The Broken Land(144)
A bare smile turns her full lips. “I have always been on your side, Odion. I always will be.”
The faintest breath of wind brushes her hair. Jet strands flutter and seem to be suspended upon the firelight itself, pure amber silk, shimmering. They softly fall back to her shoulders.
I rush to say, “I am to be married.”
“I know.”
I jerk a nod. There is silence.
She smiles and walks forward. When she looks up at me, the desperate longing in her eyes is gemlike, crystal bright.
“Are you well, Baji?”
“Well enough, Dekanawida.”
As though she can’t help herself, she reaches up and touches my cheek. “It’s all right. You did what you had to, and I did what I had to. That is how things must be.”
The sensation of her fingers trailing across my skin is like the shock of the air just before lightning blinds the world.
“Baji, forgive me for what I said to you that day. I was wrong.”
Her hand lowers. She closes her fingers, as though to hold onto my warmth. “I forgave you long ago. You thought the boy was better dead than a captive in an enemy village. I understood. I just disagreed.”
“If only I’d had more time to think it over, I …”
A small voice calls, “Sky Messenger?”
I look over Baji’s shoulder and see Taya. She stands four paces away, at the edge of the trees, watching us uncomfortably. I wonder how long she’s been there. I pray not long.
“Taya.” I extend a hand. “Please, come. I want to introduce you to War Chief Baji of the Turtle Clan of the Flint People.”
Taya hesitantly comes forward. She wears a doeskin cape much too long for her; it drags the ground. She must have grabbed the first thing she could find. Which means she probably has a reason for being here, more than just finding me.
I move away from Baji, go to Taya, and put my arm around her, pulling her close against my side. She clings to me like a raft in a raging ocean. “Baji, this is Taya, soon to be my wife.”
Taya looks at Baji from beneath her lashes, not sure what to say. She is barely a woman. Meeting the legendary Baji must be threatening.
Baji takes the initiative. She smiles genuinely. “You are High Matron Kittle’s granddaughter, yes?”
“Yes.” Taya nervously wets her lips and casts a glance up at me.
“I hope we will become great friends, Taya. I suspect that you and I have heard Dekanawida’s vision so often we’ve both memorized what’s coming. We will need to be friends. The road ahead is not an easy one.”
Taya’s face slackens. “Does that mean you’ve decided to join the peace alliance?”
Baji blinks in surprise. “Our Ruling Council approved it with barely any discussion at all. Dekanawida is a hero among our people. They believe his vision.”
With childlike excitement, Taya rushes to tell me, “That means we have the Flint People and Zateri’s faction of Hills People. Now all we need to do is get the People of the Landing, and the Mountain People, and surely we will be able to destroy Atotarho!”
I brush black hair away from her young face. “All in good time, Taya.” I let out a slow breath. “For now, let us just enjoy the night.”
“We can’t yet. I’m sorry. Grandmother requests that you come and tell your vision to the assembled chiefs and matrons.”
Baji is watching me. I feel her gaze. It is life itself.
“I’m grateful to have the chance. Lead the way, Taya.”
The three of us walk out together, with Gitchi trotting at my side, but as we proceed across the cold battlefield to find High Matron Kittle, Baji drops behind. After ten heartbeats of not hearing her steps behind me, I glance over my shoulder, looking for her. She’s gone. Probably wandering among the warriors. She is war chief. She has duties. And more than that, this is as hard for her as it is for me.
“Hiyawento told me what you did today, Taya. It was very brave, and very dangerous. I don’t know what possessed you—”
“I was the best choice.”
“Yes,” I answer. But you knew it. No one had to tell you. No one had to convince you to risk your life. It never occurred to you that it might not be worth it. “Someday, you will be the greatest of the matrons of the Standing Stone People.”
She stops and searches my expression, as though greatly surprised, perhaps because she just saw me with Baji. She seems to be trying to determine if I am telling the truth. “Did you Dream this?”
“No. But I know it just the same.”
She slips her arm around my waist, and we start climbing the southern hillside. On the crest of the hill, a large fire blazes. I see Mother sitting beside Chief Cord, smiling. Father and his wife, Pawen, nestle beneath one blanket to their right. Pawen is much stronger, getting well. Hiyawento and Zateri lean together, their shoulders touching, as though they need to know the other is close. Kahn-Tineta sleeps in Hiyawento’s arms with her mouth slightly open. There are many people around the fire that I do not know. It makes me slightly uneasy. High Matron Kittle stands a short distance away, smiling a little too eagerly at Sindak, who seems to have no illusions about the game that is afoot. He smiles back.