People of the Raven(106)

“Yes, War Chief.”

Half sick with dread, White Stone plodded wearily toward the Council Lodge.





Thirty-five

Red Dog stood in the rain beside the Starwatcher’s lodge and watched White Stone slog his way through the downpour toward the Council Lodge. Had he ever been this root-sucking tired before? Fatigue, like a warm fuzziness, weighted his limbs and lay heavily in his guts. His brain felt hot inside his skull despite the cold rain pattering on his bark hat. Still, he tried to peek through the swaying flap at Ecan. The Starwatcher looked like he’d been kicked in the stomach.

After a few more moments, Ecan pulled the leather hanging aside, and Red Dog slid his gaze to the slaves still going about their duties despite the downpour.

“Is everything all right, Starwatcher?” Red Dog asked offhandedly.

Ecan stepped out into the rain. He had the kind of sculpted face that made women stare admiringly.

In a voice laced with irony, Ecan said, “Everything’s fine.”

Red Dog gave him a quizzical look. “Starwatcher?”

Ecan’s eyes resembled shiny green beads. “I wish to hire you to undertake a special mission.”

“Really?”

“I will reward you very well.”

Red Dog lifted a shoulder. “I’m already wealthy, Starwatcher. When you hired me to burn down the Council Lodge where your wife’s family was gathered, I made a fortune.”

Ecan clamped Red Dog’s wrist. “That was necessary, Red Dog. She was going to set my belongings outside our lodge. I would have lost my son! Her clan would have taken him away from me!”

Red Dog looked down at the Starwatcher’s hand—the man had never touched him before. “I just meant I am already rich, Starwatcher.”

“This is an important mission, Red Dog. Of course, it must seem as though you are strictly the chief’s messenger, but we need an intermediary to work with Rain Bear. Rain Bear knows you. He once trusted you.”

The cold grip of fear banished his fatigue. “That was a long time ago, Starwatcher. I guarantee he is no longer under any such illusion.”

“You are still the best choice.”

“I’d send someone else. Maybe Flying Fish. He’s reliable.” Red Dog glanced toward Cimmis’s lodge. Matron Astcat was staring at him through the doorway. She gazed about warily and crooked a beckoning finger before the door hanging dropped back in place.

Ecan leaned close, his nose within a finger’s width of Red Dog’s. “You’re going. Unless you’d like to tell me the name of the man who makes the fetishes you Trade for. I’d hire him in an instant. He’s Powerful, anonymous, and living right in the middle of us.”

“By Gutginsa’s balls, you’re right he’s Powerful!” Red Dog agreed, wondering what Astcat wanted. “Powerful enough that I’m not going to cross him. Not even for you, Starwatcher.”

Ecan backed away, a satiated smile on his lips. “Then perhaps you wouldn’t want it whispered around that you were serving a witch, eh, Red Dog? What’s his name? Coyote?”

Red Dog swallowed dryly, the fear coiling in his gut. “Look, I’ve never so much as seen his face. He wears a mask when we meet. He talks funny, with an accent, to hide his voice.”

“A man who says he works for a witch, could even be the witch.”

Red Dog shivered, but forced himself to say, “Or he could be someone like a Starwatcher, wearing a mask, hiding his voice.”

Ecan laughed harshly at that. “Stop prattling. You’re going, Red Dog. That’s all there is to it.”

Red Dog took a deep breath, knowing he had no choice. Liaison to a witch or not, Red Dog couldn’t afford to cross the Starwatcher. Not yet.

Ecan said, “It means you’ll have to run hard to get back by tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow! I just got home!” He had to see Astcat—and from her gesture, it was something furtive.

“It’s all downhill, and you’re accustomed to running for days straight.You’re perfect for the task.”

“Perfect for roasting over Rain Bear’s coals, you mean. He will eat my liver first.”

“Perhaps, but if you survive, you will be the wealthiest man in Fire Village.”

Red Dog pulled his wrist away and stole a quick glance at the lodge where he hoped Dzoo was being held. Dzoo, Astcat, Ecan … gods, this was getting complicated. “Why don’t you tell me what you have in mind; then we’ll discuss how much my liver is worth.”





Tsauz held the dead puppy as he walked into the meadow between Evening Star and Rides-the-Wind. Scattered clouds passed above to collect in a gray, cottony mass on the volcanic mountains farther to the east. A faint breeze stirred the firs, and a ring of warriors surrounded them.