The two women stand at the edge of the crowd in the wind-swirled square. Behind them rises a canvas banner that flaps in the wind, proclaiming in bright blue lettering, SouthWomen: For Eternal Harmony!
“Mother warned you, Veria,” says the slender brunette.
“She only said that it was unwise to distrust someone in accord with the greatest of the harmonies. This sorceress is nothing more than another power-hungry woman of the north who will turn on anyone at the first need or opportunity. She also supports a man’s claim to rule Defalk. She will not even rule in her own right. There is nothing worse than a woman serving as a stalking goat for men. Better an honest man than a deceitful woman.” Veria’s words are low, but intense. “Mother or Matriarch, she did not say one word against my joining the SouthWomen.”
“Not in so many words, but it was a warning.”
“Why are you here, Alya? To act as Mother’s spy?”
“Mother didn’t send me.” Alya coughs twice, then continues. “I’m here because you’ve always heard what you wanted to hear and seen what you wanted to see.”
“She has you spying on me.”
Alya laughs. “She knows what you’re doing. She needs no spies. She has let us choose our own way. This way is wrong, and in time, you will pay dearly for it.”
“Then let me pay in my own coin. Why should you care?”
“You are my sister, and you will suffer.”
“You’ve never cared that much before. Why now?”
“Because Mother and Father care, and when you suffer, they will suffer.”
“You really believe that rubbish about the harmonies? That a power-hungry woman from the mist worlds really cares about anything we hold dear? How could you?”
“It’s very simple, Veria. Very simple. Simple enough for you to see . . . if you would. Let me ask you this—on the important events, has Mother ever been wrong? Have she and Father ever been wrong about what has happened?”
“They did not foresee the very sorceress they caution against opposing.”
“Then see as you will.” Alya shakes her head. “Do as you will. Only recall that I have tried to caution you. Those blades you will buy—if you have not already—will cut you more dearly than any of you would wish.”
The noise of the crowd rises as a tall woman steps onto the platform below the banner. Alya’s eyes flicker toward the speaker as the crowd subsides. When she looks back beside herself, Veria has slipped away.