I frown, noticing that Perry has a feather in his mouth now. I’m about to ask why so many things are suddenly ending up in his mouth when I see that he’s replacing damaged fletching on his arrows. He plucks the feather from his lips and threads it onto the wooden shaft.

“I’m going to need more than that, Roar. Who isn’t doing what we all think?”

“Your brother,” I say. “People have been wondering what kind of deal he made with the Horns. Bear and Molly think he’s selling off part of the territory in exchange for food. And I’ve even heard a few rumors that he went to pledge the Tides to Sable, but they’re just guesses.” I take a step closer to him. “What if Vale’s plan is something completely different? Something no one’s even thought of?”

Perry brings the arrow to eye level and inspects the goose feather he’s just slotted into place. “It’s possible. He was vague about his plans before he left.”

“That’s right,” I say. “And it would be just like him to do something surprising. Something underhanded.”

Perry cuts a dark glance my way. “That’s not what I said.”

“But it has crossed your mind. He’s devious, Perry. And he’s a hypocrite, too. He marries Mila, a Seer, but he has a problem with Liv and me being together because I’m not a Scire? How can he do that? It should be our choice, not his. Traditions are for the faint of heart. Are you going to refuse to be with anyone who isn’t a Scire?”

Perry sweeps the leftover feathers into his leather satchel. “I’m going to forget you said those things about my brother,” he says without looking at me, “and I won’t waste my time talking about something that’s years away from happening to me, if at all.”

I have no idea what kind of answer that is. “Do you mean you would refuse?”

Perry looks up, his eyes darting past me to the slope below. He jumps to his feet and yanks his bow across his shoulder. I see what he’s spotted. Our replacements, Collins and Wylan, are walking up the hill. Our sentry shift is over.

“Let’s move. Vale and Liv should be back by now,” Perry says, his words clipped. He rushes down the hill, bow in hand, his feet tearing down the grassy slope.

It’s only now, in this very second, that I realize he’s anxious, too.

As Perry and I approach the eastern entrance to the compound, I hear a sound that turns my blood to ice.

Liv is yelling.