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“I may not have taken my oaths, but I am a guardian,” Misha snapped. “That is all I am. I have been preparing for this my entire life. For this fight. If I were to leave, I would simply cease to exist. If you force me to go, I will just jump off the sled and hike back here. Probably get frostbite and die.”
“Mishi—” Hadima tried.
“No! I’m a far better shot than you, a far better fighter. You don’t get to say you’re staying and I’m not.”
Iryana rubbed her temples and tried to calm down. “Misha, if you get killed, I will never forgive myself.”
“And I’ll never forgive you if you don’t let me stay.” Her face was so hard, so set. “I belong here, with both of you. We stay together now, that’s what you said. We stand together.”
Iryana shook her head. She didn’t want to let Misha stay. Didn’t want to let her sister risk her life. She was only fourteen, but she was also a guardian.
“You have to let me train you,” Iryana said. “And you have to listen to everything I say. You’re not allowed on the front line; you’re going to help from where it’s safest. And when I tell you to retreat, to hang back, you do it.”
Misha nodded adamantly.
“So help me, if you don’t listen to a single order, I will tie you up and send you to Lake Vrasho myself.” She meant it, too.
“I understand.”
Gods, was she really going to allow this?
“We all stay, then,” Iryana said weakly.
Hadima was pale, but she pulled them all into a hug.
In the end, fewer villagers decided to leave than she had expected, even after Iryana went door to door to make sure they fully understood the risks. Only a few villagers with small children had taken them up on the offer. They wanted to help, do what they could. When she had to return to the main house to hear what those of her clan had decided, Iryana felt a bit in a daze, but she had to keep moving. She’d face her feelings later.
She joined the First at the head table, sitting down solemnly.
Iryana asked to talk with Darsha about her kids and nephew first, Aunt Emadya joining them. Darsha wanted the three youngest to go to Lake Vrasho, though Sanora had taken her oaths and would stay. Aunt Emadya and Darsha had debated who should take the children, but they ultimately decided that Darsha should stay. She was their air-forged messenger, and the clan still needed her. Aunt Emadya was close with all the children, so they’d feel comfortable with her.
Iryana had no issue with that; it was practical and made sense. The First agreed, so Darsha went to help the children pack.
Tonhald and Teshya stepped up next. Iryana was pretty sure what they would decide.
“We’re going to stay, all of us,” Tonhald said, pulling his wife to his side.
She blinked. “What? But baby Anara…”
Teshya smiled up at her husband, the look full of love and worry.
“Can you give us any guarantee that she would be safe there?” Teshya asked. “Without that certainty, my gut says she is safest with us, where we can protect her. And there is no real guarantee that anywhere else will be better. I trust this clan to keep us safe far more than I trust those at Lake Vrasho.”
“The odds…” the First started, but Tonhald held up a hand.
“We’ve decided.”
“We’ve talked it over thoroughly,” Teshya assured her. “Tonhald needs to help defend the wall, and I need to help make fire-imbued gear for those taking shelter here. And Anara’s place is with us.”
“Alright,” Iryana agreed, reluctantly.
The house felt somber as those who were leaving set off to pack and prepare. Aunt Emadya didn’t seem happy that Anara and Teshya were staying, but she hugged her children and grandchild. The rest of them settled in to put their plans together.
It was time to make sure they could hold out as long as possible. To make sure they could hold the wall.
Uncle Dinhal had put together an initial plan for how to guard a retreat and defend the border with the help of the soldiers once they arrived. He’d been working with the volunteers to fashion spikes for defenses and cut down enough wood for temporary shelters. It was a good place to start.
They all had work to do in addition to the watches.
