“What do you mean, you don’t care?” Deep Hunter asked irritably.
“What I said, Speaker.” Salamander turned to face him. “I don’t care.” A pause. “Let us speak honestly, shall we? This Council meeting is really about who will replace Owl Clan in the leadership. Removing me and placing Half Thorn in the Speaker’s position will benefit both Snapping Turtle Clan and Alligator Clan. I have heard that Moccasin Leaf will return Frog Clan’s root grounds in return for her vote to convict me of witchcraft.” He faced Cane Frog, saying, “I congratulate you in getting your root grounds back, Elder.”
Mud Stalker barely noticed Three Moss’s fingers playing on the old woman’s shoulder.
“What are you saying?” Clay Fat asked. “That declaring you a witch is part of a deal?”
“I am saying that I quit,” Salamander replied. “If this is allowed to ferment, it will spoil. What we do here today will affect the future. If I act one way, I can destroy the clans. If I act another, Mud Stalker and Deep Hunter will be at war within a turning of the seasons. We are that close to disaster! So, I will choose a third way. I will just give up the Speakership.”
“What?” Thunder Tail asked, looking confused.
“Last night when I asked you to allow me to speak uninterrupted, Leader, it was to give me the chance to tell my enemies that they win. Rather than fight them in a destructive and divisive battle that, innocent or not, I cannot win, I will give up everything. It is my only defense, Speaker.”
“Defense how?” Clay Fat asked. “It sounds more like a confession!”
“Agreed!” Deep Hunter growled.
Salamander made a calming gesture. “A real witch is interested only in harming others, in accruing wealth, prestige, and authority. A witch wants admiration, respect, and status more than he wants life. That, or he wants revenge.”
“Revenge for what?” Thunder Tail asked.
“That is a very good question, Speaker.” Salamander stopped to stare down at Eats Wood’s bones. “Revenge for what was done to my brother? How does one get revenge on lightning? Masked Owl killed him to keep him from planting those goosefoot seeds and changing the People. Revenge for my mother’s soul loss? Do you take revenge on a woman because she can’t stand her grief? Or perhaps I might want revenge for having been made a Speaker?” He gave Mud Stalker a thin smile. “Indeed, there might be some merit in that.” A pause. “No, not even for being thrust into this position. I certainly wouldn’t want revenge for having to live with my three beautiful wives.”
“Then why are you casting spells?” Sweet Root asked.
“I have cast no spells!” Salamander spread his arms wide in a gesture of innocence. “Clan Elder, you have committed yourself to this course of action. Deals have been concluded. Promises made. You and the others have invested so much in this that though I am not a witch, you must declare me one. A fine predicament you find yourselves in. How do you declare Speaker Salamander to be a witch when he isn’t?”
He held up a hand, stifling Sweet Root’s outburst, and cried, “To solve this problem and release you from the trap you laid for yourselves, I will leave Sun Town forever. As soon as I settle my obligation to Snapping Turtle Clan, I will be gone. It saves you the odious chore of having Half Thorn murder me. It keeps peace between my lineage and his. It ensures that there will be no whispers through the coming seasons that you murdered an innocent man.”
“Why?” Deep Hunter asked. “It means you will lose everything.”
Salamander’s eyes expanded like dark pools. “Yes, Speaker. I lose everything. I willfully and freely lose so that, unhindered, you may pursue your schemes in search of prestige and authority.”
“You can’t just let them win!” Clay Fat protested.
“Old friend of my mother’s,” Salamander said warmly, “I can, and I must. I have seen the future, and I know the price I must pay to save it. I ask you to vote to recognize Half Thorn as Speaker of Owl Clan until this Council is called tomorrow.”
“Salamander!” Water Petal cried in disbelief, pushing past the stunned Moccasin Leaf. “What are you doing?”
He smiled at her. “Saving us all, Cousin. When Masked Owl called on me to make one choice, and Many Colored Crow called on me to make another, I could accede to neither.”
“What are you talking about?” Mud Stalker asked as he stepped forward and spun Salamander around.
The youth’s eyes might have been watching him from a midnight eternity. “There will be no cities of stone built by the People. But we will not be Dreamers locked away in the One, either. The Brothers will continue to squabble, but they will do so at another place, in another time.”