The sacred fire burned constantly, fed day and night by careful hands. Each summer, with the ripening of the green corn, the most important ceremony in the Sky Hand world was held. After four days of purification, all fires were extinguished throughout the land. Then, one by one, they were relit throughout Split Sky City and the Sky Hand territory. Each blaze was rekindled using fire carried directly from the tchkofa’s sacred fire.
The only time in memory when the fire had gone out had been in his grandmother’s time. The disaster occurred the same night as a destructive fire that had razed the high minko’s palace. Since then, the sacred fire had been burning, a supply of wood constantly at hand. Smoke Shield glanced at Flying Hawk. It was said that someone had extinguished the Sacred Fire that terrible night when the high minko’s palace burned. It was also said that from that night, trouble had continued to brew, that it had led to Flying Hawk killing his twin brother.
Smoke Shield couldn’t stop himself from fingering the scar on the side of his head, remembering, wondering if the events of the past continued to spiral down through the present.
Before the fire, atop a small altar, stood the Eagle Pipe with its long stem. Carved from pink granite, the pipe depicted Eagle Man, a combined image of human, eagle, and snake. He crouched, wings to the side, his hair pulled into a tight round bun atop his head. His mouth was open, eyes staring out from inside their forked design. The center of the image’s back had been hollowed for the bowl; a stem as long as a man’s leg protruded from behind.
As his vision improved, Smoke Shield could see most of the tchkofa’s occupants were staring pensively at Flying Hawk and him. Others were talking to their neighbors in low voices. The leaders of the Sky Hand clans had been called here by a crier dispatched by the tishu minko, and had each come with his own deputy, generally a brother or favored nephew in the line of descent for rulership.
Five men and one woman, they had arrived prior to their high minko’s entrance, as was respectful and polite. Two Albaamaha, both moiety elders, had also been summoned. They had taken places beyond the circle, and stood as was custom, their hands clasped before them. Their faces might have been carved from wood, for all the emotion they displayed.
But they shall have their day. They have grown too arrogant over the winters.
Immediately to Smoke Shield’s left sat the tishu minko: Seven Dead Mankiller. His younger brother, Blood Skull Mankiller, knelt just behind his right shoulder. Leaders of the Raccoon Clan, their voices would be critical to the coming discussions. Once the Raccoon and Chief Clans had been close, often marrying to solidify their ties, but that had changed when Flying Hawk had been a boy. That rift, too, was said to have started the night of the fire.
Seven Dead Mankiller had seen nearly thirty winters, and he carried himself with the demeanor that an often-bloodied warrior should. His dark eyes gleamed in the firelight, gravity in his straight posture. Blood Skull, his younger brother, was known to oppose Flying Hawk. He was wedded to the betterment of his clan, and he’d always been suspicious of Smoke Shield’s motives. More than once Smoke Shield had seen Blood Skull sneaking around, and once the man had almost caught Smoke Shield in the arms of a married woman—which would have brought disaster and disgrace.
Someday, old enemy, when I am confirmed high minko, you will rue the day you crossed me.
Panther Clan had the only female representation. Night Star was remarkable, not only for her sex, but for her size. Despite having passed more than fifty winters, her head barely reached as high as a normal man’s belt. Being a dwarf imbued a person with great Power, but in Night Star’s case, her shrewd head had only added to her prestige and authority. She had never taken a husband, fearing what might ensue should she become pregnant. Her reputation for celibacy had given her an advantage in the world of clan politics. She wore her gray hair in a tight bun, more a male fashion than female.
Beside her, Pale Cat had his eyes fixed on the fire. He was her nephew, a thin man with Dreamy eyes, and the most Powerful Hopaye in Hickory Moiety. In addition to being a Priest, he was Smoke Shield’s first wife’s brother. They had never thought much of each other—Pale Cat having opposed Smoke Shield’s marriage to Heron Wing. Because Smoke Shield spent as little time as possible with Heron Wing—especially after the birth of her son—avoiding each other’s company was relatively easy.
Pale Cat wore a gauzy white robe decorated with images of tie snakes, Horned Serpent, and the hand-eye design. A single thin green snake was wrapped around his right hand. It was said that the little serpent whispered the secrets of magical cures to him, and often traveled with Pale Cat when he sent his souls flying through portals into the other worlds.