She didn’t need more prompting. Seeing Naira’s expression made her choice clear. It was the first time she’d seen that look since Naira’s father died. Her own lips trembled before she managed a firm nod.
"I’ll go too," Taigi said. Her voice was quiet but steady. "If you’ll have me, I’ll come."
She turned her gaze back to the elders. Her eyes, usually lowered in subservience, were now direct and devoid of submission.
"Varek was the leader, yes," Taigi began. "But all four of you loved living under his rule. You ate the best food, had servants tend to your every need, and you never raised a single voice when Varek was being cruel or unreasonable."
The elders immediately started protesting, their wrinkled faces contorting in denial.
Taigi didn’t stop.
She closed her eyes for a moment, gathering her resolve, before continuing. "But that’s not all. You enjoyed the new freedom you were granted under that man. Varek had six women in his harem, the ones he liked the most."
She sent a glance toward the small group of women huddled together, who had knelt behind Varek at the feast like silent trophies. Their sole reason for existence was to boost the image of the leader. "They were off limits. Only to be touched by Varek himself."
Her teeth gritted together as she forced herself to continue. "But nearly every single other woman in the longhouse was fair game for Varek and his favorites... and for you." A memory forced itself into her mind, and she shut her eyes briefly. She, too, was a woman in the longhouse.
Naira gasped at Taigi’s side, forced to realize that her best friend had been violated. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she rushed to hug her friend tightly. Taigi hugged back, but her eyes were dry, focused solely on the elders.
"You were cruel to many women, ordering them to do unspeakable things. You did not act like the elders of a tribe, meant to lead with wisdom and experience, at all. You are just disgusting old men who were given the power to hurt others and gladly took the chance."
Silence reigned over the clearing. The only sounds were the shuffling of feet and the ragged breathing of the accused.
Then, a new voice rose, a woman’s voice, quiet at first, coming from the back of the crowd. Another servant stepped forward, her face streaked with tears. "I had been violated against my will as well! They said if I spoke, they’d kill my husband and children!"
"What?!" A man in hunter gear screamed.
The dam broke just like that.
The clearing instantly became a chorus of accusation.
Many women, emboldened by Taigi’s stance, joined in. Their voices rose in a wave of painful truth. Varek’s warriors were widely accused of similar abuses. Though most of the hunters seemed to be respectable family fathers, the culture of silence and threats had allowed the small group of powerful men to rule with impunity. The truth of Varek’s tyranny was laid bare, and the blame was spread across the remnants of the old hierarchy.
The shame and rage that had been bottled up for years finally broke free.
The reaction from the men was immediate and brutal. The husbands, fathers, and brothers of the women who worked in the longhouse grabbed whatever weapons they could find. Hunters drew their bows while others rushed to get their hands on farming or artisan tools. Axes, scythes, heavy hammers, anything, so long as they were usable to brutally murder another man.
The warriors and the elders were instantly surrounded, quickly finding themselves outnumbered. Their resistance was mild at best, as many of Varek’s subordinates had been severely beaten and left bloody by Kaiden in his rage.

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