Bramblepoint behind her tired eyes

my klikalida will ascend to shouna when i become wanheda. she explains, subtly implying that until that time the rank will remain dormant, but she understands where there might be confusion. klikalida and worlida are only temporary leadership ranks. they are not meant to stay in affect for long periods of time. ideally, once i become wanheda i will begin looking for and training a child chosen by the spirits of the commander to groom for the possibility of becoming wanheda which can only happen with my death. and while she is ( very ) young and still very much vibrant with life her mother's tragedy has made her cruelly aware that anything could happen. she must be prepared. there must always be a commander.

i trust my klikalida, she tells him resolutely ...though she can see aleks' point. as nice as a sediment as it sounds — as she has spoken the idea aloud that anyone can be commander she knows that it was just that: an fantastical idea but it wasn't entirely up to her. any child can be trained to be the commander but the spirits of the commanders pst have to chose them for them to ascend. hadn't, originally, blodreina told her that sadgeda had to happen? where the single born children faced off in a fight to the death with the victor as commander? as the chosen of the spirits of the commanders past? he cannot keep me from becoming the commander. praimfaya explains quietly ...and she didn't think he would. out of honor of their traditions and certainly not when he had the chance to groom her into the heda she had every potential to be, the heda he desired to see in command.

aleks' next question was much easier for praimfaya to tackle: it involved less explanation of how their culture worked, how it was structured from the top down: and as she is still learning herself she can only hope that what she does know and that her ideas are enough ( for now, anyway ). what any leader does, really. contribution. i expect my kru to hone their skills to be the best at what they're good at. roangeda is for the strong but strength isn't only just brute force. a mind could be just as lethal a weapon, praimfaya thinks, a slightly coy smile tugging at the corners of her lips before it flits away like a mischievous will-o-wisp. loyalty. she adds. loyalty to their commander, loyalty to their kru. to be kru is to be family and family is the most important.