He smiled briefly. “We aren’t certain the Mountain People will betray our agreement, but if they do, we’ve made other arrangements. Be ready.”
“I’ll pass the word.”
Negano continued walking. To his left the charred palisade of Bur Oak Village rose like a hulking forty-hand tall monster. Widely spaced warriors with bows stood upon the exterior catwalk. The two interior catwalks, however, looked vacant, which meant High Matron Kittle no longer had the warriors to guard them. In addition, many of the guards he could see were white-haired elders or children barely tall enough to peer over the top of the palisade. Yesterday, every time a child had fired, he or she had first climbed up, probably onto a wooden block, to aim and let fly. His warriors had, of course, seen the same thing and begun targeting the children before they fully got into position to aim. Negano had no notion how many they’d killed, but the number had surely left parents reeling with grief.
Today they would fight to their last breaths to justify the sacrifice of their childrens’ lives.
When Negano reached the place in the middle of the line that stood fifty paces from the gates of Bur Oak Village, he stopped and took a long moment to stare up at Sindak who was staring squarely back. The slant of sunlight cast shadows over Sindak’s deeply sunken eyes, but his hooked nose and lean face were clearly identifiable.
As Ohonsta’s message traveled down the line of warriors, it moved from mouth to mouth past Negano, and his warriors stared questioningly at him … then they turned and followed his gaze to Sindak. Barely a handful of days ago, Sindak had been their War Chief. He had led them to victory after victory, and they’d loved him for it. Ominous chatter started. Negano made no attempt to still it.
He was walking a tightrope over the abyss. He had to watch his step. He’d positioned his forces here in the hopes that his words would not get back to Atotarho. If they did, the old chief would suspect treachery and immediately issue an order of his own designed to supercede anything Negano ordered. Would his warriors still obey him if he countermanded their Chief? He didn’t know.
He came to the last man in line and stood silently, his hands clasped behind his back, staring not at his warrior, but up at Sindak. The man had been watching Negano, his gaze following him down the line of warriors. Negano knew the kinds of questions Sindak must be asking himself. He also knew that Sindak must have a nest of vipers slithering around in his belly—just as Negano did.
In the end, everything, everything, came down to a matter of trust.
Fifty-four
Sky Messenger
I’m not sure where I am. Smoke fills the warm air. My left eye won’t open, and all I see through my right eye is a cloudy shifting haze filled with golden twinkles that shoot across my vision like meteors falling to earth. My fingers spastically clench, unclench.
I squint, trying to focus, to make out faces in the haze. All I see are ghostly gray figures spinning like wind-touched mist, without substance or form. Distant voices rush close, then fade to nothingness; I’m not sure they’re real.
I faintly remember being struck with a war club. Many times when warriors are struck in the head one of their eyes goes milky. I think that’s what happened to me.
Somewhere high above me, crows caw, and I hear birds singing. Insects hum in the grass.
Baji? Gitchi? Where are they? Are they right here beside me, guarding me?
Maybe they didn’t escape.…
Pain too terrible to endure suddenly wrenches me, turning me inside out. I think my arms and legs are flopping, but I’m not sure. When the seizure ends, tears leak from my eyes and trail hotly down my cheeks.
I have the vague sensation that my condition is placing everyone around me in danger, and I have the overwhelming urge to run … but I can’t feel my legs.
Fifty-five
Hiyawento followed Disu, sliding through the dry grass on his belly, heading for Saponi, who wore Hiyawento’s Truth Belt around his waist. When the runner had realized Sky Messenger was not here, he’d obviously delivered it to the man in charge. Saponi had wedged himself between two rocks overlooking the battlefield and Bur Oak Village. Even from ten paces away, Hiyawento could see that Saponi’s pockmarked face was cold and gray. The scent of fear sweat filled the air. The rest of Saponi’s warriors crouched behind the boulders that scattered the hilltop.
Disu shifted to whisper, “Let me tell him you’re here.”
Hiyawento nodded and wiped his brow while he waited.
A short while ago, Hadui had begun tormenting the hills, thrashing through the forest and hurling old leaves and gravel like weapons. To the north, a black wall of Cloud People was pushing south, and Hiyawento had the feeling the unseasonably warm weather was about to end.