“I was banished because I defied my clan and ran away to marry the man I love. My husband is Albaamaha. Straight Corn, son of Wet Clay Woman, matron of the Reed Clan.” I raise my chin defiantly. “I love him. I’d rather live in the forest with the man I love than rule Split Sky City. That’s why they sent me here. As punishment. And I am just waiting for the opportunity to escape back home to him.”
Two Sticks stares speculatively at me, as if wondering if he should believe me. Then he fixes on my tattoo. Thinks. Finally he says, “I wouldn’t run if I were you.”
“Why?”
“Because you should be smarter than that. Your husband, this Straight Corn, he is an initiate?”
“Yes.”
“And his uncle? He would be Hanging Moss, of the Reed Clan?”
“Yes.”
“As I remember, Hanging Moss was well known as a shaman. Was a figure of authority in the Sacred Moth Society.”
“These days he cares for the Moth Bundle. He calls the prayers. Dances with the moths.”
Two Sticks chuckles softly to himself. “Lady, you probably don’t realize the opportunity that is being handed to you. Right here. In Cahokia. Stay. Endure the living god’s bed if you must, and found your embassy among the Cahokians. Be all that your heritage says you can.”
“I could not care less about Cahokia. That talk about an embassy was to buy time to escape. I want to be with my husband.”
“Oh, don’t worry. Surely Straight Corn was apprised of your fate. You ran off and married an Albaamaha. What a slap to the Chief Clan. Exile is too good for your transgressions. Your father would have made you an example to all. Especially Reed Clan. Your value to my people—especially as a Sacred Moth initiate—can’t be overstated. My guess is that they’re already halfway here.” Two Sticks smiles. “And your husband is in the lead canoe, paddling harder than the rest to come find you.”
For no longer than it takes to catch a breath, I am stunned. “Halfway here?”
My souls are wheeling with disbelief.
As he watches my increasing excitement, I can see a spreading satisfaction behind his eyes. “You are a very important young woman, Lady. I begin to see Power’s plan for you.”
“What plan?” My heart is beating in my chest like a pot drum. Straight Corn is coming here? How well I can imagine him in that lead canoe, can see the desperation on his face. The bunching at the corner of his wide jaw. His muscles are knotting under his smooth brown skin as he drives the paddle deep, each stroke propelling a sleek war canoe across the swirling brown water.
Two Strikes has a new intensity in his suddenly gleaming eyes. “Lady, Moth magic is old, dating back to the Beginning Times when the Albaamaha and Koasati peoples first emerged into this world from beneath the roots of the World Tree. According to the old stories, when the people emerged it was night. They looked up and saw the stars, and were afraid. An owl hooted. Some turned around and fled back down into the earth.”
I take over the narrative, saying, “The rest were ready to follow when the Sacred Moth fluttered out of the night sky. Smelling sweetly of datura nectar and tobacco blossoms, Sacred Moth fluttered around them. Enchanted, the people were reassured, and they followed Sacred Moth to a tobacco field, and realized that they had reached a good place.”
Two Sticks points a finger at me. “You are making the journey from your own Underworld and have arrived at Cahokia, your new world. You have just emerged, and are thinking of fleeing back to the past: your metaphorical Underworld. But just as the Sacred Moth brought my people to understanding in the Beginning Times, it now leads you.”
“Leads me where?” I am having trouble following his line of thought.
“Don’t you understand? You are the chosen one. The woman sent to bring the Power of the night here, to establish it at Cahokia.”
I am astounded. First at the notion that Straight Corn would be on his way. Which, of course, I should have realized, knowing my husband. But second, that I, a lowly initiate, would be chosen by Sacred Moth for such an important purpose.
As if reading my uncertainty, Two Sticks uses a conspiratorial tone. “It is not happenstance that you are the high minko’s daughter. You are the bridge, Lady. A Sky Hand noble, you married an Albaamaha. You dedicated yourself to the ways of the night and Sacred Moth. Learned the potions and secrets of the sacred plants. By its machinations, Power has sent you here to marry the Morning Star and establish the Sacred Moth Society in the heart of Cahokia.”
