Blooded Ground (Clan of the Ice Mountains Book 2)

by C. S. Bills

  Farnook lay on the ground behind Suka. She did not move.

  “Sha!” Attu cried. “Sha!” He had heard the mothers calling this to their children and knew it meant to stop, or quit doing what they were doing. It had no effect on the woman now, however.

  As if materializing from nowhere, Kagit was beside them, towering over the scene. The woman saw him and stopped beating on Suka. Turning toward Kagit, she cried out a string of words, repeating them over and over again.

  Kagit said nothing, but simply stared at the woman as if she had gone mad. She ranted. He cocked his head to the side. He studied her, took a step toward her, paused and studied her again.

  Attu’s flesh crawled. Even Suka looked confused. Kagit took another step, closing the distance between himself and his woman. She seemed not to notice as she continued to yell until Kagit’s hand flashed out from his side and struck his woman’s head above her ear. She slumped to the ground, unconscious.

  Attu was dumbfounded. No one in the Raven Clan made a sound. No one approached the woman to help her. Instead, they remained motionless, watching Kagit.

  Suka turned and reached down to help Farnook up. She shook off his hand and stood up on her own, turning herself away from him. Her clothing had ripped from her back. Red marks and new bruises covered her from neck to waist. Farnook bowed her head before the Raven leader and stood perfectly still, clutching the front of her garment to her chest. Her whole body trembled.

  Kagit stood, hands clenched to his sides. His tattoos transformed his face into a terrifying spirit mask come alive on the face of the Raven leader. He growled something to Farnook, who shook her head in denial.

  Kagit nodded and spoke again. This time Farnook translated. “Farnook belongs to the woman who was hitting her.” It was eerie to hear Farnook speak of herself as if she weren’t talking about herself at all, but another.

  “The woman who owns Farnook is Raven’s third woman. Kagit understands you don’t want Farnook treated badly, so he has taken care of it. But you have no right to interfere in things you do not understand, or to touch a woman of the Raven Clan. No one except Raven has the right to decide how a Clan member treats Farnook. You have done a stupid thing here today and I, Raven, should kill you where you stand. But I am a merciful leader. You must both leave.”

  Suka stared at Raven, hatred in his eyes. “Tell this Kagit coward it is wrong to strike a woman, any woman. He dishonors his people by allowing them to treat you cruelly when we are not here. I know he does. He dishonors himself by hitting his own woman. I’ll leave. But I will return, and I’ll take you from this place, Farnook. I’ll take you away, and no one will ever hit you again, or I will kill them with my bare hands.”

  Attu sucked in his breath.

  Farnook’s eyes widened, and Attu watched as a sudden rush of tears ran down her cheeks. “I will not tell him that,” she whispered fiercely. “He will kill you. Go. I will tell him you will go.”

  Quickly, Farnook spoke to Kagit before Suka had a chance to say anything else. Raven listened to her words, then turned his back on them and left, walking into the trees again without another word.

  One of the other women called to Farnook, and she ran to the woman’s side.

  An eerie silence filled the clearing. It was as if once Kagit turned his back on them, Attu and Suka no longer existed. Attu felt his flesh crawl.

  Suka made a move as if to go after Farnook, but Attu grabbed his cousin by the shoulder.

  “Not now, Suka. Raven will set his men on us. We are outnumbered and have no weapons but our small knives.”

  “He is a dead man,” Suka growled.

  “I know. I know,” Attu said. “But not this day. We need to leave. Now.”

  Attu walked toward the edge of the village, aware every eye was on them although no one looked at them directly or acted as if they saw them at all. Suka followed. Attu breathed a sigh of relief when they finally made the cover of the trees.

  “I meant what I said,” Suka declared as they walked the trail back to their camp.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know yet, but I meant what I said to Farnook. I’m getting her out of there.”

  “What if she won’t come? She’s terrified of Raven.”

  “I’ll figure something out.”

  Chapter 14

  “I’m going to take Farnook for my woman,” Suka announced to Rika and Attu the next evening. He had slipped into their shelter behind them as they walked in, and started in with his plan before Rika could even offer him the visitor’s place at the fire. “Ashukat will go with me. We’ll bargain. I’ll trade for her. It’s a good plan.”

  Suka looked at Attu as if to dare him to disagree. But he didn’t. “It is a good plan, cousin,” Attu replied. “What do you have to trade for her?”

  Suka’s face grew serious. “Not as much as I think I’ll need. Farnook is valuable, and it will take much to convince Kagit to let her go.”

  “You’re going to need the help of others. Let’s spread the word and see what we can gather for you.”

  The three stood outside Attu’s shelter a few suns later.

