We were given a grace period. Deamar and I had until the end of our current dose of the resistance drink to get our affairs in order and then get ourselves out of the inner valleys. Which meant we had about a week.

Deamar was distraught. And more than willing to lay the blame at my feet. That was weeks before he was supposed to be whisked away due to the Trial of Fog or Snow—and he still hadn’t reconciled the notion that he was going to be leaving the inner valleys for that either.

I ignored his moaning and groaning, just like I ignored the mob of men that had gathered outside the crevice that led down to the Dawn Crawler’s hideaway. I’d like to say it was because I was planning my next moves, how to meet both Mishtaw’s and the Lady of Calm Waters’ requests within the new deadline, but the truth was that the knowledge of a definite end to the smothering fog only brought me relief. I had to give more of my concentration than I liked not to slip into a memory on our way back up from the cave and shoving my way free of that crack in the wall only to be met with dense fog? That might have broken my resolve in way I couldn’t easily come back from if I hadn’t had a deadline.

The other leader of the village, Morn, was at the head of the group waiting for us, but he seemed more like a fussing caretaker rather than the angry leader of a mob bent on teaching us a lesson. He and Logar exchanged some quiet, heated words while everyone else awkwardly waited before Morn suddenly marched to the crack in the wall and disappeared inside. The mob looked to Logar as soon as their leader disappeared without a word of guidance and he took whatever fight was left in them and crushed it.

“Our Master has decreed that one of the girls and Deamar must leave by the end of this round of resistance due to disorder they are bringing to the inner valleys. The rest are blameless, and none are responsible for the fire dancers’ early arrival. If you cause further trouble for our guests our Master might have a decree for you too.”

We left and most of the mob trailed behind us, subdued. A handful stayed behind, likely waiting to hear the truth from Morn. They could waste their time if they wanted to and, besides, even they had been quieted by Logar’s censure I doubted any of us were comfortable having a group of fuming strangers at our backs. I kept my position at the tail end of our group so that if any of them decided they no longer cared about the Dawn Crawler’s opinion I could take the brunt of their frustration.

No one lost control of their common sense on our return walk unless you counted the way Deamar kept trying to wheedle Logar into letting him stay, trying to get him to say there could be a different interpretation for the Dawn Crawler’s images even though the creature’s intent had been very clear.

What I wanted to know was why the lizard had decided to single out Deamar and me. Had it overheard our arguments during the past week and decided they were especially annoying? Or had it been planning on shoving Deamar out of his spoiled nest for some time and I just happened to be a good face to put on the discontent we had stirred by showing up in the inner valleys because I wasn’t the leader of our group?

Well, I was the most likely to start a fight. I could admit that. Malady might want to teach everyone else a lesson every time she though Nine Claws was being disrespected but she also stood down the moment Nine Claws said something. Nine Claws also might threaten violence but, from what I had seen, she and Prevna were the most likely to reach for a diplomatic solution. Jika, Kuma and the other Pickers just didn’t want any trouble and did what they could to keep themselves out of it. For the most part.

When we got back to our little camp Jika was still resting and Kuma reported that the villagers had left them alone. Surprisingly, Gard and Colm settled by the fire pit instead of returning to wherever they had been staying in the village. I overheard Gard say to Kuma that with how volatile everything had been they preferred to stay with those they knew and chance whatever the mountainside held when we left the fog. Which sort of defeated the point of us bringing the Pickers here with us in the first place, but I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to stay in a place where they cut down trees and that was constantly covered in a dangerous fog that hid even more unnatural things.

Logar promised he’d be back to take us to see where the fire dancers before he dragged Deamar away with him so he could learn the effort it took to hold a village together. Prevna went inside the tent we had been sharing and the others left me alone so I found myself standing on the edge of the camp, not sure where to go.

I was tempted to go find a tree I could sit in and think, but even I knew better than to make myself a lone target for the villagers’ lingering blame by claiming a tree within the village or set off into the valley when it was full of potentially dangerous creatures and plants I had never heard of before. Doing either of those things would only give Prevna more reason to be upset with me. In the end, I settled away from the fire pit along the side of the tent Jika was resting in.

The longer I sat there, the more I realized letting my mind go rampant might not be for the best either. I tried to distract myself by checking over my gear and watching the others as they went about their own tasks. I did my habitual rounds of quizzing myself over the various plants and animals, poisons and remedies I had learned as well as other lessons I was supposed to know as a Sprout. Malady and Gard collected everyone’s waterskins and went to fill them up at the springs. I almost pushed to join them, just for excuse to move and shake off the thoughts that wanted to press at me, but I held my tongue. If I went along, I’d be just as tempted to start something as a distraction and, no matter how much I wanted to escape the fog, I didn’t want to cut my time in the inner valleys short before I completed my missions.

