Chapter 85

Adel was quiet when Netya brought the tea to her chamber. The den mother sat wrapped in her sleeping furs, watching the fire as she sipped her drink. It seemed she was in need of more comfort than a cup of hot tea could provide, but Netya had not the first idea how to give it. Not to a woman like Adel.

Instead, she settled for tidying the chamber and making sure her mentor had everything she needed. Adel did not speak a word until she set her cup down and unfastened her headdress, slipping out of her furs.

“I am going to bathe,” she said. “Your duties are done for the day. We will carry on tomorrow.”

Netya nodded, but she continued to linger in the seers’ cave after Adel had departed. The den mother was so similar to Khelt in some ways, and yet the two of them could not have been more different. It was no wonder they refused to agree on anything.

Netya made her way to a small side chamber which the seers used for most of their cooking, one of the few with nat