“I am Skaup, of the Wide Thistle Clan. I sit on the Council here, and am a respected elder among my people. If you are who you say you are, I am honored to meet you.” The old man reached up and rubbed his chin, the action pulling his wrinkles back and forth. “But what would a man like you want with my crazy daughter?”
Old White studied him thoughtfully. “Your daughter? Has she always troubled you?”
“As a little girl she was precious, a delightful darling of a child. She was smart, happy, with laughter like a bubbling brook. No child ever brought a father more joy.” His smile failed. “The voices began whispering to her just before her first woman’s moon. Soon after that, her mother was killed in a raid. Since then, she’s grown progressively worse.” He sighed, and half turned to face the menacing A’khota warriors. “There has been talk among my own people that I should just walk up behind her … put her out of her misery.” A pause. “But I still see my little girl.”
“A family must take responsibility for its own.”
“I know. But I am weak when it comes to her.” The old man shot Old White a sidelong glance. “When Fast Palm came here, demanding that I turn her over, I thought perhaps, just maybe, he would turn around and leave when I refused.”
“Apparently he is motivated.” Old White indicated the smoldering section of palisade off to his left. The wood had been considerably weakened.
Hopelessness and fatigue dulled the old man’s eyes. “My people have been blaming me and my daughter for this attack. It’s my fault. Two Petals brought this down on us.” He made a face before adding, “Fast Palm’s chief must really be witched. I’m afraid she did it to him. She thought he was an arrogant mallard when he came through here. He thought her simple. Sought to lay with her. When he tried to force her, she threw up all over him. Afterward she said some things. It sounded like nonsense. Things about his belly slowly filling with pleasure, about how he would swallow most gleefully. Last I heard, the man’s gut was a burning agony, and he was throwing up all the time.”
“Do you really not understand what she is saying?”
He made a puzzled face. “Something is turned around in her souls. She just can’t get anything right. I know she’s not stupid. Tell her to enter and she goes away. Tell her to leave and she sits right down on the spot. It’s a soul possession of some sort. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve tried: burning her with sticks until she screams; beating her with clubs; piercing her flesh with thorns; anything to drive the demons from her souls.”
Gods, could she really be a Contrary? “I need her help.”
“I don’t understand. How could my spirit-haunted daughter be of help to you, of all people?”
“I have crossed half of our world to find her, Skaup. Power has led me to her. I wish to ask her to accompany me.”
The old man made a face. “She is like a black oak in a lightning storm. She’ll draw trouble to you. And whatever your mission here, people will be skeptical of you as long as she’s with you. I can’t make sense of her anymore. No one can. Ask her if she’s hungry after a day of fasting, and she’ll lie and tell you her belly’s so full it’s about to burst. Do you want to subject yourself to that?”
“I will take my chances. Besides, what choice do you have? If she doesn’t go with me, Fast Palm will take her, and kill a great many of your people in the process. If you manage to fight off the A’khota, your own people will demand that you deal with her in a way that will permanently wound your souls. I, however, give you my word: I shall do my best to ensure that no harm comes to her.”
Skaup focused his unsure gaze on Fast Palm. The war chief was on his knees, and his warriors were sponging his face with water. “So much pain, she causes. And the constant lies …” His expression tightened. “She is my daughter, don’t you understand? She’s all that I have left. I can’t just turn her away.”
“May I at least ask her?”
A voice from inside the palisade shouted, “If you don’t give her to him, we will!”
“By the Morning Star, that’s rotted right!” another called angrily.
“Get rid of her, Skaup! We’ve had more than we bargained for already!”
A chorus of shouts rose from behind the defenses. The A’khota immediately reacted to the angry voices, fingering their weapons, ready for a counterassault.
Old White added softly, “I offer you an option, Elder Skaup. In my custody, she will be safe. Perhaps I can help her come to grips with the Spirits. My abilities as a Hopaye are considerable.”