Ivory Carver 02 - My Sister the Moon (21 page)

WOMAN OF THE SUN AND KIIN SAT TOGETHER IN the ulaq. Woman of the Sun had begun another weaving, and Kiin had offered to help her. Woman of the Sky had left the ulaq while it was still morning, and now it was noon. 

"She will not tell the men about your babies," Woman of the Sun said. 

The thought had not occurred to Kiin, but she nodded, wondering at the trust she now had in the two women. 

"Too many of the men would kill both babies at birth, taking good with bad." 

"You must do what is best for your village," Kiin replied, her fingers sorting and rolling lengths of grass for the weft of the mat. Then Kiin realized that her words had come easily, without stammering. A good sign, she thought. A good sign. 

"Yes," said Woman of the Sun. "My sister and I have agreed that there are only two men in the village strong enough to be your husband. She went to make sure at least one of them makes an offer for you." 

Kiin's hands tightened on the ball of grass she was holding. Qakan had little power. His spirit was weak. Why should he be allowed to claim her for trade? The old women had food and a warm ulaq. Kiin would be safe with them. She cleared her throat and asked, "Could I stay here and take no husband?" 

Woman of the Sun laid her hands in her lap and looked at Kiin. "Every woman wants a husband," she said. "And the two we seek for you are the most powerful men in the tribe. 

Ice Hunter is the one who brought you here last night. He is chief hunter, but his wife died two summers ago and in his grief he has not taken another. The other man is Raven. He hopes to become shaman of our tribe. He has two wives, but he is a man who always wants more." She picked up several strands of grass. "I would choose Ice Hunter," she said. "He even speaks the First Men's language. But perhaps he will not make an offer." 

Kiin smiled, remembering Qakan's awkward use of the Walrus language when all the while Ice Hunter understood First Men words. 

"Ice Hunter seems to be a good man," Kiin answered. "But I do not want a husband. If I stayed with you, I could help in many ways. I could gather sea urchins and bird eggs. I will help you weave." 

"We weave death mats," said the old woman. "With the babies you carry, it is best you do not help us much." 

Kiin quickly raised her hands from the grass she was sorting, but Woman of the Sun smiled and said, "This is only a ulaq curtain. Something for us." 

Kiin cleared her throat. "I will bring food. I can fish, dig clams." 

"We are given food for our mats," the woman said. "And Ice Hunter brings us much meat." She smiled. "He is my sister's son." 

The words did not surprise Kiin. There was a strength in Ice Hunter that spoke of Woman of the Sky's care. But then Kiin realized the compliment Woman of the Sky was giving her when she asked Ice Hunter to consider Kiin as wife. 

"Why do you not want a husband?" Woman of the Sun asked. 

For a long time Kiin did not answer, but finally she looked at the old woman and when their eyes met, she said, "I have a husband among the First Men." 

"You have other children?" 

"No", Kiin said quietly. 

"Ice Hunter told us that the man who brought you here owns you as slave. That he captured you from the Whale Hunter 

tribe. But you are of the First Men. That is one of the things I learned about you in the vision." 

"Yes, I belong to the First Men," Kiin said. 

"Then why did the man who brought you lie?" 

"It is his nature to lie." 

Woman of the Sun stared at her, then closed her eyes and began a gentle rocking. With eyes still closed she said, "He claims to be father to your babies. But he hurt you. He forced you. You did not want him." 

The old woman opened her eyes. "That is not enough to bring the curse you carry." 

"He is my brother," Kiin said softly. 

For a long time, Woman of the Sun said nothing. Kiin felt the babies move within her, and she placed a hand on her stomach. 

Then Woman of the Sun asked, "Why did you come with him?" 

Kiin pulled back the sleeves of her suk and held up her scarred wrists. "He forced me," she said. "He told our people I had drowned, then brought me here." 

Woman of the Sun closed her eyes. "Is your other husband a shaman or a great hunter?" 

"No," Kiin said, lowering her head. "He is only a boy. Just this summer he took his first sea lion." 

"Then you must know you cannot go back to him. He would not be strong enough to stand against the curse of your children. Do as my sister and I say. You will have protection." 

