“There is a way for us to solve this, Night Rain,” Salamander spoke wearily.
“I hope leeches drink your blood,” she mumbled.
“Sister!” Pine Drop warned. “I will not hear you speak that way.”
“You and your ways,” Night Rain muttered. “You make me sick! So proper and correct. Over what? Him? He’s a fool, Sister. You’re married to a fool, carrying his fool child! You’re a laughingstock!” She glanced up at Salamander. “And you? Are you a warrior? I see no tattoos. You are a coward. You send your barbarian bitch to do your fighting for you!”
Pine Drop paled, a hand against one of the support poles. Anhinga smiled like a fox over a nest of hatchlings. At a word, she’d have been happy to help Pine Drop thrash Night Rain into pulp.
“Your sister is a fool?” Salamander managed a bitter smile. “Strong words, Night Rain, for a woman who was marched naked through the middle of town after being routed away from her lover. Do not talk to me of fools.”
“What did he promise you?” Pine Drop asked. “What did Deep Hunter say would be yours?”
“He told her that you would never be Clan Elder,” Salamander supplied for her. “That’s what Deep Hunter promised her. That, and Saw Back, and prestige, and status, and who knows what else. She’s not as smart as you are, Wife.”
“Indeed?” Night Rain asked smugly. “We’ll see who’s smart in the end.”
“If you were,” Pine Drop said wearily, “you would know Deep Hunter is through with you. Disgraced and embarrassed, you can’t serve him. Uncle is suspicious now—if he hasn’t already figured it out like I told him. So is Mother. They will never speak freely in your presence. You’ll be watched like a mouse in a jar. Despite the pleas of our husband, I am still tempted to tell Uncle and Mother the extent of what you’ve done. If I do, you will be destroyed, Sister.”
For the first time fear glazed Night Rain’s eyes.
“There is a way out, Night Rain,” Salamander said carefully.
“What?” Pine Drop demanded. “Hold this over her so that she can become Owl Clan’s pawn?”
“No. I would not do that. She is my wife, as you are. As Anhinga is.” He paused. “Night Rain, everyone in Sun Town has heard about you. From the moment you walk out of this house, every eye is going to be on you. There are probably thirty people within a stone’s throw of this house right now, their ears pricked like a dog’s to hear the row.”
“I could step outside,” Anhinga suggested, and tapped her ax. “I’ll bet they’d scurry away like wood rats in a cane patch.”
“Night Rain,” Salamander continued, “if we forget what you’ve done, will you act like a proper wife?”
“Just forget?” Pine Drop asked in wonder. “Like you just said, every tongue is going to be wagging! And it’s clear that she’s been working with Deep Hunter!”
Salamander nodded soberly. “If she can see this thing through, learn from her shame, I would suggest that you not tell your Clan Elder, or your Speaker, about her transgressions.”
Anhinga interjected, “You will be considered a fool, Salamander. People will look at you and whisper behind their hands, saying, ‘Look, there’s Speaker Salamander! He took his wife back after his barbarian brought her home still steaming with another man’s sweat!’”
“They will, Salamander,” Pine Drop agreed.
He shrugged. “I am used to it. Night Rain isn’t.” He took a deep breath. “Let us be honest, Wives. A great many forces are building against me. Alliances are being made in dark places, all seeking eventually to destroy me. We must ensure that the rest of you can go home and restart your lives.”
Night Rain looked as if sunshine had penetrated a cloud. Pine Drop and Anhinga both looked uncomfortable. He closed his eyes for a moment, wishing the headache would pass. When he reopened them, his little world hadn’t changed.
Pine Drop relented. “Night Rain, do you think you can do this? Act like a wife should to Salamander?”
She nodded.
“What if Saw Back planted a child in her?” Anhinga asked, shooting a hard glare at Night Rain.
Salamander shrugged. “That is Snapping Turtle Clan’s concern, not mine. Like your people, the child belongs to the mother’s clan.”
Pine Drop filled her lungs and exhaled a roomful of tension. “Very well, Sister, let’s take you home and clean you up.”
“No.” Salamander gave a brief shake of his head. “We all sleep here tonight.”