“There’s Evening Star.”
“Yes, that’s true. Among others.”
Wind Woman gusted through the forest and behind him, Rides-the-Wind’s lodge puffed in and out, as though she were taking a deep breath. Tsauz shivered. Every sound affected him like a physical blow.
“Rain Bear doubled your guards, Tsauz.”
“Are they still out there? Can you see them?”
Rides-the-Wind pulled Tsauz’s left hand away from his cup, took hold of his first finger, and aimed it. “That man’s name is Blue Frog. It wouldn’t take but a halfhearted toss of a stone to make him really mad.” Rides-the-Wind pointed the finger at the next guard. “That is Chases His Foot. He’s leaning against a fir trunk, and over there”—he shifted the aim—“that’s Elktail. He’s a burly giant with shoulders like a buffalo bull. I don’t know the names of the others, but this is where they’re standing.” Rides-the-Wind calmly aimed and pointed Tsauz’s finger. When he finished he curled it around the teacup again.
The boy mouthed the words: Elktail, Blue Frog, Chases His Foot.
Tsauz’s souls had been drifting, as though this were all a Dream: the mist, the guards, and the racket of tens of people coughing and talking at once.
He heard steps coming up the trail; his breathing went shallow. “Is it her?”
“Yes. Evening Star walks at Rain Bear’s side.”
“Tell me what she looks like,” he asked, desperate to picture her behind his eyes.
“She looks tired. Red wisps of hair have come loose from her braid, and fringe her face. Her eyes show the day’s strain, but she walks with her shoulders squared. The white concentric circles painted on her deerhide cape blaze as she enters the fire’s glow.”
“And Rain Bear? Does he look angry?”
“No. Worried. His war club dangles from his hand—and his black braid hangs to the middle of his back. Two new guards walk behind Evening Star.”
“Only two?”
“Only two.”
Tsauz heard Rides-the-Wind pull out more cups. The odor of the peppermint tea carried on the breeze.
Evening Star said, “A pleasant evening to you, Soul Keeper, and to you, Tsauz.” She sat down on the hides on the opposite side of the fire.
Tsauz heard Rain Bear take up a position behind her.
Rides-the-Wind pointed at his fire. “Would you like a hot cup of tea?”
“That sounds wonderful, thank you.”
Tsauz heard Rides-the-Wind dip it full and hand it around the fire to her. Evening Star took it; her cape rustled as she leaned forward.
“Tsauz,” she said gently, “I imagine you are concerned by what I said earlier.”
Tsauz drew himself up and turned to face her. When he spoke, he used the North Wind People’s formal dialect, usually reserved for ritual occasions. “Yes, my cousin. I thank you for coming to speak with me.”
He could hear the tired smile in her voice. “What did you wish to know?”
Tsauz stammered, “I-I’ve heard the people in camp whispering all day. They think the assassin really came to kill me, not you. Is that true?”
“Not exactly, Cousin.” She hesitated, and Tsauz’s face slackened, sensing the worst. “He came hoping that I would side with Astcat, and that I would help him sneak you out of camp. When I told him you were with the Soul Keeper, I could tell that he was most disturbed.”
“Tsauz is the center of Power,” Rides-the-Wind said. “Coyote has his own goals in all this, and I can tell you now, they aren’t the Council’s, or Ecan’s, or Cimmis’s.”
“Then what?” Rain Bear asked.
“Power. Pure and simple,” Rides-the-Wind replied. “You delude yourself, Great Chief, if you think this is a matter of warriors, battle strategy, and defeating the forces fielded by the North Wind People. If he can’t take Tsauz for his own, it will be safer to just kill him.”
Tsauz swallowed hard. “Who sent him?”
Evening Star sounded unsure of herself. “I thought Coyote had been sent by the Council.”
“He may be acting on his own,” Rides-the-Wind said thoughtfully. “There are many people who wish you and the boy dead.”
You and the boy.
“Because we are North Wind People?” she asked.
“Many wish us dead for that reason alone, yes.”
Rides-the-Wind added, “Cimmis wants Tsauz dead to keep us from using Ecan against him. The Council fears him because he was witness to their attack on War Gods Village. Coyote knows that if Tsauz is not with him, he will be against him. And, of course, if we run out of enemies to worry about, there is always Bluegrass and his followers.”