Panther shot her a glance. “And what did you decide?” ‘
“Elder, I love him. I could not stand by and watch someone break his arms and legs and throw him headfirst onto a bonfire. I—”
“Nothing comes without its price, Sun Conch. We all must pay for our errors, as High Fox must if he killed this young woman. As you found out when you came to my island and gave yourself to me. Tell me, were the circumstances reversed, and you had been accused, do you think High Fox would have done what you did?”
“I would like to think so.”
“Bah! You would “‘like to think so? “Would like’? What kind of words are those? To me, they sound like the kind of baby dribble that people use to fool themselves.”
Sun Conch exhaled hard. “You don’t think much of High Fox, do you?”
Panther stopped at the palisade gate. “No, Sun Conch, I do not. No matter that his father is the Weroance of Three Myrtle Village, or that he comes from a powerful clan, he will forever be one of those mediocre people, afraid to take the step that would make them outstanding. He will be a man without commitment, without the fiber in his soul to be a great leader. Unlike you, he won’t pay the price to be outstanding.”
Sun Conch frowned and fingered her war club. “I don’t understand, Elder. He took a very great chance by asking Red Knot to run away with him. He was willing to give up everything for her. Isn’t that paying the price?”
Panther pulled at the loose skin on his chin. “Answer me this, Sun Conch. Let’s say you were in his position. You’ve asked the love of your life to run off with you.” You find her, dead, freshly murdered on the top of the ridge. What is the first thing you do? Now, think before you speak. Be honest with yourself, and me.”
“I have thought about it, Elder,” Sun Conch answered, “But I really don’t know. Assuming I didn’t panic like High Fox, I think I would have… Well, but I’m not sure. Talking about it later isn’t the same.”
“Ah, wisdom! Very good, Sun Conch. But I would wager that even if you’d run in panic—which I doubt-you would have turned back, accepted your responsibility, and born the consequences.”
“I hope you are correct, Elder.”
“Alas, if I am not, I’ve forgotten more about people and their ways than I think I have. And, now, let us go and see this Black Spike.”
They entered the palisade, through the narrow passage between the overlapping walls. From gaps between the posts, arrows could be fired from relative safety into exposed attackers. On the way, they passed four armed warriors who stood wrapped against the cold. Panther couldn’t help but notice the warding signs they made with their fingers. The sight sobered him. Ohona help him if someone suddenly came down sick and died, or someone shot a deer that had no heart or liver. Humans could be violently irrational when it came to notions of witchcraft.
The muscular warrior named Big Noise met them at the opening into the village. “What is your purpose, Panther?” The man’s eyes seemed to gleam, and he kept a safe distance between them.
“I have come to see Black Spike, Weroance of Three Myrtle Village.”
“Come this way, but be warned, at any sign of trouble, I will act to protect my chief and village.”
“I would expect nothing less of a responsible warrior,” Panther agreed.
Big Noise glanced at Sun Conch. “And what is your part in this, girl?”
Sun Conch’s expression remained wooden. “I belong to The Panther. I do as he tells me.”
Big Noise almost missed a step, his face stunned. “You belong—”
“Yes,” Sun Conch replied mildly. “I have given him my soul. But it wasn’t through witchery, Big Noise. I did it of my own free will. I will serve The Panther with my life. Do you understand?”
Big Noise gulped hard, and nodded, then led them quickly around the thatched houses, across the plaza with its big ceremonial fire pit and Guardian posts, in front of the House of the Dead, and to the high-roofed Great House that belonged to Black Spike.
“A moment, please,” Big Noise said, gesturing for them to stop. “I will tell the Weroance of your arrival.”
Big Noise ducked under the door hanging, leaving them alone in the cold evening. Panther said, “If I really were a witch, I’d take this opportunity to change into an owl and wreak havoc. What kind of incompetence is this, leaving dangerous; fiends like us. alone to commit mischief?”
“Elder, Big Noise is known for fighting. No one has much regard for his thinking.”
“I see why.”
At that moment, Big Noise emerged into the night, held the flap to one side, and gestured them inside.