For the moment, I am too taken aback to absorb the importance of what he is saying.
“But I don’t want to marry the Morning Star.”
Two Sticks shrugs. “The Sacred Moth could not care less what you want. You are walking the path of Power, Lady. It will use you as it wishes.”
Sixteen
“Rising Flame!” Blue Heron almost spat the words as she sat on one of the Council House daises to the right of Wind’s elevated tonka’tzi’s seat. They had retreated to the Council House—Cahokia’s center of government—where it stood on the jutting southern terrace of the Morning Star’s great mound. Blue Heron tapped fingers on her chin as she stared up at the soot-stained poles that supported the gabled ceiling.
“Morning Star must have had a reason.” Wind sat forward on her panther hides and pretended to study the copper-clad staff of office that she held. She absently ran her fingers over the embossed spirals that represented the World Tree. It was topped with feathers and had a circular shell piece engraved with a circle and cross on the bottom.
“What reason? You tell me?”
“Can’t. For the life of me.”
“Rising Flame is aptly named. She doesn’t have the control, the experience. She’s hot-blooded and volatile. Too emotional. And not only that…” Blue Heron made a face but couldn’t continue.
“You can’t stand her,” Wind finished her thought as she pulled her copper headpiece off. She shook out her long gray hair before running fingers through it. “I can’t stomach her either.”
“Nor could her last husband. She’s freshly divorced. And that’s another problem. She’s going to have half the men in Cahokia flocking to her door, Earth Clans and Four Winds alike, all trying to snare her into a marriage. Even if she had the cunning it takes to spar with the likes of War Duck, Slender Fox, and Green Chunkey, how could she give them her full attention when an endless stream of men are filing through her door?”
Wind shook her head. “Let alone the fact that the woman has spent most of her life traveling. All that time among foreign peoples? Being corrupted by their morals and beliefs? Who is to know what crazy ideas she has about how things are done? I wonder if she isn’t more Casqui than Cahokian.”
Unable to let the thought go, Blue Heron pointed a finger and added, “Let alone the ones she drags off to her bed. She has a reputation for such doings. Nothing like Slender Fox, but still—”
“You know, Sister,” Wind reminded, “I heard the same things said about you once upon a time.” She paused. “Just making note, that’s all.”
Blue Heron lifted her lip in warning.
Wind ignored her and twirled her staff. “Morning Star must see something in her that we don’t.”
“I wonder if she’s been spending time with him? I had my people watching her sister. Making sure Sacred Spoon wasn’t hiding any surprises that would be sprung the moment we offered her for matron.” She screwed up her lips. “And keeping even better track of Slender Fox and the rest who were going to vote against us. Should have had my agents concentrating on Rising Flame.”
Wind’s chuckle sounded oddly hollow. “Got to hand it to you, you played that masterfully. You even took me by surprise. But for the Morning Star’s interference, we’d be celebrating Sacred Spoon’s ascent to the chair.”
“If I was so masterful, why’s Rising Flame the clan matron and Sacred Spoon’s not?”
Wind frowned at her staff. “I didn’t know what to say when Five Fists bulled his way up t
o the speaker’s spot and brought everything to a halt. There is no precedent. Nor has the question ever been asked: Does the Morning Star have a voice among the Four Winds Clan because he’s in Chunkey Boy’s body? Or is he essentially a clanless interloper?
“And more to the point”—Blue Heron used a bony finger for emphasis—“are you going to be the one to deny him? Tell him his agent can’t speak? Hmm? Did you see anyone in that council willing to offer so much as a peep of opposition? I sure didn’t.”
“A minor point. Rising Flame is Four Winds. She had a right to offer herself.” Wind waved it away. “But it is done. Over. My bet is that she’s got her servants and household moving her possessions into my old personal quarters as we speak.”
Though she couldn’t see it through the Council House walls, Blue Heron glanced up in the direction of the Morning Star’s palace. Could almost feel him up there.
What is your game, Morning Star? Did you specifically want a spoiled youngster? An inexperienced hothead who has spent half of her life living among foreigners? Why? To keep us all at each other’s throats?
