time, though, I knew what to expect and I wasn't alone. Shivering in fear and awe might be instinctive when it came to the Beloved, but I was stronger than that. And I would need that strength this time. No harm could come to Juniper and, by extension, her mother and Cascade. Even Her Beloved would have to go through me first before I allowed them to face the same humiliation.

Ambition is nothing without discipline.

Unbidden, her mantra rose up in my mind, though the usual sting that accompanied the saying wasn't there. It had been a long time since I thought of it and with that time usual sting of censure and implied lack I could hear in her voice wasn't there. It wasn't her voice at all that said it. She didn't own everything that had to do with disciplined ambition.

We had met every single one of the impossible demands. It had been a struggle, but I didn't run from the challenges and achieved what I set out to do. I had no reason to run or cower now. If I wanted respect I couldn't only offer fear. If I wanted to protect the others I couldn't falter at a critical moment.

If the Beloved still wanted to find fault or pass further judgment I'd make sure the brunt of it fell on my shoulders. After all, no matter how conceited it felt to think, the weight of her regard was likely only on the delta and the others due to my presence and careless words.

I held out a hand to Tribe Master Toniva. She took a moment to notice it since she was staring at the tree's shadow as if it might swallow her whole if she looked away. Still, her own strong will evident as she grasped my hand as soon as she noticed it and gave me a resolute nod. This wasn't her first through the shadow paths, but it came close and I was impressed with how well she was dealing the circumstances we'd been forced into.

In comparison, Juniper was also staring at the shadow as if it might bite her, but her fear looked like it was about to overwhelm her. She clutched at Cascade with enough force that it likely would have hurt her if Cascade was a normal snake. Juniper had to face her fears over and over again since returning home and I had to hope that walking the shadow paths wouldn't be her breaking point.

Tribe Master Toniva reacted to Juniper's plight before I could think of something comforting to say. She lifted her daughter's chin with her free hand. "I am proud of you and all you've accomplished. Only the most courageous can still act in the face of their fear."

"I'm not—" Juniper started to protest.

"I am," Toniva cut her off. "I am afraid. We go to kneel before Her Beloved. But will you be courageous with me, daughter?"

A long, tense moment passed as Juniper considered her words. It seemed like she was caught between saying something caustic and something full of false reassurance, before some of the fight went out of her and something like relief settled into her posture instead.

"Yes, mother."

Toniva turned to me, like she was going to say something to boost my resolve, but whatever she saw in my gaze made the words die in her throat. Instead, she gestured with our linked hands and said, "Lead on."

I did. She followed as I stepped forward into the shadow and I imagined us sinking into a deep pool. Immediately, the shadow opened up and we sank into it. It was easy—much easier than I remembered it being—to bring her with me into the shadow paths. I tried to make the transition to standing on the oil slick floor as gentle as possible but she still stumbled and sank to one knee. She looked green with nausea and every time she tried to open her eyes it seemed to get worse. Belatedly, I realized the blindfolds whisper women made tribesfolk wear in the shadow paths might be for more than hiding the nature of our boon. The shifting fog and unreal nature of the shadow path might affect those without the boon more strongly. What for me was just a surreal landscape was at least a disorienting nightmare for the average person.

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"Keep your eyes closed. I'll guide you."

I pulled Tribe Master Toniva to her feet and she was able to keep her balance as I led her forward. The death grip she had on my hand was painfully tight but I didn't protest. The situation reminded me both of the death bringer I left in the shadows and when I led Juniper to Ambervale's trial. I focused more on the second association than the first. I had no desire to lose hold of Juniper's mother, and taking Juniper to the trial ultimately had a good outcome though I hoped this situation would have a clear lack of trials and judgments. A vain hope, but one I held onto regardless.

We stepped into the Beloved's grand hall without further trouble and, surprisingly, Juniper and Cascade showed up not long after. I saw the moment they registered our surroundings: the pressed pine and its perfect shadow, the raised dais and pools full of night sky, the swirling ice patterning the ground. Nor could anyone miss the Beloved in her blood red dress on her blood red pillow as if no time had passed from our first meeting. Again, too, the High Priestess stood at her back but this time I didn't fall to my knees in a quivering mass of fear. Juniper and her mother did, but that was to be expected. This was all new to them.

I could feel the impulse to join them dragging at me, to do absolutely nothing that might earn her ire and offer the respect she was due. I could feel it, but I kept my feet. This time that mind numbing fear wouldn't rule me. Couldn't rule me now that there were others to consider. I had to do what I could to keep them safe and cowering had not earned the Beloved's favor last time.

