Chapter Forty-FourNever in Vaxi's young life had she felt more excited than when the trees comprising the Circle of Union swam into focus on the horizon. After a day and a half of crossing the open, grassy savanna, she had prayed she was leading her new allies in the right direction. The recent rains had softened the earth and obliterated any remaining kova tracks. It was only by sheer instinct gained from years of hunting these plains that she hadn't led them miles off course.
Pangs of regret knifed through her as she recalled skulking away from the village in the dead of night, Sojourning to Darad with the hopes of becoming pregnant with the Ixtrayu's first child since Nyla's birth. It felt like an entire season had passed since then.
She gradually eased up on her merych's reins, gestu
