I stepped down from the dais, my moon-silk brushing the marble, and stopped in front of Caleb.
He had spent years looking down on healers. Now he had to lift his head to see me.
“Your strength, Caleb? You never understood where it came from.”
Several Alphas at the nearest tables controlled trade routes through the West. Their packs depended on its roads, harvests, and clean wells.
They leaned closer when I spoke.
“For years, the West had the best harvests and the healthiest people. Plagues from the feral clans died at its border before they reached your villages.”
“You took the credit for every clean well and full storehouse. You called it the Goddess's blessing on your reign.”
I held his gaze. “It came from me.”
“The West survives through its land. I bound my life force to that la
