People of the Morning Star(147)
“You talking to me?”
“Keep some respect in your eyes when looking at Night Shadow Star, or I’ll pop them out of your head like hazelnuts from the shell. I won’t have a drooling wretch like you stripping her clothes off, even if it is only in your imagination.”
Seven Skull Shield chuckled. “And you’ll do this how?”
“When I deal with you, it won’t be in a shit-filled, dead-end passage.”
“Now I’m shivering with fear.” He bent his head closer. “What did they do? Slice open your sack and take your balls while you were hanging out there in the rain? I swear that woman might be any man’s Spirit Dream, to have been put together like that.”
He paused, seeing the anger flashing behind Fire Cat’s eyes. “Ah, but wait. You’d know all about her charms, wouldn’t you? Sitting there day by day, ‘guarding’ her from assassins and who knows what else.”
“That’s it,” Fire Cat hissed with finality. “You’re a dead man.”
Seven Skull Shield grinned, returning to his prior stance. “Thought you hated her.”
“Who, or how, I hate, is none of your concern, thief. From what I hear, though, I shouldn’t be surprised. The rumor is that you’d be satisfied to stick that tow rope of yours into anything moving, and if not, the closest charnel house will provide something equally satisfactory.”
He felt a cold chill run through him, eyes slitting. “You and me, Red Wing. Just as soon as opportunity permits.”
“Wouldn’t miss it. And in the meantime, keep your shit-slathered eyes off my lady.”
His lady?
At that moment the Morning Star walked out from his room in the back. As usual, he was resplendent. An immaculate white apron was hanging down between his knees. On it, embroidery depicted the Cahokian sun symbol in black thread. A falcon-feather cape hung from his shoulders. The magnificent headdress depicted Hunga Ahuito, with his two heads, perched on high.
With a gesture of his hand, Morning Star excused the recorders and advisors, waiting until they had filed out of the room, taking the servants and slaves with them.
Only when they were finally alone, the moaning of the wind in the thatch and the crackling of the fire the only sounds, did he mount his dais and seat himself in the high chair. His head remained fixed, eyes staring into the distance.
So, is he Chunkey Boy playing at being a god? Or is he really the Morning Star?
Seven Skull Shield cocked his head, studying the young man in the dazzling costume. He tried to see the jealous Chunkey Boy, his face twisted in rage as he beat a rival’s hand to pulp. Somehow that image didn’t conjure when compared to the ostentatious figure before him.
“What have you come to report?” Morning Star asked.
“The Piasa sends his greetings, Lord,” Night Shadow Star stated coldly as she stepped forward. “My souls have just returned from the Underworld. Piasa, Horned Serpent, and Snapping Turtle wish you to know that they are aligned with you against the threat that now seeks to destroy Cahokia and unhinge our world.”
“Why would they send me this message?” He barely flicked his eyes in Night Shadow Star’s direction.
“Because they do not wish the conflict between the Sky World and the Underworld to burn free among humans. In the Beginning Times, Hunga Ahuito separated the Powers of the three worlds for a reason. Should the barriers between the worlds be broken, Power from one called into the other, chaos would result. While the lords of the Underworld distrust you and the Powers of the Sky World, we face a mutual threat.”
“Have you determined the nature of this threat? Identified the individuals behind it?”
“I have,” she said crisply. “The one you banished, Lord Walking Smoke, has returned to Cahokia.”
Seven Skull Shield and Fire Cat both straightened, as did the rest of the room. Tonka’tzi Wind gasped. The Keeper bit off a curse.
The Morning Star, however, just seemed to smile, as if it were no news at all. A glint seemed to harden behind his narrowing eyes. “You say he’s back? Stirring mayhem, brewing trouble? But to what end?”
Night Shadow Star, her arms still crossed, brazenly walked into the sacred space between him and the fire, and stood hip-shot before him. The pose was defiant, and to Seven Skull Shield’s mind, incredibly provocative.
Her voice rang out. “He comes to destroy you, among other things. Not that that comes as any surprise after the assassinations. He comes to avenge himself on the Four Winds Clan.”
“He is Four Winds Clan,” Tonka’tzi Wind cried. “He’s my nephew!”
“He killed his father, your brother, and has tried to kill the rest of us.” Night Shadow Star barely shifted, only turning her head far enough to glance at her aunt. “He believes himself to be the Wild One. The reincarnation of Thrown Away Boy, the discarded twin who crawled out of Corn Woman’s afterbirth and, adventuring with his brother, went to war with his father and family.”