He turned, meeting the chiefs’ eyes one by one. Finally he nodded to Flying Hawk. “Many of you don’t know me. I am Green Snake Mankiller, son of Clear Crow, who was daughter of Midnight Woman. I am of the Chief Clan of the Hickory Moiety. It has been more than ten winters now since I lost my temper and struck down my brother.”
He turned, pacing, talking to each of the chiefs in order. “I was in a rage, not even having finished my initiation into the Men’s House. I struck my brother down. Gave him that scar you see on the side of his face.” He paused. “And I hated myself for that. In shame, I left. For more than ten winters, I have traveled the rivers under the Power of Trade. All that time I lived with the terrible knowledge that I had killed my brother. But when Power thought I had been punished enough, it called me to return. Now, I find him alive.”
“You should have stayed far away, coward,” Smoke Shield hissed.
Green Snake ignored it. “So, now I have returned.” He glanced at Smoke Shield. “But apparently not at the head of a Yuchi army. And, I assure you, I have not come back to step in and have myself declared high minko should my uncle pass.”
“Then why are you here?” Smoke Shield demanded.
“To make restitution. As I have said. And to balance Power.”
“You?” Smoke Shield cried in amazement. “You who couldn’t even kill a Yuchi prisoner?”
Green Snake’s eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you tell them the truth, Brother? Or do you want me to tell the Kala Hi’ki’s story? Do you want to explain how you came to the Men’s House that night? How you told me you had coupled with the woman I wished to marry? How you said that she had been lying with other men down by the river? Do you want to tell the chiefs all the things you did to drive me into such a rage that I gave you that scar?”
“If you are so brave, why didn’t you stay and tell them, then?”
The corner of Green Snake’s lip twitched. “Because the most terrible part of that night was that I had acted just like you, Rattle.”
Smoke Shield rocked on his toes. Flying Hawk recognized that stance: Smoke Shield struggled to keep himself from lunging at Green Snake.
“Now, I wonder,” Smoke Shield said, finding his control. “Who really did kill the White Arrow prisoners?”
“I thought you said it was the Albaamaha?” Green Snake countered. “That’s why you went after Red Awl.”
Smoke Shield threw his head back, and laughter rolled from his throat. “So, you’ve heard those lies, too?”
Green Snake turned. “High Minko, on behalf of Panther and Raccoon Clans, we ask that the woman known as Lotus Root be allowed to address this Council. She was witness to the actions of the war chief in that hut above Clay Bank Crossing. She escaped, carrying off the war chief’s bow and arrows. Later, the Albaamaha discovered a warrior named Fast Legs stalking her. She was witness when Sky Hand warriors—dressed as Chahta—murdered twenty-three Albaamaha men, women, and children.”
Flying Hawk gaped. “How do you know this?”
“She was hidden in the forest when the supposed Chahta chopped the bodies apart. She watched the war chief’s men bury the scalps beside the hut where they were holding Fast Legs. She is just outside. She possesses the war chief’s bow, the bag of scalps, and the bones of her murdered husband. Hear her story, High Minko.”
Grunts of assent came from Raccoon and Panther Clans.
“I will not!” Flying Hawk snapped.
Green Snake nodded. “If that is the high minko’s wish.” He looked around at the stunned chiefs, at Amber Bead in the back, who now, for the first time, smiled and nodded.
“That was Smoke Shield’s plan,” Green Snake said. “His way of covering both his crimes, and his—”
“Enough!” Flying Hawk growled, stepping forward. “You are dismissed.”
Green Snake inclined his head. “As my high minko wishes. But it is too late. The truth is set free. Lotus Root waits outside, ready to show anyone the evidence. However, before I leave, I have restitution to make.” He turned. “Hopaye?”
Fuming, desperately aware of how close he had just come to disaster, Flying Hawk couldn’t help but feel a rising curiosity as the Hopaye struggled forward, bearing a heavy fabric-wrapped pack. This, Green Snake helped him place before the fire.
All eyes were on the oblong shape.
“Uncle,” Green Snake said. “Power sent me here. I only begin to know the ways and means of it, but I offer this to my people in restitution for my actions the night I struck down my brother.”