People of the Raven (North America's Forgotten Past) (7 page)

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Authors: W. Michael Gear,Kathleen O'Neal Gear

BOOK: People of the Raven (North America's Forgotten Past)
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“Is dead. Her village was destroyed over two moons ago, on her brother, Cimmis’s, orders. If you are her daughter, you were taken slave by Ecan. A lesson to the other matrons who might be inclined toward disobeying Cimmis’s orders.” He rose to his feet and studied her. “But I am curious. Your name—it’s not one of the North Wind People’s.”
Evening Star nervously wet her lips. “My mother spent most of her life among Raven People. When I was born, it was a different time. Attitudes were different. Evening Star was a friend to my mother, a woman who helped her in a time of need. I was named in her honor. Matron Naida taught me your language and something of your beliefs and manners as a way of preparing me since I would be responsible for the Raven People in my territory. She had great respect for your people. I think that’s why she’s dead. Neither the Council nor my uncle could allow her such traitorous extravagances.”
A log popped in the fire, and the sudden wavering burst of light painted her stunning face and sent fiery threads through her hair. It was the color he imagined a dye master could achieve if she blended red coral with polished copper.
“Why would your uncle spare you? With your mother gone, you are the next matron of the Ash Fall Clan, are you not?”
She nodded, and glistening red waves fell over her shoulders. “I would be, if I had a clan.”
“How many survived the attack?”
“I think a few of my kinsmen escaped. I don’t know how many. No word has come to me of where they might have gone.” She glanced at him, a wary curiosity in her eyes.
Rain Bear inhaled a breath and let it out slowly. The survivors would come looking for her. If they found her here … “I have heard, Matron Evening Star, that those of your kin who survived fled eastward, across the mountains. Beyond that, I know nothing more.”
“Matron?” Her expression strained. “Please, Chief Rain Bear, do not call me that. The last man who did …”
Grief briefly tightened her features; then she lifted her pointed chin, and hatred shook her voice. “Starwatcher Ecan took me as his slave while I was standing in a pool of my mother’s blood. I’m sure Cimmis thought it was the ultimate insult to my mother’s memory.”
“How did you escape from Fire Village?”
She studied him through steely blue eyes, as if trying to gauge how much she could safely say. “That need not concern you, only that I did, and I am here now.”
He, too, considered. The story he’d heard was that Kenada himself was keeping her captive. He had a reputation for cutting babies from the living wombs of captive women.Yet she had slipped past his watchful eye?
His expression must have pinched.
“You think I’m lying?” Her blue eyes sharpened.
“Well, it just seems unlikely, that’s all. Kenada is legendary.”
Defiantly, she said, “A legend is all that he is now. And the sooner forgotten, the better.”
“You mean he’s dead?”
She walked around the fire and stopped less than a pace from him. Her cape swayed around her lithe body. When she looked up into his eyes, he swore his heart began to flutter. Rot take it, he hadn’t had such a reaction in years. What was it about her?
She said, “I slit his throat and ran.”
“You
killed
Kenada?”
“Just tell me how I can find Dzoo, and I will be gone from your village immediately. I do not wish to place you or your people at risk.”
“It’s a two-day run if you travel by trail across the passes. You might make it in three days if you go by canoe to the mouth of the Wolverine River, then take the north trail along the bank.” He made
a gesture at her blank look. “No matter.You’ll never make it. Refugees are arriving as we speak. Ecan burned their villages, and his war party is between you and Dzoo.”
He could see her wilt inside, like a popped fish bladder.
“Matron … excuse me, Evening Star, traveling anywhere will expose you to capture.”
She seemed to will herself erect again, and then stepped close. She searched his eyes, asking, “You were husband to Tlikit?”
He nodded. “For ten and five years.”
“She gave up everything for you.”
“We gave up everything for each other,” he corrected.
Her searching gaze continued to probe. For long moments, they stood in silence, each trying to see into the other’s soul.
Finally she said, “I came here to ask for Dzoo’s protection. Since she is not here, I must ask for yours. Will you give it, or should I go elsewhere? I haven’t much time. Please tell me quickly.”
By midday every village for a day’s walk would know who she was and that Rain Bear had denied her sanctuary. By nightfall, villages within a day’s run would hear. By the time she made it that far, someone would have captured her to gain favor with Ecan and Cimmis.
But if he offered his protection, could he see it through? Guards would have to protect her day and night. What if Ecan showed up at the head of a war party demanding her back? Could he face down Ecan, Cimmis, and the might of the North Wind People? So many things could go wrong it was stunning.
“Why would you ask this of me?”
“Were she alive, Tlikit would be my cousin. What would she have told you to do?” She arched a delicate eyebrow. “I can help you, Chief. I know some of the things that are being planned by the Council. Orders that Cimmis will be giving.”
“Such as?”
“You are right about Ecan’s war party. They’ll be here soon.”
“Why would he come here? We delivered the tribute we owed Cimmis. I had to strip my village to …” And it hit him. “He’ll be coming for you.”
She smiled grimly. “I’m only incidental. He is headed for War Gods Village, and passing through your village will give him a chance to analyze your strength and disposition before they attack this place. You only think you’re safe, Great Chief.”
“Why attack us?”
“Because they must. You’re too dangerous to ignore. You’re a leader, a man trusted by the people. You alone could rally the Raven
