Trader hung his head. “There is a terrible ugliness that runs in my family. Flying Hawk killed his twin brother in a blind rage.” He drew a deep breath. “And I had sworn all of my life that I would never be the same kind of man Flying Hawk was. His souls were out of balance, stained with red, possessed of chaos, anger, and rage. My brother was the same sort of man. But it was I—also in blind rage—who struck him down with a club.
“Gods, it all makes sense.” Trader knotted his fists. “You asked for honesty, Kala Hi’ki? I think I know when this happened. I was told that when I finished my initiation into the Men’s House, my uncle had a special present to celebrate the occasion. I think I was supposed to finally kill you.”
The Kala Hi’ki hadn’t moved, his slow breathing whistling through the holes in his face.
Trader laughed bitterly. “So, there it is. The circles have turned. If you were that Yuchi warrior in the square, Power has played its game. Now I am yours. If it will bring you peace, Kala Hi’ki, tie me to your square. I can only hope that I face it with the courage and honor that I heard you showed.”
“Trader,” Old White warned, but the young man waved it down.
“No, it is all right. Perhaps this is what I was brought here to do, Seeker. To make this decision. If my death on the square restores the balance, if it brings harmony between the white and the red, I will do this thing. From the night I left, I imagined my brother’s souls, angry and wailing, unable to travel to the Land of the Dead. He cannot rest until I have paid for his murder. If I die here, his souls can finally take the route westward and make the leap through the Seeing Hand when it meets the western horizon.”
He is a fool! Gods, how am I going to get him out of this? Old White considered the wealth of their Trade. It might just be enough to buy the young idiot’s life. Though the gods alone knew how they’d manage to finish the journey. Traders without Trade cut a rather ridiculous figure.
He studied the Kala Hi’ki. The time would have to be right. Now was not the moment; the man was reliving those terrible days on the square, feeling the pain as burning cane torches were being pressed against his naked flesh, remembering the horror of having his eyes ripped from their sockets. But later, when he was over the first crashing waves of rage, yes, that would be the time.
The Kala Hi’ki surprised him when he climbed unsteadily to his feet. “I must consider this. Neither of you is to leave this room. If one of you runs, I will have you hunted down. Then the three of you will hang from the squares together. At the solstice, we will burn you, one by one.” With that he turned on his heel and left them to stare hopelessly into the fire.
Twenty-eight
The nagging ache in her bladder finally forced Two Petals to claw her way through the spinning images in her head. The action of coming back to her body was a misery. For days she had been overwhelmed, panicked at the visions of her future. Deer Man had assured her that a terrible trial was coming.
I don’t want to do this anymore. Seek as she might, there was no way out. For the rest of her life, she would be Contrary.
The whispers in her head told her terrible things. Images of murky water, gleaming rainbow scales, and sunlight flashing on copper left her confused. Angry black eyes bored into hers, seeking her souls. She could see the ugly scar on the side of his head as his hands slipped over her bare skin. Images of a room, a ceiling of knot-filled poles, and a flickering fire were tinged with darkness. His muscular body settled on hers. She could almost feel his hot shaft driving into her.
I will be at his mercy … .
Before that, people would stare at her, whispering about her, plotting terrible things. They would call her a witch. Then, sometime when she least expected it, they would sneak out of the night, smack her brains out, and burn her body.
Why can’t they just leave me alone?
She opened gummy eyes, aware of a terrible headache and the pressing needs of her bladder. Her stomach rubbed like a hard knot against her backbone. How long since she’d eaten?
She sat up, confused. The room was small, a low fire sending tendrils of smoke to pool against the poles of the ceiling. Someone had placed a beautifully woven blanket over her, and soft hides cushioned her from a pole bed built against the wall. With trembling hands, she pulled the blanket aside and swung her legs out.
“I was wondering when you would awake.”
She gasped, aware that a man crouched to one side of the fire. She knew that ruined face, had seen it in her Dreams. He wore a fold of cloth over his eyes, and the two nostril holes reminded her of a snake’s.
“Where am I?”