Page 149 of Circle of Days

“Because the farmer women are no longer going to the revel?”

“Exactly.”

Troon said: “And we will have a poet!”

Troon let them talk excitedly for a few moments, then held up a hand for quiet. “We will hold the feast here in the village center, beside the river. And naturally people will be encouraged to trade.”

Pia wondered how the herders would react to this. It was a direct challenge to their Midsummer Rite, which was important to them. They would not take it lightly. But what could they do?

“First we need to spread the word,” Troon said. “I’m appointing six people to travel, in pairs, west, north, and east, to tell everybody. When I call your name, please come forward.”

Pia thought he might send the Young Dogs, but he was smarter than that. He began to recite the names, and they were all women. That was unexpected, when Troon still would not allow women to go to the Monument for the Rites.

The chosen ones moved to the front, as instructed. To Pia’s surprise she was among those picked. She wondered why Troon was willing to risk her leaving the farmland. How did he know she would come back?

She was paired with Rua, a woman of her own age who had a son of ten or eleven midsummers called Eron. She made her way to the front, still carrying Olin. When she looked at the other women, she said: “Oh, no.”

They all had babies or children.

Pia understood now why Troon was so sure they would return. She knew what he would say next.

“I’m confident that all of you will gladly return to Farmplace. But just in case there might be a traitor hiding among you, you will have to leave your children here.”

Reflexively, Pia held Olin tightly to her chest. She did not want to leave him. He would be perfectly well cared for by Yana, his grandmother, but Pia’s feeling was instinctive.

She and Rua were assigned to the north, where the flint pits were. They had to tell the miners they could trade their flints for wheat and barley and cheese, with no danger of being killed by woodlanders.

Troon finished by saying: “You leave tomorrow.”

Ani decided that she should have an ally in the elder group, now that Scagga had brought in his sister. She invited Kae, the kindhearted mother of Vee and Cass. Now there were two wolves and two does, with Keff to keep order.

They met to discuss the shocking news that the farmers were going to hold a feast on Midsummer Day.

Keff said: “They have sent messengers all over the Great Plain. And if people go to the farmer feast they can’t come to ours.”

Ani said: “This is terrible news. Our Spring Rite was so lackluster. The Monument is unimpressive now that it’s damaged and rickety. The farmer festival could even overtake ours in popularity.”

“The Monument has nothing to do with it,” said Scagga. “The people stayed away from our Spring Rite for fear of another woodlander attack.”

Jara nodded. “I think that’s right.”

Ani thought it was neither one thing nor the other, but both. She said: “In any case, what are we going to do? The herder community is in crisis, and we are their elders. What do we say to them?”

Scagga said: “We must resist the temptation to act as if better times are already with us. We’ve had some rain, that’s all. It might be a short interlude in a long drought. Until we know, we must continue with rationing and serve less meat at the feast.”

“So our Midsummer Rite will be even less attractive.”

“It will use up less of our shrinking herd.”

“May I suggest an alternative approach?”

“Waste of time.”

Keff directed an annoyed look at Scagga and said to Ani: “Of course you may. Please go ahead.”

“Thank you.” She took a breath. “Our Midsummer Rite has always been the event of the year for the Great Plain and beyond. The ceremony, the feast, the poets, and the revel—people often say it has been the most exciting time of their lives.”

Scagga said: “So what?”