People of the Mist (71 page)

 
          
Panther’s
toe caught in a withered vine, and Nine Killer reached out a hand to catch him.
That grip, reassuring, steadied more than just Panther’s body. Nine Killer
smiled as he asked, “Are you all right?”

 
          
Panther’s
mouth had gone dry as old leaves. “Yes. Thank you, War Chief.”

 
          
A
wary warrior approached, squinting through the mist. He wore a stuffed
blackbird tied to the right side of his shaved head. “Nine Killer? That’s you,
all right. No other is shorter than a woman, and twice as dumb.” “Intelligence
has never been your strong point, Winged Blackbird. Now, stop jabbering like
your namesake and take the elder to the Mamanatowick. He has important things
to discuss.”

 
          
“Like
the destruction of
Flat
Pearl
Village
, and everyone in it?”

 
          
“Mind
your tongue, warrior,” Panther barked, “or I’ll have your head on a stake!”

 
          
Winged
Blackbird started at the commanding tone, his frown deepening. “This way.” Then
he hesitated. “Nine Killer, leave your weapons here.”

 
          
“He’ll
carry them,” Panther said, “just as an escort for an elder of the Sky Fire Clan
should. And, if you disobey me once more, I shall have more than your head!”

 
          
Winged
Blackbird chewed his lip in indecision, frowned, then started off at a rapid
clip.

 
          
Panther
had to rely on Nine Killer’s steadying hand as he struggled to walk over the
uneven ground. The thick knot of warriors closed in around them, blocking any
retreat.

 
          
“Still
think this was a good idea?” Nine Killer murmured.

 
          
“Better
than the alternative.”

 
          
“First
incest, and now this! Okeus has condemned us!”

 
          
“Gull
droppings! This is nothing more than bad timing.”

 
          
“The
fate of my clan hangs in the balance, and I’m stuck with a heretic.”

 
          
Panther
raised an eyebrow. “I could leave?”

 
          
Nine
Killer smiled in resignation.

 
          
The
Mamanatowick was seated on a blackened stump, a deer hide shelter propped over
him to keep the moisture off. He wore a bobcat hide over his left shoulder, a
great copper gorget on his sunken chest. The breech clout sported the design of
a bobcat in peak and copper beads.

 
          
He
was an older man, his face deeply lined, and his long hair streaked with
silver. Chin propped on his palm, he studied Panther pensively as he and Nine
Killer stopped before him.

 
          
“Greetings,
nephew.” Panther nodded politely. “You’ve done well for yourself. You have your
father’s look. Your mother would be proud.”

           
“And I’m supposed to believe you are
Eight Rocks? The mysterious Eight Rocks who vanished into thin air so long ago?
I see only a withered old man. I am to believe that the witch called The
Panther is my long-lost uncle?”

 
          
“I
didn’t disappear. I left.” Panther crossed his arms. “The reason why is my
own.”

 
          
“Why?”

 
          
“I
told you, that’s my business.”

 
          
Water
Snake glanced at Winged Blackbird. “Go on, attack the village and kill them
all. Start with these two.”

 
          
As
Winged Blackbird turned toward them, Panther said, “Wait!” He took a deep
breath. “Very well, Water Snake. I left because of a woman.” He paused. “Her
name was … was Warm Fall.”

 
          
“She
was my aunt.”

 
          
“If
you are Blue Gill’s son, she is. She was promised to my brother, White Fire.”

 
          
“You’re
telling me… what?” Water Snake made a distasteful face.

 
          
“I’m
telling you that she was promised to my brother, and I was in love with her.
I’m telling you that I couldn’t stand the thought of her going to him. I
despised White Fire. He was a pampered monster, even as a child. And Mother
promised my precious Warm Fall to ii’m!”

 
          
Water
Snake leaned forward, searching Panther’s face as if for a clue to this bizarre
twist. “You were firstborn. You were in line to be Mamanatowick. And you turned
that down because you were denied a woman? You expect me to believe that?”

 
          
“Believe
what you will, nephew. I was a very young man, and I loved her with all of my
soul. She begged me to run off with her, to take her away, but I had learned my
lessons very well. Everything for the clan: duty, honor, responsibility. My
body, soul, and heart belonged to Sky Fire Clan. Instead of dishonoring my clan
by running off with Warm Fall, the woman promised to my brother, I only
dishonored myself. I watched her marry him, watched her take his hand and dance
with him-and in that moment I knew I couldn’t stay, couldn’t live next to her …
next to him.” He shook his head. “I never allowed myself to love another
woman.”

 
          
“Blessed
Okeus,” Nine Killer whispered.

 
          
“Please,”
Panther said, raising his hand. “If you must bless, do it in the name of Ohona.”

 
          
Water
Snake was thinking, his face grim. “The disappearance of Eight Rocks has been a
great mystery. Some things make sense now.”

 
          
Panther
struggled for breath, wondering at the tightness in his chest. “That night was
unbearable. I could only imagine him mounting her. I wanted to beat my brain
out, but instead, I left the village and headed west. I couldn’t stand to
dishonor her any further.”

