People of the Owl(77)
“Let her burn her house down.” Red Finger jerked his head in a nod. “We just built the one Pine Drop and Night Rain are living in.” He smiled. “And, it seems that we have to begin the search for new husbands. It isn’t often that fortune casts as wide a net for us as it has this day.”
“They have a husband lined up,” Back Scratch said in her thin and reedy voice.
Red Finger stopped short, a puzzled look on his face. “Who? Surely you’re not thinking …” He couldn’t finish.
Mud Stalker suffered a moment of sadness as Pine Drop’s eyes fastened on his. Yes, she understood.
She cried, “You don’t really mean for us to marry that boy!”
“What?” Night Rain chimed in. “You mean, Mud Puppy!”
“That was the arrangement,” Mud Stalker replied firmly. “Though we couldn’t have guessed the rapidity with which the event might befall us.”
“Why?” Red Finger demanded. “Tell me, what is the point of following through with this mad plan? Right here are two young women, in line to be Clan Elder. We could use them to create obligation with Deep Hunter or Cane Frog? Snakes, if you don’t want to go there, if it has to be someone in Owl Clan, marry them into Moccasin Leaf’s lineage. That would really cut the ground out from under Wing Heart.”
“And strengthen another lineage in Owl Clan in the process,” Mud Stalker reminded. “You are making the assumption that the enemy we know is worse than the one we don’t.”
“Mud Puppy is still a boy!” Pine Drop insisted. “Not just a boy—a peculiar one at that!”
“Do I have to?” Night Rain asked in a timid voice.
Mud Stalker steepled his hands, glanced at Back Scratch, and nodded. “Nieces, there is more at stake here than either of you knows. For three generations we have watched Owl Clan’s authority and prestige grow. Wing Heart and her brother made a formidable team. Given the way young White Bird was developing, it made a great deal of sense to marry the two of you to him. It gave us a way of controlling him, using his talent for our advantage.”
“Name a single advantage we would gain by marrying my two cousins, here, to that idiot, Mud Puppy!” Red Finger snorted, his jaw cocked.
“Cousin,” Back Scratch said from her place on the bed, “we want Mud Puppy to become the new Speaker. The one thing we can count on for the future is that Wing Heart will do anything to maintain her position on the Council. To do that, she must remain the Owl Clan Elder. If Moccasin Leaf is able to remove her, she has many heirs. It will be a smooth transition. Imagine, if you will, that Wing Heart remains the Elder and, with our help, is able to name this half-wit, Mud Puppy, as Speaker. Now, put the two of them in the Council, say in a debate with Deep Hunter about the redistribution of disputed resources?”
Red Finger made a face. “That boy would be ludicrous.”
“Exactly.” Mud Stalker ran gentle fingers over the ridges of scar tissue on his forearm. “You see, Wing Heart made a bargain. We intend to honor it.”
“At the price of our freedom,” Pine Drop muttered, looking away angrily.
Mud Stalker raised an eyebrow. “Oh, come now. He’s just a boy.”
“I would rather have a man,” Pine Drop retorted.
“There are plenty available,” Back Scratch said reasonably. “It doesn’t matter where you father a child. It still belongs to the clan. Just be discreet for the first year or so. After Wing Heart and the Owl Clan are broken down to size, a divorce will be an easy thing to negotiate. Better yet, it will add to Owl Clan’s disgrace.”
Pine Drop considered that. Night Rain looked horrified.
“In ten years, Pine Drop, when you finally become Clan Elder,” Mud Stalker added, “it will be as the most prestigious Elder in the Council. Not, as it is now, with us in second place.”
Night Rain might have been unconvinced, but Pine Drop nodded, saying, “Very well, but you’re going to have to run that brat through the Men’s House first. I’ll not be made a laughingstock by taking a boy into my bed.”
“That can be arranged.” Red Finger seemed to have seen the logic. “And, who knows?” He fixed his eyes on Pine Drop. “He is young, and not very bright.”
“That is supposed to make me feel better?” Pine Drop asked hesitantly.
“I was just thinking.” Red Finger’s pensive look did little to relieve her. “Could you make him love you? Pine Drop, do you and Night Rain see where I’m going with this? If you could seduce his souls as well as his body, he could grow dependent upon you. He might be induced to rely on your advice in matters of clan politics. It would take finesse and dedication on your part, but little Mud Puppy might just be young enough and dumb enough to grow into a real asset for us.”