The Cedna (Tales of Blood & Light Book 2) by Emily June Street Read Free Book Online Page B

This is not sustainable. I must try to use the Cedna’s magic.”
    An older hunt-father who sat across from us joined in. “The last time a Cedna used her magic, she did more damage than good.” He spoke, of course, of the one time my mother had attempted to use her magic to protect our shores. “That magic weakened the Hinge too much. It is not stable. We must endure these dangers without the assistance of magic and conserve whatever power the Hinge holds for winter. The signs say it will be a hard one, and if it is, we will need magic to see us through it.”
    I knew the conservative arguments as well as anyone, but it discouraged me to hear them from an Ikniq. What use was there in protecting the Hinge if we could not protect the people? Just because my mother had lacked the strength to wield the Cedna’s magic safely did not mean I could not. They did not have much faith in me or my magic.
    I lifted my arms above the fire’s embers. It was too early to push the Ikniqs if they did not trust me. “As I told the Kaluq Elders, if I cannot use magic, then we must try a different route. We must go to the Lethemian king and make the Entilans culpable for these wrongs. Malvyna Entila plants her flag on our lands without any right.”
    People in the circle nodded. A thrill of excitement coursed through me. They were on my side!
----
    A s the moon of saranaki flowers waned, we organized a trip to the south. An Ikniq woman, Inarian, who knew the southern tongue well and had been to Queenstown once to trade, was elected to be my guide. I wanted Atanurat, but the Ikniqs voted against it. As we were gathered around a nightfire making our final plans, five figures clad in sealskins emerged from the shadows.
    One of them was Ikselian. She threw her hood back with a grim glare as she stepped into the fire’s light. The Ikniqs shrank from her. Though small, Ikselian commanded a powerful presence.
    “I am the unmoving stone that is Her blood, Ikselian Kaluq Iksraqtaq,” she announced, looking over our circle and the two packed sealskin rucksacks we had supplied for the journey south. “We Kaluqs have heard that the Ikniqs hold a council that touches upon the fate of our island.” Four Kaluq hunt-fathers shifted around Ikselian. “We object to these matters being settled without Kaluq input. I am here to be the voice of the Kaluqs.”
    Ikselian looked colder than a glacier. She was furious with me for coming back to the Ikniqs; I could read it on her face. Yet what could she do? Because the Fire People rightfully hosted the Cedna, when the Kaluqs had taken my mother to live among them, they had created a rift between the two clans. With only four men at her back, Ikselian would not dare to probe that old wound.
    Esteriaq spoke. “The raids have been so bad on our western coast that the Shringars plan to move into Tuq lands for their own protection. We worry. Will the Tuq communities then look north and encroach upon our lands and hunting grounds? If the Cedna’s magical protections truly cannot be risked, then we must send a delegation to the Lethemian king to ask for his aid. Malvyna Entila sanctions these raids, but does the Lethemian king even know about them? Our children become slaves, but they have done no crime! Even according to Lethemian law, only criminals may be made slaves. What House Entila does is illegal, even for the sayantaqs. We must hold them to account for this.”
    Ikselian glared at me across the flickering fire. “There will be no delegation. The ignorant southerners profane our magic. If we participate in their courts it appears we give credence to their laws. We will be little better than sayantaq ourselves! And any who travel there would be tainted.” A few Ikniqs murmured their agreement. This argument had been made around our fire earlier.
    “Iksraqtaq are dying,” I said. “We cannot sit by and let the Entilans destroy us.”
    “Who are you to speak on such matters?” snarled Ikselian. “You