“What is he saying?” Sweet Root demanded.
“Hear this!” Salamander cried, breaking away. “Remember these words! Tomorrow, when this Council meets, I ask you to recognize the voices of reason. Our strength has always been found in harmony among the clans. Your responsibility is simple! Just do what is right for the People.” With a sad smile, he added, “May the rest of your solstice celebration be filled with joy.”
In a lower voice, he said, “Speaker Mud Stalker, I will join you for your feast tonight if that is all right. We can discuss Eats Wood and what is a proper settlement for his death.”
Mud Stalker was still gaping as Salamander touched his forehead in respect and walked out the western exit. The crowd parted for him like a wave as he passed.
“What did he just do?” Deep Hunter asked.
“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Cane Frog answered.
“What about Eats Wood?” Sweet Root demanded.
Thunder Tail gave her scathing look, and said, “That is between you and Salamander. It is no longer the business of this Council.”
“I win!” Half Thorn clapped his hands gleefully. “I am to be Speaker!”
Sixty-one
When Salamander arrived that evening, the inside of Pine Drop’s house was lit by faint flickers of fire from the central hearth. Someone had been coming to check on both women; the baby had been freshly changed, and, he assumed, fed by a wet nurse. Where he crouched at the bedside, Salamander could hold each of his wives’ hands. The chill in their flesh cooled his hot palms.
He took that moment to study their faces, knowing how they were locked in the Dream. They were both so beautiful. How had he ever been so lucky to have been the subject of their smiles? He would carry the feel of their warm bodies against his even after his souls finally journeyed to the Land of the Dead.
“Relax,” he whispered. “Don’t be frightened. You are Dreaming. I used a potion of morning glory in the tea and covered it with the taste of mint. I knew what you would try to do. I couldn’t let you claim to have killed Eats Wood. It would have ruined both of you. Your clan would never forget, never forgive. In the end, it would have cost you everything. I couldn’t allow that. Not when I love you both so much.”
He thought he saw a faint frown on Pine Drop’s brow. “I give you my Dream for the People. Take it and make it yours. You shall become a great Clan Elder. I have seen these things come true.”
Night Rain’s lips twitched when he turned to her.
“You shall become the greatest of them all, Night Rain. Your sons will take the Trade across the whole world. Generations will speak your name with respect.”
Night Rain sighed from deep in her Dreams.
“Take good care of my sons when they are born. I wish that I could stay and watch them grow. I wish that so much that my souls ache with the longing. But I have to finish my affairs with your uncle.”
He smiled down at them, their soft skin under his fingers. “I have to leave now. In the meantime, I want you to fly. Just relax. Set yourselves free. Open your wings and drift into the air. Soon, we shall all be flying together.”
Did he see a faint smile on their lips?
His daughter lay in her cradleboard, dark eyes watching him. The infant’s arms were free, and she reached out with chubby hands, grasping for Salamander.
“I shall miss you, too, little one,” he replied softly. “I just came to tell all of you that leaving you behind is the hardest thing I will ever do.”
He bent, touching his lips to Night Rain’s, then Pine Drop’s. Finally, he stood, stepped over to his daughter, and traced his fingers along the softness of her rounded cheeks. “Live long and well, little one. When you feel a warm caress in your Dreams, it will be me.”
Then he ducked out into the night, walking in the shadows at the edge of the borrow pit, smelling the rank water. He kept his head down, aware of the fires and the crowds of people moving back and forth between the houses.
“For everything there is a price.” Heron’s words rang in his souls.
They would live because of him, because of what he was about to do. When solstice came next summer, Sun Town would be alive, vibrant, and children would be playing and laughing here. His wives would be smiling, and his children would not know fear, hunger, and grief.
As he had known they would be, several young warriors were posted around Mud Stalker’s house to keep off the curious on this most important night.
“It is Salamander,” he said to Water Stinger. “I have come to make a settlement with Speaker Mud Stalker.”
Saw Back, a looming shadow in the darkness, said, “I want you to know, I personally am going to be dealing with you later tonight. Following that, I am hunting down that Swamp Panther bitch to pay her back. And, the day after solstice, the clans are going south to raid. Owl Clan will no longer control the sandstone. We have a debt to settle with Jaguar Hide.”