Wind must have been sharing her thoughts, because the tonka’tzi was shaking her head, eyes vacant and lips quivering as if she were conversing with her souls.
“It’s not going to be good,” Blue Heron concluded.
“No, I suppose not.”
She looked up as the thief came plodding into the room, his ugly, big-boned dog padding at his side. “Is there some problem you have with understanding?”
“How’s that, Keeper?” He grinned, bobbing his head and tapping fingers to his forehead. “Greetings, Tonka’tzi. Must be a relief to have that pus-rotted council over. Word on the plaza is that it’s Rising Flame. I’ve seen her around. Looks a bit, um…” He shrugged his reluctance to say more.
“Young?” Wind prompted, shooting him a disdainful look.
“Exactly!” Seven Skull Shield snapped his fingers. “Hardly heard of her before. Would have figured you’d have chosen an older, well, more seasoned woman.”
Blue Heron read Wind’s building irritation. To still her sister’s coming explosion, she held out a hand, snapping, “We would have! She’s the Morning Star’s choice.”
Seven Skull Shield’s blocky face pursed in a knowing frown. “That puts an entirely different spin on the old chunkey stone, don’t it?” He shot her a curious look. “You know why he’d choose Rising Flame instead of someone you wanted?”
“No.” she snapped, then relented. “And it’s irritating me to no end. Now, is there a reason you came charging in here after Smooth Pebble told you to keep out?”
“Is that what she was trying to tell me?” Seven Skull Shield glanced down at the dog. “Guess you were right, Farts. She really didn’t want me coming in here.”
“One of these days, thief,” Wind almost growled, “you’ll push us too far.”
Again Blue Heron waved her sister down, demanding, “Do you have a death wish? Or did you just wander off this morning and leave your good sense asleep in some woman’s bed? Why are you here?”
Seven Skull Shield gave her a sly smile. “Just a feeling, Keeper. It’s that Chikosi girl. The one you wanted Two Sticks to keep track of.”
“What about her?”
“Call it a crawly feeling down in my gut. She managed to send those over-feathered warriors off for firewood this morning, and she and Two Sticks had a long talk.”
“And you came here just to tell me that?” Blue Heron muttered.
“Well, he was signing to start with. Translating so I knew everything that was being said.” The thief looked pensive. “Then he quit once he had the girl to himself, waving me off. Which was fine. I watched him and girl get right serious. And then she got really, really excited.”
He paused. “I don’t make a fuss about it, but I like people to think I’m dumb.”
“A skill at which you overly succeed.” Wind narrowed her eyes.
“Thank you, Tonka’tzi!” Seven Skull Shield beamed. “You see, I got a smattering of languages from my days on the river that I don’t let on about. And down at the landing, listening to all the languages, hearing words while Traders are signing? You just naturally pick up a few words of this and that.”
“Does this have a point?” Wind demanded.
Seven Skull Shield ignored her. “Now, I don’t really know Two Sticks. So I was playing stupid while he and the girl talked. The thing is, I caught just enough to get the gist of what they were saying. Turns out she’s already married to an Albaamaha, and he’s coming here.”
“You interrupted us for this?” Wind asked, still irritated.
The thief tapped his fingertips together as he spoke. “Two Sticks is really excited about this guy’s arrival, and it has something to do with that tattoo on her hand. Now just why a married woman—”
“Excuse me,” Wind interrupted. “What in the name of Piasa’s balls are we talking about? What woman? Why do we care if her husband is coming here? And what does a tattoo have to do with anything?”
Blue Heron gave Seven Skull Shield the “go ahead” nod.
“Well, Tonka’tzi, supposedly she’s the Chikosi high minko’s daughter from down at Split Sky City south of the bend of the Tenasee. She was sent here to marry the Morning Star. But now we find out she’s already married.”
“Why haven’t I heard anything about this?”
Blue Heron told her, “Because they just showed up on my doorstep. You were orchestrating the matron’s council and had more to worry about than some war chief with a White Arrow and an offer of marriage from another young woman. We do these things all the time.” She turned back to Seven Skull Shield. “So, why did you want to bother me with this right now?”