 
          
“So
you’ve just wandered? Like some ragged Trader?” Water Snake asked. “Why didn’t
you come home? It sounds like you wasted your life.”

 
          
“Yes,
nephew, I wasted a great deal of it.” Panther shrugged. “But come home I did.
And, when this is all over, I shall retire to my island and live the rest of my
life as I please.”

 
          
“If
you are Eight Rocks, you will come back with me. Back to your clan and family.”

 
          
“No,
nephew. I made my choice a long time ago. But for stopping this attack of
yours, I would have died as I have lived: alone and unknown. The only reason I
have revealed myself to you is to keep you from destroying
Flat
Pearl
Village
. I am an elder of Sky Fire Clan—”

 
          
“The
Elder of Sky Fire Clan. The rest are dead.”

 
          
“Very
well. As the Elder, I want this attack stopped.”

 
          
Water
Snake gestured out toward the village, now just visible in the rising mist.
“The usurper who calls himself the Great Tayac is in there! I have waited for
this moment. I can crush two problems with one great blow.”

 
          
Panther
drew himself upright. “Before you do, you will strike me dead. Right here.”

 
          
“Why
are you doing this?” Water Snake cried, rising from his seat. “What are these
people to you?”

 
          
“I
have friends here. One is a young woman by the name of Sun Conch. She’s not
quite a woman yet, but I want her to have that chance—and not as one of your
slaves. Another is named White Otter. I would like her to grow up to become a
woman like her mother.”

 
          
“Because
of your wishes, I should stop an attack I’ve dreamed of for ten Comings of the
Leaves? All that, for a couple of girls!” Water Snake raised his arms
incredulously. “Given what I’ve seen in my life, I can’t think of a better
reason. Make your choice, Mamanatowick: Leave Flat Pearl village, or kill your
clan elder.”

 
          
Water
Snake brooded for a moment. “There’s got to be another way. I could just order
my warriors to hold you until—”

 
          
“No,
Mamanatowick.” Nine Killer stepped forward. “Issue that order, and I will kill
you. I am Nine Killer, War Chief of
Flat
Pearl
Village
. I am the elder’s escort. I am here to
protect him from his enemies.”

 
          
Winged
Blackbird immediately nocked an arrow in his bow, but Water Snake waved him
back. “Elder, your escort is a brave man. Worthy of your status and rank. For
that service, Nine Killer, I shall spare your life.”

 
          
“You
will spare more than that,” Panther growled. “War Chief, hand me your club. If
necessary, I will fight Water Snake for the right to rule the Sky Fire Clan.”

 
          
Water
Snake’s mouth dropped open. “You would challenge me?”

 
          
“It
is my right, under clan law.” Panther took the war club from Nine Killer’s
hand. “I could demand a clan meeting to discuss my claim to the mantle of
Mamanatowick. I am the firstborn son of White Gull, sired by Stone Sliver.”
Panther smiled maliciously. “Or you can call off the attack, and I’ll forget I
ever saw you here.”

 
          
Water
Snake arched an eyebrow. “But what of Copper Thunder? Do you think I should
just let this upstart go as well? I’ve been on the trail for six days now. I am
missing the solstice ceremonies. I’ll not go home empty handed.”

 
          
“No,
you’ll take me back and we’ll discuss your right to be Mamanatowick. That, or
you can carry my body back and explain why you killed your clan elder. That is
all I offer you. Decide, here and now.”

 
          
“I
am not happy about this.” Water Snake glared back and forth between them,
weighing his options, and finding none of them palatable.

 
          
“No,
I suppose not. But, nephew, I know clan law, and my rights, just as well as you
do. You know who I am, don’t you?”

 
          
Water
Snake swallowed distastefully, torn between the desire to destroy his enemies,
and the laws of kinship.

 
          
“Perhaps,”
Nine Killer offered, “you could go home with full bellies? As a member of
Greenstone Clan, I offer you the hospitality of my clan.” He glanced around.
“You have a great many warriors with you; the feast might stretch the
Weroansqua’s resources, but if there was an understanding, say, that there
would be no raiding during the next two Comings of the Leaves, I’d bet that the
Independent villages could recover.” “And, I think I can sweeten’ the broth.”
Panther handed the war club back to Nine Killer. “I offer you the return of
another of your relatives. Today she is called Moth, but you knew her as Sweet
Stick.”

 
          
“Warm
Fall’s sister? She was married to White Fire as a second wife.” Water Snake was
turning the implications over in his head. “The Weroansqua would agree to
this?”

 
          
Panther
said evenly, “I think she would be happy to entertain and feed you and your
warriors. And Moth is slave to a man who owes me a favor. Um, you haven’t
killed anyone yet, have you?”

 
          
“Only
one scout out in the forest. The other got away and warned everyone else that
we were coming.” Water Snake tilted his head. “Perhaps a gift could be given to
the dead warrior’s clan?”

 
          
“It
might be arranged,” Nine Killer agreed.