“So how did that reflect on Flying Hawk? Why would that affect his relations with his brother in the afterlife?”
“Because he was the boys’ uncle. He had the responsibility of raising them. And, lo and behold, one brother struck the other one down. Flying Hawk has always seen that as his failure, not Green Snake’s. If, on the other hand, he can make Smoke Shield into a good high minko, I firmly believe his souls will rest easier.”
“Why would that be?”
“Because he could make the argument to himself that what Green Snake did wasn’t important in the end, that Smoke Shield was the right man for the position.”
“Then why would you care what I think about all this?”
“Because you and I both know that Smoke Shield will never be the man Flying Hawk hopes he will. It is beyond his … how did you put it? Twisted black souls? A most apt description.”
Morning Dew laughed bitterly. “Why would I want to contribute to this discussion?”
“Because”—Heron Wing gave her a clear-eyed stare—“if Smoke Shield succeeds in alienating the Albaamaha, drives them into revolt, your people will see an opportunity to strike back. We will be so busy with the Albaamaha that your Chahta warriors will have initial success. They’ll burn a couple of towns and go home feeling avenged. Enough Albaamaha and Sky Hand will die, and the threat will seem so menacing, that hostilities will be put on hold. A mighty force will be put together to break the Chahta once and for all.”
“They will suffer for it. My people know war as well as yours.”
Heron Wing nodded. “But by then, Smoke Shield will be firmly in charge. He will have vanquished the Albaamaha threat, at least for the moment. The bad blood will eventually fester into another uprising. But you know Smoke Shield, how he plans and plots. If the Chahta strike while we’re fighting with each other, how do you think Smoke Shield will react?”
She sat back, playing it out between her souls. “He will see it as a terrible affront to his authority. We will become his obsession, and he will be driven to find a way to pay us back for attacking while he was vulnerable. It won’t just be war, but personal. Just like blaming the Albaamaha for killing the captives, or taking me because I rebuffed his advances.”
“Ah,” Heron Wing said, “now you’re talking like a matron.”
“But he would still have to win the war.”
“A matter of time.”
Morning Dew bristled. “Don’t think that every Chahta town will fall like White Arrow. We were caught by surprise. That won’t happen again.”
“Think, Matron,” Heron Wing said sternly. “You will win some, and lose some. That is the way of war. I agree that Smoke Shield got lucky at White Arrow Town. But think it through. You have six towns scattered up and down the Horned Serpent River within easy reach. Six! We have fourteen in addition to Split Sky City.”
“Most of your population is Albaamaha.”
“Who support our warriors through tribute. Your warriors live on farmsteads. Granted, your women do most of the work, but men don’t like to leave wives and children behind, undefended. The Chahta can’t call up a large body of warriors and keep them ready to fight for an extended period of time. Those men won’t leave their families out on farmsteads for several moons. And they can’t send them to the fortified towns during the growing season or they will lose the crop.”
“Gods,” Morning Dew said, the implications of it falling into place. “If the Chikosi really committed themselves, they could drive us right out of the Horned Serpent Valley. Reinforcements couldn’t arrive in time from the Pearl River towns off to the west.”
“Maybe, but whether we drove you west or not, our concerted attacks would leave you severely weakened.”
She gave Heron Wing a hard stare. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because the Natchez, the Yuchi, or the Pensacola would send war parties in our wake to look for slaves and booty. What we started, they would finish.”
Morning Dew frowned. We have alliances with both the Natchez and Pensacola. But then she knew full well that an alliance only lasted as long as both parties saw the benefit. They could be broken overnight based on some perceived insult, or a wild claim of sorcery.
“If we are destroyed, it will leave a big hole. And who knows who will rush to fill it?” Morning Dew raised her eyes to Heron Wing’s. “That’s what you’re worried about, isn’t it?”
“Peoples rise and fall,” Heron Wing told her. “Our traditions are full of such stories. When a nation slowly fades away, as Cahokia did, everyone has time to adjust. When they collapse overnight, chaos breaks loose. The balance is broken.”