Cimmis’s eyes narrowed. She saw him look away, trying not to let her see his fear. I wonder if he plays this game with every person, every moment of his life.
He exhaled. “Are you well, Dzoo? My slaves tell me that Lion Girl is ill. Is her replacement, Dance Fly, properly caring for you?”
“Your slave emptied my waste bowls before they spilled onto the floor again. If that’s what you mean.”
He walked over, close, as though to prove to the people below that he wasn’t afraid. The hem of his blue shirt waffled around his leggings. She watched as he gathered the courage to meet her eyes. To his credit, he didn’t wince when she stared past into his wounded soul.
“I did not order your capture, Dzoo. But you are here, and I cannot just release you. The other North Wind People would kill me for it.You may be a valuable tool—and these days we must use whatever we have.”
“It’s too late, Cimmis. The time of the North Wind People is coming to a close.”
He stared at her as though uncertain. She knew him so well, could read the tracks on his soul the way a hunter read an elk’s trail. She smiled as his warrior’s instinct insisted that she was bluffing.
“They can’t kill all of us, Dzoo, and I assure you those of us who remain will hunt down every last Raven Person who was involved—”
Her laughter came bubbling up from deep inside.
His shoulder muscles tensed.
She shot a glance at his warriors and leaned toward him to whisper, “If you were wise, Cimmis, you would start shedding every vestige of the North Wind People’s way of life: their clothing, their jewelry and mannerisms. Your only hope of survival is to blend into the Raven villages and forget you ever knew anything about your own people.”
His jaw hardened. In that instant she could tell that he wanted a way out, but couldn’t allow himself to take it. The snare that had entangled him was called obligation.
“Dzoo, has Rain Bear managed to bind the refugees into a fighting force? Will they follow him?”
She said, “It will be difficult to disguise your wife, but it can be done. There are many battle victims who have lost their souls. My advice is to run as fast as you can to the northern Cougar People. If she ever starts talking about who she is, just tell them she is not well. Tell them the evil Chief Cimmis killed her entire family before her eyes. So many suffered the same fate. They will believe you.”
His eyes might have been brown chert, hard and shiny. “I can’t believe Rain Bear wishes the destruction of his daughter’s relatives.”
She leaned closer, their faces less than a handsbreadth apart. She watched him lose the battle to pull away, thinking it would shame him before his people. In reply he could only glare.
“Escaping your own people will be the final test. But you know that, don’t you? The North Wind People will never forgive you for saving yourself and your wife. They expect both of you to die for them. To provide cover for their escape.” She shrugged absently. “I will tell you truly, I have not seen that part.”
“But … you have seen the rest?”
“Oh, yes.”
A swallow went down his throat. “Are you telling me you have seen the end?”
“The end is only a fragment. There is much more to fear.”
His teeth ground beneath the thin veneer of flesh.
“If you tell me the entire vision, Dzoo, from start to finish”—he exhaled a shaky breath—“I will set you free.”
“Despite the fact that you will die for it?”
He nodded stiffly. “I give you my oath.”
“Do you know what it’s like to fly, Cimmis?”
“No.”
“Before this is over, you will.” She gestured to the beaten path that led through the middle of Fire Village. “Shall we go?”
“Go?” He squinted unsurely. “Where?”
She toyed with him like a spider tapping a trapped fly with its leg. “You had my old lodge cleaned out, didn’t you? I wish to go home.”
She started down the trail. He said nothing, stunned and motionless.
White Stone cried, “Stay where you are, witch!”
Cimmis hurried to catch up.
White Stone started forward, muscles flexing as he gripped his spear at the ready. “What is she doing out here, my Chief? How did she escape?”
Cimmis bluntly told him, “She is moving to her old lodge, War Chief. I want you to escort her.”
“Her old lodge?” White Stone gestured in disbelief. “Why?”
Cimmis exploded. “Because I ordered it! I had it prepared for her. Tell the guards that she is to move about freely.” He shot her a slitted stare. “But if she makes any attempt to get through the palisade, they are to kill her immediately.”