Sternlight knelt and placed his ear close to the Chief’s mouth. “His breath is about the length of my finger. He must be on the road to the skyworlds.”
Webworm glared at Sternlight. If my mother had not been captured and beaten by the Fire Dogs, she would be Sunwatcher now, and you would be nothing.
Creeper blinked his wide black eyes and whispered, “Look, Crow Beard’s moving!”
The Chief groaned.
Badgerbow sucked in a breath and edged forward expectantly. Night Sun rose to her feet, but did not approach. She stood in the corner with her hands clasped tightly in front of her, her beautiful face tense. Snake Head remained sitting on the floor, eyes half-lidded. He watched his father like a warrior standing over a wounded enemy.
Sternlight leaned forward, and his long black hair framed his beautiful serene face. “Good morning, Crow Beard.”
“Dune? I wish … Dune.”
Sternlight answered, “The Derelict is not yet here. But he will be, soon. Swallowtail just returned to say they are coming, and the watchers in the signal towers reported two men on the north road. Give them perhaps another two hands of time. Dune is old.”
The bruised circles around the Blessed Sun’s eyes had turned black, making the rest of his face seem very pale. “His Bashing Rock … do you think he brought it?”
“Of course,” Sternlight replied in a comforting voice, and tucked the corners of the blanket around Crow Beard’s throat. “He promised you he would on your eighteenth bornday, didn’t he?”
“He’s getting old. Sometimes, he forgets.” The Chief’s head lolled sideways, and he squinted at Sternlight, as if trying to make out his features.
“He hasn’t forgotten about this, my chief. Now rest. They will be here before you—”
“My wife,” Crow Beard whispered. His age-spotted fingers fumbled at his blankets. “Where is … my wife?”
“Oh, Crow Beard.” Night Sun hurried forward like a woman who had just heard her death sentence commuted. She knelt by Crow Beard’s side and gripped his hand. “I am here, my husband.”
The chief seemed to be struggling to find the strength to speak. His eyes drifted before he could focus on her face. When he did, the lines of his forehead deepened. “Before I … I die,” he said. “I wish you to know … I—I forgive you.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I love you, Crow Beard. Don’t leave me.”
Breath rasped in his lungs. “Tell me … will you?”
Night Sun leaned closer to him. “Anything. What is it, my husband?”
“Almost seventeen … summers ago … I went to trade … with the Hohokam. When I returned … ten months later…”
Night Sun’s face suddenly went gray, and Webworm feared she might be about to faint. He got to his feet, preparing for the worst—and saw Snake Head smile grimly at his mother’s back.
She gripped her husband’s hand tighter. Against the brightly colored background of Dancing thlatsinas, Night Sun looked as still and grave as a corpse. “Yes? What about it?”
“I knew…” Crow Beard’s head dipped in a nod. “Could tell from the marks … on your belly.”
“W-what?” Night Sun exchanged a panicked glance with Sternlight, and Sternlight’s jaw set. “I had been sick, I—”
Crow Beard shook her hand weakly. “Do not lie … not now. Tell me … the child?”
“There is no child, Crow Beard,” Night Sun insisted. “I swear to you! That is the truth.”
The blanket over Crow Beard’s chest rose and fell rapidly. His breathing had gone shallow. “The child … where did you … put it?”
Webworm stared at the elders, but they appeared as stunned as he. Creeper’s round face had slackened until his mouth hung open. Badgerbow stood rigid, the bare half of his skull sickly yellow in the sun. Had Webworm understood correctly? A child? Night Sun had birthed a child nearly sixteen summers ago? While her husband had been gone? And Crow Beard knew nothing of the child’s fate? At the terrible implications Webworm’s muscles contracted, bulging through his red warrior’s shirt.
In a shaking voice, Night Sun said, “You are ill, my husband. You should sleep.”
Night Sun tried to rise, but Crow Beard’s fingers dug into her hand with a strength Webworm would not have thought he possessed. The Blessed Sun pulled his wife to the floor again, and Night Sun let out a small cry.
“Crow Beard, listen to me. Please! You do not know what you’re saying. There is no child. Let me go. Please, I—”