People to resist. Even some of the North Wind People would back you.”
“I have no desire to rally my people against yours.”
“Not yet, perhaps, but you will, Rain Bear. One day, sooner or later, you will lead the Raven People against them, and the Council knows it.”
E
vening Star studied Rain Bear as he removed his cape and stalked a few paces away to throw it atop the pile of grass mats stacked near the entry. Long black hair fell around his broad shoulders. He looked angry and incredulous.
He was lean at the waist, broad-shouldered, and quick on his feet. He stood a little taller than she. The red leather knee-length shirt conformed to ripples of muscle as he moved. Several pouches, a stone-headed ax, and deer-bone stiletto were belted at his waist.
She said, “You have three, maybe four days before Ecan arrives.”
“Three or four days,” he said. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
The lines around his eyes and mouth deepened into a fiercely predatory expression. “How do you know he plans to attack us?”
Evening Star told him boldly, “I heard Kenada speaking with a runner. The man was very excited about the attacks on your northern villages. Kenada said, ‘Good. Within a quarter moon, my brother will take the struggle into Rain Bear’s own lodge.’”
Rain Bear’s unblinking gaze bored into her. “Why should I believe you? You are no friend to my people.”
“Friendship has nothing to do with it. I am bargaining with you. Information for protection.”
Rain Bear thought for a moment. “How many warriors does he have?”
“It was reported to Kenada that he had assembled ten tens.”
Rain Bear closed his eyes for a moment. “Sandy Point Village has barely three tens of warriors, and that’s if I pull every old man and boy from his house and force him to fight. Blessed Spirits, how can we—”
“You will defeat him.”
“Really? How?”
“Because now you have me.”
He didn’t speak for several moments. “Is your information that valuable to me?”
“
I
am that valuable to you.”
She couldn’t tell if it was amusement or suspicion that danced in his dark eyes. Rain Bear crouched, pulled a branch from the woodpile, and roughly tossed it into the flames.
Her heart hammered hollowly as she waited.
He appeared to be concentrating on the sparks that danced up from the fresh tinder. Then, suddenly, he rose to his feet and swung around to glare at her. His long black hair, bluish in the firelight, fell over the front of his red shirt.
“Matron, what makes you think I won’t turn you over to save my village?”
Fear shot ice through her heart. She hoped that no sign of the terror in her breast betrayed itself on her face. She took her most desperate gamble. “Because I am more valuable to you alive than dead at Ecan’s hand. I think you’re smart enough to know what my support will be worth to you. When you are pushed into war, you are going to need a woman from the Ash Fall Clan, someone who gives your cause validity with the North Wind People.”
He weighed her words before asking, “What kind of life do you imagine you will have here, Matron? If I give my people reasons to protect you, I think they will, but you will be forever Outcast. No North Wind man will ever dare speak to you, let alone consider marriage. You will grow into a lonely old woman.”
Evening Star turned away.
“Your life here will be miserable,” he continued. “If you help us, your people will label you a traitor. You will never be able to leave Sandy Point Village. Never see relatives again, Cimmis’s warriors will always be waiting somewhere nearby, hoping you will expose yourself.” He hesitated. “And then there are the Wolf Tails.”
Tears pressed hotly at the corners of her eyes, but her voice came out strong. “Kenada talked in front of me as though I was not there.
He repeated many of the things said in Council by our Four Old Women.”
Rain Bear’s expression didn’t change, but the gleam in his eyes betrayed a new level of interest. Unlike the Raven People, the North Wind People traced descent through the female. The Four Old Women were the most powerful individuals in the North Wind world. They made all of the important decisions in Fire Village. Chief Cimmis just carried them out.
Rain Bear said, “For example?”
Evening Star struggled to control her emotions. How long would he torture her before telling her yes or no?
“They are considering replacing Cimmis as chief.”
“But … how can they? Matron Astcat is the leader of the Council.”
“That may not last long. My aunt is not well, Rain Bear. People have begun whispering that her soul is loose.” Which to the North Wind People meant either she was insane or unconscious.
Rain Bear rubbed his forehead. He looked sick in the soul, like a man who had just discovered his wife had been unfaithful to him and who couldn’t figure out how to shove his guts back inside.
Now was the time to make the last cast of the gaming pieces. “As to how I would live among your people, another North Wind woman did quite well here. Her name was Tlikit. I hear she had a most satisfying life.”
He strode briskly to the door, a decision made.
Evening Star watched him, her heart aching. Gods, why wouldn’t he face her?
When he reached the exit, he pulled the leather curtain aside without looking back, and said, “I grant you sanctuary in Sandy Point Village, Matron. Do not make me regret it.”
She found enough breath to whisper, “Thank you, Great Chief.”
As he stepped out into the misty morning, she heard him order, “Dogrib, pick five men. I want them to build a suitable lodge in the space next to mine. And I want it done right, not a slapped-up mess. Pitch, you must find Dzoo and bring her here. Accept no excuses. Tell her we are about to be attacked. Get your things and go immediately.” A pause. “Oh, and you’ll have to avoid Ecan’s war party in the process.”
Evening Star tilted her head back, spilling her hair down her back. She took a deep breath, the memory of Ecan’s cackling laughter deep in her soul.

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