So, I strode forward until I stepped free of the pine tree's shadow. Lithunia tensed as I stepped within ten feet of the Beloved but the Beloved herself seemed only mildly amused by my antics. Only then did I kneel to her. And when I did, I didn't keep my gaze locked on the floor at her feet. I lifted my gaze to meet her own and her smile grew as I did.

She said, "I heard you had a request."

A challenge and offer to start fresh all rolled into one. I knew that it wasn't a coincidence that she was repeating her first words to me. Now it was time to see if I could offer a response she liked better than the last.

"I do." My voice wanted to waver, to turn the statement into a question but I ruthlessly forced the weakness from my voice. "We need access to the shadows in the Swirling Waters delta. Those pines are the goddess's as much as any others in Her territory. As you said, She claims what She claims, so there should be no hesitancy about these."

"Indeed? What if I said that was blighted land and best abandoned?"

"Then I'd ask why your song lights up its waters?" I tried to hold my tongue back from the next part but I was all in now and it was push on or break, so pushing on won. "Besides, I never took you or the goddess as a quitter."

Someone gasped behind me and I wished I could shuffle back a step and disappear into the shadow, but the Beloved's smile grew as I continued to challenge her.

Rather than respond to my antagonizing comment the Beloved flicked her gaze to look at the two behind me and I had to restrain a new urge to jump up and block her view.

She asked, "And you? What would you ask for completing my tasks?"

I twisted so I could see Juniper and Tribe Master Toniva out of the corner of my eye. They were both on their knees, heads bowed low. Cascade had curled protectively around Juniper.

"Something defensible, my lady," Tribe Master Toniva forced the words out past stiff lips and they seemed to cost her. Luckily, the Beloved didn't force her to explain further.

However, she did focus on Juniper. "Anything to add?"

Juniper glanced over at her mother and said, softer than normal, "We have long defended incursions from the sea." She drew in a deep breath and rallied to continue, "The Swirling Waters tribe should be acknowledged for their work."

"Do your people not live? Do you not bear the mark of the goddess's favor? Do the Beastwatchers not help you defend the delta? It seems to me that you have gotten more acknowledgment than most." The Beloved had a predatory glint in her eye. She reminded me of the wild cats that sometimes prowled through the goddess's forests. The ones that liked to play with their food.

I stood up. The part of my mind concerned with self-preservation chastised me for it but I didn't listen. There were more important things at stake. I'd live through whatever the Beloved threw at me and if she got the goddess involved to take away my blessing—well, I'd handle that if it came to it too.

"I believe she means that the question of if the delta is blighted or truly part of the goddess's territory should be answered without further uncertainty," I said.

The Beloved tilted her head to peer around me. "Is that so?"

A long, long pause strained my nerves until Juniper finally answered, "Yes, Beloved."

The Beloved settled back into a more comfortable position on her cushion. "It'll certainly be answered then." She flicked her gaze back to the High Priestess, just for a moment. "Lithunia."

Apparently, that was all the High Priestess needed to understand her intentions. "Your tools are just behind you." She indicated a spot by her foot before she smoothly stepped past the Beloved and then past me. It took me several moments too long to process what was happening and by the time I spun around Lithunia already had Juniper and her mother by the shoulder. They disappeared into the shadow even as I took a step forward to stop them, hand outstretched.

"I prefer privacy when I ink."

I twisted back around and barely kept from shrieking. It still came out as a strangled whimper. The Beloved was no longer on her dais. No, she was barely a few feet from me and the shock of it sent me stumbling back another step.

Her head tilted slightly with judging curiosity. "Did your courage go with them?"

Press on or break. I stiffened my spine, set my shoulders, and forced my breathing to slow. Juniper might not be physically behind me any longer but that didn't mean anything. I still had a goal to accomplish and it wouldn't be done until I left this hall behind.

"No. I'm fine."

"Good, I'd hate to be disappointed again."

She lifted her hands and I finally realized she was holding an inking set. It much more elegant than what Rawley had used to mark me with the apprentice mark and three leaves of poison. In a thin box that looked like it was made of dark wood inlaid with bone lay multiple small jars of different inks and bone shards of various lengths and sizes.

The Beloved delicately trailed her fingers over her tools before catching my gaze and holding it fast. "Let us commemorate your accomplishments."