But in the camp I couldn’t escape my thoughts and the things I could do couldn’t resolve the problems I was facing. Before, in the tent, I had shock to keep the worst of it at bay and then we were going to see the Dawn Crawler…but now there was time to reflect.

I didn’t like what I found.

I had hurt Prevna simply because she wanted me to be safe for once, but I couldn’t bring myself to be—and in the process, I had endangered Jika as well. First, by not making her got Deamar or going with them myself, and second, by making her drink most of an untested mixture that had been made based on a lot of assumptions. Finally, I left her to deal with the mess I had created when I…gave up instead of struggling against those phantoms in the fog.

I should have kept pushing, like normal. No matter how exhausted I was or how many memories were threatening to pull me under their influence. No matter how I had been pulled from one extreme to another or how much cutting myself off from all those looks of disappointment had felt like the only bit of control I had left.

I had given up and it could have cost Jika her life if we both hadn’t been lucky.

That wasn’t acceptable.

I had resolved that I would become one of the goddess’s Chosen. That I would gain that authority for my own sake and I couldn’t do that if I gave up whenever the memories got to strong. I needed—

A spectral cat was plopped down into my lap. It was warm and soft, but lacking the weight that I knew should have been there from the few times I had coxed one of the camp dogs over to me when I was younger. The cat was as large as some of those dogs too. It barely fit in my lap even after it curled into a ball.

Nine Claws settled down next me with two other spectral cats vying for her attention. One ended up on her lap while the other sprawled out on her shoulders.

“I’m not your mentor—and I don’t think I’d want to be with the way you live up to the rumors for getting into trouble. But,” Nine Claws smiled as she continued, “there is something to be said for keeping things interesting. So let me just say a few things and if you’re here beside me to listen, well, that could just be a bit of coincidence.”

I stayed where I was and petted the cat in my lap which she took for the tacit agreement it was.

“A lot of people will tell you that your blessing determines what sect you’ll belong to. That those with the ability to collect information at distance or that go undetected go to Hundred Eyes and those that get physical or fighting enhancements join the Peace Keepers, and so on and so forth. There’s a candle’s worth of truth in that. But the whole truth of it is that you join the sect that likes you the most or you make yourself so indispensable that they can’t refuse. If you can’t manage one of those two things, even if you join a sect, they’ll keep you at the bottom forever. More of a whisper woman in name than deed.”

Nine Claws kissed the cheek of the cat on her shoulder. “By convention, these guys should have meant I joined Hundred Eyes or Beastwatcher, but I had no desire to be a spy or land inspector. So I made myself indispensable to the Scales.”

I stared at her in shock and my hand fell still until the cat on my lap wriggled to remind me pets were still expected. I wanted to ask Nine Claws why she had wanted to be a Scale of all things or why a Scale would escort us through unknown territory in exchange for favor. Why would Mishtaw have even thought to ask her? From what I knew the Scales were one of the sects most likely to stay penned up on their tree in the Seedling Palace while they reviewed and debated all the rules and preferences She had ever even hinted at.

“Your trouble is that none of the sects are keen on you because the rumors that follow you around, the enemies you’ve already made, and the Lady of Calm Waters’ patronage. You’re known as a dangerous and unpredictable burden, and most are glad that Mishtaw has been stuck with you since she’s also had difficulty bowing her head to the unwritten rules everyone knows.”

Nine Claws petted the cat on her lap. “You’re already being kicked out of these valleys in less than a month despite having little ties here or time to make trouble. Best to make sure the same doesn’t happen with whatever sect you choose. I’ve heard that conditions are about right for Sprouts to earn wind whispering, if you’re strong and stubborn enough you can earn your last boon at the same time.” She met my gaze. “If you want to stand out from the rest in a good way, make yourself indispensable, that might be a place to start.”

She shifted her gaze back to the fog above us. “But those are just some thoughts of a Scale spoken to the fog and her cats. Who knows what the future will bring?”

The cat on my lap disappeared along with the other two as Nine Claws got up and stretched before striding away, like she hadn’t just dumped something new to worry about in my lap. I knew a lot of the whisper women didn’t like me because of my blessing or because I had attacked that random whisper woman and Yule. I knew that most of the time the sects divvied up the Sprouts they wanted and the Sprouts then chose those sects back. There were outliers like Mishtaw and Nine Claws, of course, but it didn’t surprise me that others would consider them misfits for breaking the unspoken protocol. I hadn’t given much thought to exactly which sect I’d end up with, other than the fact that I could be separated from Prevna, since I hadn’t wanted to give my all for the goddess’s glory nor did I have clear idea about which one would be the best fit. It seemed, however, I would have to decide soon if I wanted to become good enough rise within a sect and not just accepted and forgotten.

Of course, finding the relic for Mishtaw and the Lady of calm Waters’ elusive friend would have to come first with my new time limit, but once that was taken care of I could take the time to figure out what sect might be best.