“Like I said. A crawly feeling in my gut.”
“Pus and spit,” Wind muttered. “I’ve got way too good an imagination to think about what’s crawling around in your gut, thief.”
“Go on,” Blue Heron told him.
He pulled out a scrap of hide onto which had been drawn an image. To Blue Heron’s eyes it looked like a big moth in side view. “That’s as close as I can come to the tattoo on the girl’s hand. The one that Two Sticks fixed on.”
“And who’s this Two Sticks?” Wind asked.
“One of my spies. An Albaamaha. He keeps track of the Traders coming in from the Tenasee. His job is to pick up any news about events in the Chikosi and Choctaw country. Give me a heads-up if trouble’s coming our way. Those people down there don’t like each other. The girl said she was here to establish an embassy, marry the Morning Star, and institute better relations between Cahokia and the Sky Hand. But like I said, it was all pretty slipshod. No messenger arrived in advance to announce their approach. Just the war leader, with his White Arrow, at the head of a party of warriors, and the girl being led around on an ankle leash. The man might be something on the battlefield, but he didn’t have a clue about diplomacy.”
“The girl and Two Sticks didn’t talk about embassies, Keeper.” The thief kicked his mongrel dog back before it could lift its leg on her dais.
“Then what?”
“That’s just it. That crawly feeling. I figured Two Sticks would tell me the meat of it. He’s one of yours, right? But when I asked him about it, he said that the girl was excited about marrying the Morning Star, about sharing the miracle of the Beginning Times hero reincarnated into a human body. About how her father would be a good ally for Cahokia.”
“But you said you only have a smattering of Moskogee?” Wind countered. “How do you know she didn’t?”
Seven Skull Shield spread his hands wide. “Because I’ve got enough, Tonka’tzi. She’s waiting for her Albaamaha husband to arrive, and there’s something about a sacred society. And clans. And the fact that her father banished her for marrying the Albaamaha in the first place.”
He paused. “That moth tattoo has something to do with it. But more to the point, why did Two Sticks lie?”
“Because she’s a
lready married?” Wind wondered. “Then why would her father send her here to marry the Morning Star?”
“Her father is a high minko. Maybe he declared the marriage ended. Nullified,” Blue Heron suggested. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Or it could be that the Chikosi high minko is dumping his daughter on the Morning Star and doesn’t want him to know.” Wind countered. “Knowing that she’s disgraced does sour the pot more than a little. ‘Here, Morning Star, take this girl no one wants. Sure, she’s spoiled goods, but what you don’t know won’t hurt you.’”
“And it explains why the war leader was so unprepared. I can imagine his orders: ‘Deliver the girl to the Morning Star, and come right home.’”
“Are these people truly that clumsy?” Blue Heron wondered.
“Is she young and attractive?”
“Not a ravishing beauty, but attractive enough, supple, and endowed.”
“Then Morning Star won’t care. What’s another marriage in the long list of wives foreign chiefs have sent him? The recorders will note it, the ceremony will be short and to the point, and he’ll take her to his bed. An emissary and priests will be sent to Split Sky City. A couple of months later, if the Morning Star is tired of her, she’ll be allowed to marry some Earth Clans man and be a minor celebrity. Especially if she’s pregnant. End of the story.”
“Ladies,” Seven Skull Shield interrupted, waving his bit of hide. “If that’s the case, why would Two Sticks lie? Albaamaha hate the Chikosi, right? What would Two Sticks care? Even if Whispering Dawn was married to a relative of his, he’d want to ensure that the lost husband didn’t show up, calling ‘Where’s my wife?’ Embarrassing the Morning Star could wind up with Two Sticks, the girl, and the errant husband all hanging in squares.”
“Albaamaha do hate Chikosi,” Wind mused. “Maybe Two Sticks is figuring that the girl and husband are expendable. If he waits, lets her marry Morning Star, then exposes the fraud? It would be a huge black eye for the Chikosi. The repercussions would make a laughingstock of the high minko. Would definitely destroy any chance for relations with Cahokia.”
Moon Hunt Page 14