  “Ashukat has offered two tuskie hides; Tingiyok, his best paddle and a tusk flute he carved last winter. It is beautiful. Several women have given me many well-rubbed rabbit hides. Yural and Meavu gave me fine baskets woven of the long-needled trees. The work is delicate and better than anything I’ve seen in the Raven camp. I will give my smaller skin boat. It’s all I have of worth I can give away.”

  “That is much, but it is not enough,” Rika said, her eyes thoughtful. “I can give some of my special potion for stomach pain Limoot wanted. I didn’t give it to her, for we don’t have much but-”

  You must not endanger the Clan by giving away your healing medicines,” Attu said.

  “But-”

  “I have an idea.” Attu went to the back of the shelter and drew out his pouch, still half-filled with the huge ice bear teeth and claws. “You wouldn’t take this before, when I offered it to you so many moons ago on the ice. Will you take it now, cousin?”

  Suka’s eyes lit up, and he moved toward Attu, reaching for the pouch. Then he stopped and looked away from them both. His cheeks turned red. His hands fell to his sides.

  After Attu had been attacked by the ice bear, he’d tried to explain to Suka why he didn’t want the ice bear’s teeth and claws. He’d tried to give Suka the teeth and claws then. But Suka hadn’t understood. Attu couldn’t make him see how horrible it had been, facing such a beast and having to live with the scars of it for the rest of his life. Suka had only seen that Attu had acted the hero, again, saving Meavu, and Suka’s little brother, Shunut, and becoming the talk of two Clans. When Attu had tried to explain, Suka had grown angry and stalked out of the shelter. Their relationship had changed from that day on. They were still friends, still cousins, but never as close.

  Now, Attu was offering Suka another chance to take the pouch, and by doing so, gain the woman he desired.

  Suka raised his head and looked at Attu. Tears ran silently down his cheeks. Suka reached for the pouch with one hand, the other wrapping around Attu in a half-embrace, rough, and filled with the thanks he couldn’t put into words.

  Rovek joined them, a question in his eyes.

  “Later, brother,” Rika said. “We’re just gathering items Suka can bargain with for Farnook.”

  “Will they be willing to give her up?” Rovek asked. “The times I’ve been in the Raven camp, Farnook seems to do more work than five other women.”

  “She is strong,” Suka remarked.

  “Yes,” Rovek agreed. “They may not want to give her up.”

  “I’ll make them,” Suka said. His voice sounded like the growl of an ice bear.

  “I wish all it took were a few ice bear teeth for me to get what I most desire,” Rovek said; then his cheeks reddened and he looked away from them, as if he hadn’t meant to say what he’d been thinking. Rovek made an excus
e about checking on Paven and walked away.

  “I’m speaking to Father again,” Rika said. “He’s being unfair to Rovek, holding him back from his hunter’s ceremony.”

  “Let my father do it,” Attu said. “I’ll ask him to talk with Paven as soon as he can.”

  Suka stood, looking down on the ice bear teeth. He looked weary and uncertain once again.

  “Soon, Suka, you will have your woman,” Attu said. He pounded his cousin hard on the back, bringing him out of his darkening mood. “Soon,” he said again, and Suka brightened. They shared a look, and Attu knew Suka was remembering with him, memories of the days when they were both young hunters, Attu crooning to his stomach and Suka arguing about taking an extra snow otter before they raced together across the small land they had called home.

  The trees were bare, but the fish still ran thick in the streams. Before the Seers left, they had shown Attu’s people which trees grew various types of food on them, encased in hard coverings that when cracked with a stone, revealed sweet meatiness inside. Ashukat’s Clan called them nuts. They were ready for gathering now, and every able person was out gathering, fishing, and storing food.

  “There are sweet nut trees down by the river,” Meavu said to Rika as the two of them prepared to go gathering.

  “You just want to watch Rovek fish,” Rika teased, but she grabbed her basket and the two headed down the river path.

  Attu threw the large netted loop on a pole over his shoulder and followed them.

  Suka saw him coming, grabbed his own pole, and the two hunters walked toward the river. “Can you believe how we can drop our nets into the water and simply pull fish out?” Suka was apparently as amazed at the fish as Attu had been the first time he saw a bird flying. “Sometimes even I wish I wasn’t leaving this place. But then I remember Kagit,” Suka said and spit off the side of the path. “I won’t live anywhere near that man, or his Clan.”

  “When are you going with Ashukat to trade for Farnook?” Attu asked as they walked.

  “As soon as I can,” Suka said. “I tried to speak with Ashukat about it last sun, but he was in one of those Between places of confusion he keeps falling into. When I tried to explain about Farnook, he didn’t seem to hear me. He just said something about ‘shadows following his thoughts’ and walked away, toward the Rock. And I think I need to talk to Farnook first, to-”

  “She will come with you willingly,” Attu interrupted, reassuring him. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you. Besides, you’ll be taking her from those foul women who hit her.”

  Suka grinned, then looked tense again.