The ulaq door flap opened and Woman of the Sky stepped inside. "They are ready for the trading," she said. "Both Ice Hunter and Raven will offer a bride price." 

The large ulaq glowed with light. Eight openings in the roof let in outside light, and niches in the side walls were crowded with burning oil lamps. 

Woman of the Sun led Kiin into the ulaq, and the people made a way for them, many of the women bowing their heads as Woman of the Sun passed. The old woman squeezed Kiin's 

hand, and a surge of strength coursed up Kiin's arm. Then instead of looking down, Kiin raised her head, met the eyes of those staring at her. 

The children were round-cheeked and fat, many with beautiful eagle skin parkas. One little girl reached out shyly and touched Kiin. Kiin smiled at her. She reminded Kiin of Amgigh's baby sister, and the pain of the remembering made Kiin's eyes burn, but she forced back her tears. She could not return to her people. Even Woman of the Sun said so. 

Woman of the Sun stopped to talk several times, but they finally broke out into the open space at the center of the ulaq. Four men sat there, each with a pile of trade goods. Kiin recognized the tallest man, though his face was no longer painted. Woman of the Sun leaned close, and whispered, "Ice Hunter." 

Of the other three, one was an old man, bent and white-haired, another was young, perhaps only two or three summers older than Kiin. The third man was neither young nor old. His face was heavily marked with tattoos—straight black lines on his chin like the tattoos of the Whale Hunters, and chevrons, one following another, over both cheeks until the points met and crossed at his nose. His hair, black as a cormorant's wing, was so long that it touched the floor when he squatted beside his trade goods, and it was greased so that the oil lamps were reflected in its darkness. His eyes were narrow and slanted, but the brown circles of his irises were so large that Kiin could not see the white around them except when he looked to one side or the other. 

Woman of the Sun raised her hands. The murmur of voices that had filled the ulaq stopped. The old woman said something, the words in the rhythm of the Walrus tongue. 

"I told them you were the one to be given as bride," she said to Kiin in a low voice. "I told your man to come and claim you." 

"He is not my man," Kiin said, but the old woman left and Qakan took her place. 

He smirked at her and said, "I hope you had a good bed during the night. Look, see her?" He pointed toward a woman 

in the crowd. She was young and carried her head high, and she was beautiful, her cheekbones tall in her face, her lips small and pouting. She smiled at Qakan and slowly closed her large eyes, then turned to say something to a woman beside her. When she turned her head, Kiin saw that a wide section of her hair was yellow, lighter than the gold of willow twigs in early spring. 

"I shared her bed," Qakan said. 

Kiin's eyes widened, and for a moment she thought that Qakan was telling another of his lies. But then Qakan smiled at the woman, and the look that passed between them told Kiin that her brother spoke the truth. 

"She is wife to the shaman, Raven." 

Kiin said nothing, but a fear began to grow in her. If the Raven gave wives in hospitality, would not all Walrus men do the same? She had spent too many nights with traders, but could a woman defy her husband? 

Then Kiin's spirit said, "Why are you surprised? You have heard your father's boasts after trading visits to the Walrus People." 

"How many women did you have?" he would ask Big Teeth, and then claim that he had taken a different woman each night. 

"Remember, you do this to protect the First Men," her spirit voice said, the words a comfort to Kiin, something that slowed her heart and pulled her mind from its own thoughts to the realization of what was happening around her. 

Qakan sat down, but when Kiin squatted beside him, he hissed, "You must stand." She stood slowly, moving a short distance from him. She felt awkward, standing in the center of the circle, most of the people watching her, but then an old man stepped from the crowd. With a loud voice, he quieted the people then pointed to the four men offering a bride price and returned to his place. 

Each of the four men said a few words. Then they laid out their trade goods. 

They offered walrus skins, bundles of lemming hides, pouches of shell beads, grass mats and ulaq curtains. The 
old man offered a basket filled with crude spearheads, one of shiny black obsidian. But the youngest man had a walrus tusk, its surface completely carved with men hunting. When he held it out, Kiin gasped. The piece was as beautiful as anything she had seen. The young man smiled at her, but Kiin dropped her eyes, suddenly remembering that she must go to Ice Hunter or the Raven, no one else. 

