There was time, evidently, to also take your leave of the people you loved just in case you lost. Alaysha couldn't stop chewing on her lip; four of the women strode off to what Alaysha assumed where their homes while Enud merely stood with arms folded, feet planted shoulder width apart, with her face an impassive mask of purpose. Once, she caught the woman exchange a silent glance with Uta who had taken to collecting bits of leaves from young barley plants. Why she'd do it herself when she so obviously preferred the chattel labor of the boys was a mystery.
For the first time, Alaysha realized her plan was foolish, but then, what else could she have done? She had her doubts the Enyalia would let her leave peacefully; Cai and the witches knew her power. They surely understood the risks to their village if both Yenic and Gael were to die. She'd promised Cai she'd not bring the power, but she had no intention of keeping the vow; it had been made when she didn't understand the breadth of it. It would be impossible to spirit the men away now; with Theron and Bodicca in the village, the Enyalia were hyper vigilant.
While Alaysha had been relatively safe in the village, she wasn't foolish enough to think she was free. Casting for Yenic would buy her time as well as Gael. Time just might mean Alaysha would be able to use their solstice against them.
"He's not safe yet," Cai said from behind her.
Alaysha waited for the woman to stand next to her before she spoke. "At least he has a chance."
"Don't you realize you've not bought him any time but wasted yours?"
Alaysha ran a toe across the grass, watching the blades fold over and spring back upright. "If I win then your village is safe from my power."
"It is safe at any rate."
The oath Alaysha had made or just arrogance? It didn't matter in the end.
She felt Cai's hands on her shoulders and she was spun to face the warrior who pulled her close, lifting her just a bit so that her face upturned. "Foolish maga, you have no chance of winning."
"Then you have a problem."
"Do you think Uta or Thera will let you live long enough to test your powers? That threat is weak by now, and I would think more a problem for you than us."
Alaysha studied her bare foot. "How so?"
"What if by some miracle you do win—what then? You'll have to take his life. It's what you cast for."
Alaysha met the pull of Cai's green eyes, so much like Yuri's she realized now, except a softer shade than Yuri's icy blue, somehow more emotive. "I'll refuse. Like Bodicca did. Like Alkaia."
"Little maga, they were true Enyalia." There was a chuckle in Cai's tone, but it wasn't mocking. Her palm traveled down Alaysha's back, pressing gently. "Your flesh is not nearly so hardened. Your spirit isn't made of the same steel."
Alaysha licked her lips. "I'm his only chance."
"And what happens to his chance when your power in its fear drains the fluid from the entire village, including your man?"
Alaysha shrugged in the woman's hold and her eyes moved to the pulse in the woman's neck; she couldn't hold Cai's gaze anymore. It was probing far too deep for her liking. "That won't happen. I'm not afraid."
Cai let her arms fall and folded them across her chest. She seemed to want to say more, to be searching for words that might change the outcome. Instead, she settled on ordering Enud away from Yenic. When Enud went storming across the compound and into a small hut made purely of animal skin and wooden poles, Cai nodded to Yenic. "There's no need to stand there longer, man," she said. "Go find a boy to feed you."
"And dress him," Alaysha said.
Cai gave her a queer look. "No reason not to," she said. She flicked her wrist, and a young boy came running, the same boy from the previous night. He stole a quick peek at Alaysha and the small tremor that crossed his face could have been meant as a smile if she cared to interpret it. "Get the man food and clothes," she told the boy.
Alaysha made to follow behind the two of them, thinking she could spend some time talking to Yenic, work out a plan that had them disappearing through the night, but Cai stopped her.
"You asked me what I would do for the person I cared for."
"Yes," Alaysha said.
"If I couldn't save them, I would do what Enud is doing. I would find a way to hurt the person who harmed her."
"I've done nothing to Enud."
Cai smiled slowly. "No, but your man in Thera's Lodge did. And he loves you."
The realization struck Alaysha in the middle of her solar plexus. The woman Enud had wept over: not a sister, a lover.
"Enud will kill you, little maga. She will not let the others win the chance to fight you."
"I won't let that happen. I have skill, yes; but I know I can't win against the likes of Enud. Except my father taught me not to fear, not feel." She met the warrior's gaze stubbornly. "Trust me. I can take this whole village if I need to without a single care."
"There's no need for threats," Cai said. "I told you that if I couldn't save the woman I cared for, I'd do what Enud is doing. But if I could, the person I loved would not feel one moment of pain. And so there is also no need for fear."
She left Alaysha standing alone, watching her back as she strode away through the crowds of stock women chattering noisily and threatening young boys with their spoons.