The Standing Dead - Stone Dance of the Chameleon 02 (85 page)

Osidian
was
smiling
coldly
as
he
gave
Krow
command of
the
hunt.
The
youth
looked
at
Fern
as
if
he
were measuring
him
up.
Riding
away,
Carnelian
worried
that he
had
made
a
mistake
in
leaving
Fern
behind
at
the mercy
of
Osidian's
followers.

THE GREAT HUNT

Forgive our need, little sister

Receive the salt from our tears

Know that we are grateful for the gift you give us of yourself

Know that we have gloried in your beauty and your strength

Return to sleep in the earth, the mother of all

Until the Skyfather comes to make you rise again

In the uncurling of unending time

(Plainsmen hymn of thanks sung over creatures they have hilled)

Carnelian
followed
Osidian
and
Ravan
into
the
Ancestor House.
In
the
gloom,
he
could
only
just
make
out
the Elders
there
waiting
for
them.
It
felt
very
different
from the
first
time
he
had
appeared
before
them:
many
were known
to
him
now.

'We've
brought
you
here
so
we
might
consider
the
freedoms
which
you
currently
enjoy
within
the
Tribe,'
said Kyte,
in
Vulgate.

Osidian
smiled.
‘I
had
imagined
you
were
going
to
beg me
to
save
you
from
famine.'

Ravan
hesitated,
then
translated
Osidian's
words
for the
Assembly.

Harth
rose
to
her
feet,
eyes
flaming.
The
famine
you've brought
upon
us.'

As
some
of
the
Elders
berated
her,
Osidian
bent
to
hear
Ravan's
translation
of
her
words.
He
gave
an
elegant shrug.
'Can
you
deny
the
benefits
the
Bluedancing
have brought
you?'

Ravan
translated.
Harth
ignored
him
and
addressed the
Assembly.
'We
must
sort
this
out
amongst
ourselves.'

'What
would
you
have
us
do,
Harth?'
someone
said.

'Let's
be
rid
of
the
Bluedancing.'

Her
words
produced
a
murmur
of
protest.
Akaisha rose.
'Would
you
have
us
send
our
own
children
to
the Mountain?'
She
glanced
round
at
the
faces
of
those
whom she
knew
had
grandchildren
marked
for
the
tithe, then
she
looked
back
at
Harth.
'Do
you
want
your
own
son to
have
died
for
nothing?'

Harth
scowled
to
hold
back
tears.
Her
husband, Crowrane,
spoke
up.
'We
could
keep
the
marked Bluedancing
children,
they
wouldn't
be
too
much
to
feed.'

'Shouldn't
we
also
keep
some
of
the
unmarked
ones
so we
might
use
them
to
replace
any
that
might
die?'
said Mossie.

Harth
turned
on
her.
'Why
not
keep
some
of
their women?
I'm
sure
some
of
our
men
could
get
them
with child.
That
way
we
could
breed
children
to
present
to
the next
Gatherer
in
place
of
our
own.'

'It
would
be
heartless
to
separate
them
from
their mothers,'
said
Ginkga.
'Do
we
really
want
to
keep
them here
as
orphans
for
as
long
as
seven
years?'

'Besides,
the
labour
of
the
Bluedancing
frees
us,'
said several
people
at
once.

Harth
looked
suddenly
frail.
'Our
ferngardens
won't yield
any
more
than
they've
always
done;
our
men
already hunt
as
much
as
they
can
and
yet
every
earther
they
bring us
is
immediately
consumed.
We've
been
home
for
more than
a
moon
and
haven't
managed
to
make
a
single
rope of
djada.
Mothers
and
fathers
of
the
Ochre,
if
you're determined
we
must
keep
all
the
Bluedancing,
can
one
of you
tell
me
where
we'll
get
food
for
our
migration?'

Carnelian
considered
her
words.
It
was
a
choice between
starving
or
else
sending
the
Bluedancing
out
to die
on
the
plain,
with
the
consequence
that
Poppy
and
the other
tithe
children
would,
after
all,
have
to
be
sent
into the
clutches
of
the
Masters.

Carnelian
became
aware
Akaisha
was
looking
at
him hoping
for
some
other
way.
He
shook
his
head
and
she looked
disappointed.
Frowning,
she
turned
her
gaze
on Osidian.
'Ravan
told
me
the
Master
knows
a
way
out
of this
dilemma.'

She
looked
at
her
son.
'Ask
him
what
it
is
he'd
have
us do.'

Ravan
relayed
the
question
to
Osidian
who
whispered a
reply.

The
Master
says
that
he
has
in
mind
a
great
hunt;
a new
kind
of
hunt
that
will
bring
the
Tribe
an
abundance of
meat,'
said
Ravan.

'What's
the
bastard
talking
about?'
demanded
Crowrane.

Osidian
muttered
and
Ravan
spoke.
'It
isn't
something that
can
be
described
but
only
something
he
can
do
for you.
If
you
-'

Whin
cut
in.
'Your
price?'

Once
he
had
her
words,
Osidian
gave
Whin
an
angelic smile.
'There's
no
price,
merely
a
question
of
means.'

Carnelian
watched
resignation
and
defeat
come
over the
faces
of
the
Elders
as
Ravan
began
relaying conditions.