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Hadima grimaced.

“I know this is difficult for all of us. I’m so sorry I left, that I had to leave you girls behind.” Their mother was shaking, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“Of course you did,” Iryana snapped, still clinging to Misha with one hand, the other curling into the dirt.

Their mother dropped back to the barrel she’d been sitting on. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t breathe in that damned house. There was no hope. I needed to leave.”

“But you left us there,” Misha pointed out coldly.

“I did. And I’m so sorry. I was sick, I can see that now. I was too sick to be your mother.” She sucked in a breath. “I’m so sorry, but I’m here to make up for it.”

“Make up for it?” Misha growled, pulling her hand away from Iryana to take a step closer to their mother. “You can’t bring back the time you lost. You can’t teach me to braid my hair or tell me bedtime stories. You can’t be there when I got my first sword or talk me through my first crush. You can’t watch my sisters take their oaths, see Iryana become Third of this clan! You missed it all, and you can’t get it back. A mother would have been there.”

Their mother swallowed, hands clenching her skirts tightly. The same way Iryana did.

Hadima stepped into the center of the tent, her hands raised in a calming gesture. “Look, this is a shock. It’s going to take us some time to process this. But I think we should all try to calm down before anyone says something they’ll regret.”

“Excuse me?” Misha glared at Hadima, hands on her hips.

“Please, Misha?” Hadima begged. “Let’s not fight.”

“You have something to say?” Iryana forced out, slowly climbing back to her feet. “You summoned us out here, wanted us alone. I assume it’s not only because you’re afraid to face grandmother. Tell us what you came here to say.”

Their mother jerked slightly, but she nodded. “I want you to come with me.”

“You want us to—” Iryana gaped, dumbfounded.

“Most of my village has retreated to our earth temple. It’s safe, but it’s small. I convinced them to let me bring three more. You’ll be safe there, able to ride this out.”

It took a moment for Iryana to parse any of her mother’s words.

“You want us to abandon our clan like you did?” she gasped.

“Absolutely not,” Misha added, arms crossed tightly now.

“Why don’t you stay with us instead?” Hadima offered.

“I can’t do that. Staying here is madness.” Their mother’s hazel eyes were pleading. “You don’t have to stay here.”

Iryana gasped. “What about our clan? What about our oaths? We’re guardians!”

“Screw the clan,” their mother bit out. “They weren’t there for us when we needed them. They’d happily sacrifice all of you for duty. You don’t owe them anything. Please. Come with me. Survive this.”

Gods, Iryana wanted to scream.

“If you knew me at all, you’d know I would never leave.” Iryana’s voice was so low it was almost a whisper. “I am Third of this clan, and they’re all relying on me.”

“Little owl, you’re still a child. You can’t lead the clan. You can’t take responsibility for them all. You have to see this can only go one way.”

“Mom…” Hadima winced.

“When things got hard, you always found something else to do. Put off your chores so you could run and play with your sister.” Her mother sounded desperate. “But it’s okay. You don’t need to lead the clan. You can all be safe with me.”

Iryana fought the desire to curl in on herself. Her mother didn’t believe in her. Didn’t think she was enough still, just like she wasn’t enough to keep her from leaving. Nothing had changed.

“Iryana is braver than you’ll ever be,” Misha snapped, face red with anger.

“She’s always been brave, I won’t argue that,” their mother choked out. “But the dakii are drawn to the metal-forged, you know that right? This post is going to fall. Everyone here is going to die.”