“That’s what I’ve been trying to determine.”

Ahkio circled the Temple of Oma with his finger. “If you include Kirana, all these deaths occur around Clan Raona. Have there been any deaths there?”

“No,” Ghrasia said. “It may simply be coincidence. I just want to make sure I’m looking at every option. If we have agents inside our country and we’re invaded by a larger force, they could sabotage the harbor gates, poison water supplies, or simply continue to assassinate key citizens.”

Ahkio pulled the map closer. “I kept thinking Kirana was a singular case. But… all these unnatural deaths. If three were already killed at Kalinda Lasa’s…” He traced the rough circle the deaths made around Raona. “What’s in Raona?” he said. “They cultivate rice and wine.”

“And sparrows,” Ghrasia said. “They raise most of the sparrows used by the temples.”

“That doesn’t bring much commerce–”

“No, but it’s key here,” Ghrasia said, and took the map back. “If you have a diverse number of agents and needed access to sparrows to relay information, Raona would be a strong base.”

“If you worked with the local militia to identify strangers requesting sparrows–”

“We may get one or two of them in for questioning,” Ghrasia said. “It could help us track the others.”

“That’s a start,” Ahkio said.

“I’ll need the help of a half dozen Oras,” Ghrasia said. “By all counts, these people are gifted.”

“Nasaka can help you with that.”

“This brings up another issue,” Ghrasia said. “Right now, I have no authority in the clans. I oversee the militia posted at the Kuallina and Liona strongholds. But working with local militia in places like Raona is… challenging.”

“I’m sure they’ll be accommodating.”

“The clans don’t like centralized authority,” Ghrasia said. “But being so decentralized makes us vulnerable.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“I think we should organize the country’s militia under a single hierarchical structure.”

“Out of the question,” Ahkio said.

“You have over a dozen clan leaders downstairs working on changing the government right now. Why not change this?”

“We are not a dictatorship.”

“This is nothing of the sort.” His implication offended her. She couldn’t keep the heat from her voice.

“I only hold this seat because the clan leaders haven’t thrown me out of it,” Ahkio said, “and they only hold theirs because the people haven’t thrown them out. But what citizen can overthrow an armed militia? You might as well tell me to train Oras in martial combat.”

“The Book of Oma was written five hundred years ago. It was a different time. They didn’t face what we do.”

“They had already faced it and lost,” Ahkio said. “In the face of that loss, they changed, and that’s the reason we’re still here.”

“That’s a very loose interpretation of the Book.”

“And in times of great strife–”