People of the Weeping Eye(130)
He stalked around in a circle, feeling the heat build inside him. “The time has come for us to wake up! The Albaamaha have been brooding long enough without a response from us. We have a choice. We can remind them of their position, or the next time they strike, it will not be to murder captives.” He thrust a hard finger at each chief in turn, saying, “Will it be you? Or you? Or you? Which of us will be awakened from his sleep by a stab to the heart? They have proven they can slip through the night in obscurity, murder, and vanish again.”
“What do you suggest we do?” Flying Hawk asked uncomfortably.
“I say we hang five of their mikkos in the squares until the person who did this comes forward. Let them see that Sky Hand vengeance is a thing to be reckoned with.” He glanced at the worried chiefs. “You doubt me? Oh, no. I doubt it will take longer than a day of hearing their beloved mikkos moaning in the squares before the cunning Albaamaha offer us the perpetrator of this foul deed.” He nodded firmly. “That is a language they will understand.”
Flying Hawk appeared to be controlling his voice when he asked, “Does anyone wish to take the floor and add anything to this suggestion?”
Vinegarroon nodded, stepping forward. Smoke Shield gave him a piercing glare before yielding. The Skunk Clan chief knelt, sipping the black drink, then puffed from the pipe. When he turned, his ugly face was awash with uncertainty. He ran a hand through his bristly hair. “I am concerned by what I have heard here today. Concerned not only that someone would kill our captives, but by some of the suggestions as to who has done this thing. I do not question the suspicions about the Chahta. That I can understand. The Traders? No, I don’t think so. They would never profit by such doings. But I find myself most upset by the accusations against the Albaamaha.”
Smoke Shield growled loudly enough that everyone could hear. It was rude, but he couldn’t care less. Didn’t the fool understand what was happening under his nose?
Vinegarroon took a moment, then said carefully, “Yes, an Albaamo was implicated in trying to warn the White Arrow. But that man is dead, killed before we could question him.” He pointedly avoided Smoke Shield’s burning gaze. “Myself, I have given this a great deal of consideration since we discussed the Albaamo traitor here last time. That he named only one accomplice, I think, tells us something.” He paused. “This is not some grand Albaamaha conspiracy. Rather, this Paunch, for reasons of his own, dispatched young Crabapple to warn the White Arrow.”
Smoke Shield snorted, receiving disapproving glances from the others.
Vinegarroon ignored him. “I believe this because had the Albaamaha mikkos been party to treachery, they would not have sent some foolish young man on a mission of such great importance. The Albaamaha are not stupid, and those who think them so do it at great risk.”
Smoke Shield crossed his arms angrily.
“Do the Albaamaha chafe under our rule?” Vinegarroon looked calmly around the room. “Of course. Why wouldn’t they? But they also realize that we are the ones who stand between them and the Yuchi, the Chahta, and the other chieftains. Rather than hang their elders in the squares, I would ask them to Council with us. If they have grievances that are so pressing as to lead them to revolt, perhaps we can come to a mutual satisfaction.”
“When they live in our palaces,” Smoke Shield muttered under his breath.
Vinegarroon narrowed an eye, having heard. “The Albaamaha are a large and diverse population. Some, a few, are no doubt delighted to see us suffer any calamity. But most of the Albaamaha no more wish to infuriate us than we wish to infuriate them. If we overreact to the killing of the captives and it turns out that it was a Chahta who committed this crime against us, we will have played into the hands of the few. Why should we do the work of the malcontents?”
Vinegarroon looked around reasonably. “I have heard good counsel here today. Rather than act rashly and give the Albaamaha real reason to rebel against us, I urge this Council to show restraint. Let us wait, think this thing through, and allow all other trails to be followed before we commit some act that would turn even the most reasonable of the Albaamaha against us.”
Smoke Shield ground his teeth as Vinegarroon took his seat, and Flying Hawk recognized Black Tail. The Hawk Clan chief attended the rituals and offered his prayers. Then he stood and looked around the Council. “The killing of the captives cannot go unpunished. On that I think we all agree. To allow this to pass without response would be an affront not only to our people, but to the brave warriors who ransacked White Arrow Town. But we must act with prudence and foresight.”