Ice Hunter had the largest stack of furs. One of the hides was covered with long yellow-white fur. He unrolled it slowly, and Kiin could see that it was stiff, but the fur was long, and Ice Hunter yanked at it with both hands, showing that the hide was well-tanned, none of the fur pulling out. 

The Raven offered fewer furs, but the ones he had were furs that carried some special sign of luck. All the lemming skins were banded with white at the neck, and three pieces of walrus hide carried a strip of black hairs the length of the back. Two fur seal skins were pure black, no marks on them. 

Qakan looked up at Kiin, squinted his eyes and licked his lips. He spoke to the Raven and the man pulled something from a pile behind him. It was an amulet. The shaman opened the bag and pulled out its contents: an obsidian spearhead, perfect in shape but as small as the tip of a man's finger, a thin bracelet of braided sea lion whiskers; a whale shape, cunningly cut from baleen; a tiny ivory box with fitted lid, inside a chunk of red ochre; a bear tooth; and an intricate braid of dark, coarse hair. Kiin knew the pouch was a hunter's amulet, each object except the spearhead from some animal of great power. 

The Raven cocked his head and looked at Kiin through slitted eyes. A chill prickled her skin. She was a woman to be traded. All men looked at her with wanting in their eyes. But the Raven's look was something more, something that made Kiin's spirit pull itself tight against her backbone. 

Qakan looked at the other men, asked a question. The Raven's gifts were best. Kiin knew there was no question of their worth. The youngest man turned and spoke to a woman behind him. She dragged out a pile of white furs, long-haired 
and soft, the bound stack as high as a man's knees. He cut the babiche that held the pile and pulled out several of the furs, each perfect and perfectly tanned. 

"Fox furs," Qakan whispered to Kiin and chuckled. "Fox?" Kiin said. But then she remembered hearing Big Teeth talking about the small, sharp-toothed animals. Larger than lemmings, smaller than seals. 

Then the Raven, too, drew out a bundle of fox furs. Some white, some nearly black. 

The furs drew a murmur from the people, but Qakan i shrugged one shoulder and shook his head. He looked at i the old man, but the old man only smiled and held out empty i hands. 

Qakan stood and pulled Kiin to him. "Lift your suk," he i demanded, but Kiin, curling her lips, answered, "They know i I am w-with child. D-do you think you can f-f-force more for I a trade by acting as though they are so s-stupid as to have f forgotten?" 

Qakan scowled and raised his hand as though to strike her, 
but then Woman of the Sun, speaking in the First Men's 
tongue, said, "She sings. In my vision, I heard her. She makes 
I songs of great power. Every hunter needs songs of power." 

Qakan, anger snapping in his eyes, hissed, "Sing." 

Kiin looked at those around her then closed her eyes. 
 Always there was a song close to her, rising from her heart 
 into her throat, the words dancing as men and women dance 
to celebrate something with joy; but this day, the sorrow and 
fear in Kiin's chest made something not quite a song, more 
a cry of mourning, lift itself into her mouth, and she began a 
high chant of sorrow for the old man and for the young man, 
 for Ice Hunter and for this people. The words came, a new 
song, something Kiin had not sung before: 

For your gifts, for your trading 

I give you curses. 

For the furs you have taken from earth and sea 

I give you sorrow. 

There is evil here. 

Where are your spirits? 

Do they not feel what I bring? 

Why do you fight to curse yourselves? 

Why do you greet me with joy? 

There is evil here. 

This song she sang, once, twice, until Qakan, smiling at ail those around, turned his back to Kiin but clasped one of her wrists, and, keeping it hidden between them, squeezed until the small bones ached. 

"You curse us with your song," he whispered. 

"They d-d-do n-not understand the wor. . . words," Kiin replied and jerked her hand away, holding her arm and rubbing her wrist so the men who traded for her could see he had hurt her. 

Qakan began to speak again in the Walrus tongue, and then so suddenly that Kiin could not react, he pushed his hands under her suk and brought out the whale tooth shell. 

Kiin's eyes widened. She had been careful to keep the shell under her suk, afraid that if Qakan saw it too closely and realized it was whale tooth not shell, he would demand to add it to his trade goods.