He heard someone clear his throat beyond the hanging. “Yes?”
“The warriors you requested are here, Councilor.”
Nashat straightened his long war shirt, hung a string of shell beads with an intricately carved ivory pendant about his neck, and slicked his hair back. “Enter.”
He watched as a nervous Kishkat and Tapa stepped in, wary eyes taking in his opulent surroundings. Neither one seemed to have any idea what to do with his hands.
“Ah, Kishkat, Tapa, how nice of you to accept my summons.”
“Thank you, Councilor,” Kishkat said, trying to mask the deep-seated fear behind his too-quick movements.
Nashat stood, fingering his chin, letting them stew as he gave them a half-lidded glare.
The pressure got to them. Kishkat stammered, “C-Can we help you, Councilor?”
“Imagine my surprise when I learned just recently that you were at home with your wives and families instead of on the war trail with Kakala.”
Tapa looked like a trapped hare. “Is … is that a problem, Councilor?”
“Why don’t you tell me?” he asked pleasantly.
Kishkat spread his arms. “We brought the woman, Skimmer! Under … under War Chief Kakala’s orders.” He swallowed too hard.
“Skimmer is dead.”
“Oh, no, Councilor,” Tapa protested. “We … we found her just outside Headswift Village. On … on the trail.” He looked pleadingly at Kishkat. “Isn’t that right?”
Kishkat took a breath. “Yes, Councilor. Kakala, in accordance with the Guide’s orders, sent us here with the woman.”
“With a dead woman.”
“But she’s not dead!” Kishkat insisted. “We delivered her to the Guide! Go ask him.”
Nashat narrowed an eye. “Just where did you do this?”
“Beyond the caves!” Kishkat swallowed hard. “He was waiting for us in the dark. Skimmer told us he wished to see her. And we brought her. He took the woman and told us that we should go home, and that we’d be rewarded.”
“We just did what the Guide said, Councilor.” Tapa’s voice sounded like something squeezed out from under a rock.
Skimmer is alive? He frowned, taking a couple of paces before the fire. Shooting a glance at the warriors, he could tell that that much was true.
“Why didn’t you come to tell me this?”
Kishkat spread helpless arms. “We … we serve the Guide.”
“We all serve the Guide,” Nashat snapped. “At least in our own way.” He took a deep breath, the tension he’d shed lying with Blue Wing rebuilt in his chest. “Where is the woman now?”
The two warriors glanced at each other and shrugged. Kishkat said, “Wherever the Guide took her, Councilor.”
Skimmer has been with Ti-Bish for several days? And I’ve heard no word of it? By Raven Hunter’s breath, is the Idiot still alive?
“And what of Kakala? I have heard no word.”
Kishkat took a deep breath. “I can honestly say that I have no idea what has happened to the war chief.”
Nashat gave him a nasty smile. “Then tell me dishonestly.”
Kishkat blinked. “What?”
“What was he doing when you saw him last?”
Tapa had sweat beading on his brow. “P-Preparing to attack Headswift Village.”
“Did you know that Skimmer was plotting to murder the Guide?”
Both warriors looked stunned.
Kishkat shook his head. “They talked like friends. Nor did Skimmer say anything unkind about the Guide during the days we were on the trail with her.”
Nashat could feel a headache coming on. “Go. Get out of here. And if the Guide is harmed in any way, you will bear the blame.”
They bolted headlong from the chamber.
He reached for his cloak, calling, “Guard! Prepare me a lamp.”
Of all things, he hated climbing down into the dark ice tunnels like some sort of misbegotten rat.
Ti-Bish, you idiot, if you are dead through this foolishness, it is going to really complicate my life.
War Chief Fish Hawk called, “Windwolf? Are you awake?”
Windwolf blinked, yawned, and tried to shed fragments of his Dream. In it, Bramble and Keresa kept merging together: sometimes one, sometimes the other. An odd mixing of grief and hope left him muddled as he stared around his stone-lined chamber.
He wearily threw off his hides and rose to his feet. As he reached for his buffalo coat and slipped it on, he called, “I’m awake, Fish Hawk. What is it?”
“Deputy Keresa wishes to speak with you.”
He frowned. Why would she request a meeting at this time of night? He blinked at the firelight that flickered over the stone walls. How long had he been asleep? If the fire was still burning, not long. “Is she with you?’