  “What if she only comes with me because she’s a slave there?”

  Attu laughed, thinking of his own frustration over Rika. The wanting, the not knowing...

  “She will want you, Suka. Do not fear.”

  Suka shook his head. Attu had never seen his cousin look more troubled.

  Near the river, they saw Meavu and Rika standing off the side of the path two spear throws ahead.

  What? Attu mind spoke to her.

  I heard something. Someone’s hiding in the ferns.

  Attu swerved off the path.

  “What are you doing? The river’s that-” but Suka stopped speaking as he noticed movement in the ferns.

  “Come out, whoever you are. We know you’re in there,” Attu said.

  Farnook stood, her face defiant.

  “Farnook, what are you doing here? Are you alone?” Suka asked.

  “I’m gathering the white berries Limoot must have,” Farnook said. Her voice was soft as she glanced first at Suka, then Attu, before looking down at her feet. “They don’t grow anywhere else I’ve been able to find. I had to come here, again.”

  Rika and Meavu walked back to where they were standing. Rika looked into the basket Farnook was carrying. It was filled with a strange white berry, hard and cold-looking in the basket. Rika popped her lips.

  Farnook flinched, but continued staring at the ground.

  “Limoot wants these?” Rika asked. “Doesn’t she know they’re poisonous?”

  “Poison?” Farnook whispered. Her eyes widened with fear. “Poison?” she repeated. She thrust the gathering basket away from her body, as if she wanted to throw it from her, but she didn’t drop it. “I don’t know what Limoot knows. She tells me nothing about her potions. But she was very clear. I am to gather as many of these berries as I can and not eat a single one. She said she’d know if I did. She didn’t say they were poisonous. This is the second time she has sent me out to gather them. She has a great many-”

  “A handful of those berries will kill a full grown hunter,” Rika interrupted. “Ashukat’s healer told me. And the leaves are also poisonous, but not as bad as the berries. They are worse than evil spirit mussels.”

  Attu, Suka, and Meavu popped their lips in horror.

  “Worse?” Meavu whispered. “I thought nothing was worse than evil mussels.”

  “I must go,” Farnook said and turned to slip back down the path toward the Raven settlement.

  “No,” Suka said and reached out for her hand. Farnook did not pull away from him.

  Rika glanced at Suka, then Farnook. “Let’s go,” Rika said to Meavu, and the two of them started walking again toward the river.

  Attu turned to join them.

  “No, stay,” Suka said. “Please?”

  Attu stayed, frowning at first until he realized why Suka needed him there.

  Of course. Suka is taking care to protect Farnook. They are not bonded and therefore cannot be alone together.

  “You honor me,” Farnook said. “Why?” Her voice was a mere whisper. She looked up at Suka, her hair sliding back from her face, exposing a delicate neck and small round ears. She was so slight, so fragile looking. Yet Attu could see the strength in her straight back and her wiry arms, with their scratches and bruises. Even as dirty as she was, dressed in rags, she was beautiful. And she was a survivor. Tough. A true Nuvik woman. Attu could see why Suka wanted her.

  “I desire to protect and honor you always, Farnook,” Suka said, his voice rough with emotion.

  “But you cannot. I belong to Kagit, to his woman. I am nothing, Suka. You must not try to take me for your woman. I’m a slave. I can’t be bonded to anyone.”

  “So you know of our ways?”

  “I remember. I was a small child when my people were killed. But I remember the before times, the tossings, the bondings, the happy times of men and women. Not like with the Ravens.”

  She shook her head, as if she could shake away all the years of abuse she had taken at the hands of Kagit’s Clan. “I just wish I could remember... I remember nothing of that dying time. Only days afterward, traveling with Kagit’s Clan after they rescued me, and the moons that have followed as we’ve traveled north. Kagit and his men are warriors, as much as they try to tell you they aren’t. I have seen them take over whole Clans, killing the men and stealing the women and children if those Clans wouldn’t become a part of the Raven Clan willingly. You must leave this place. Go far away from Kagit and his people. They are dangerous.”

  “We will leave as soon as we can. But I want you to know that I’m coming in a few days time, before the full moon,” Suka said. “I will bring Ashukat, remember, the Elder you met first? We’ll come with much to trade for you. Kagit will trade for I have much to give for you. I will make you my woman, and we’ll be bonded on the full moon, as is our people’s way.”

  Suka reached out his hand, slowly, tenderly, as if to brush water off a leaf, and touched Farnook’s face, her hair. Farnook trembled, but didn’t pull away. “You will no longer be a slave. No man or woman will ever hit you again. It is not our way. You will come north with me to keep you safe from Kagit and his people, and I’ll teach you all you must know. Attu and Rika and the others will follow as soon as Paven has recovered. You’ll be among your own people again.”

  Tears fell down Farnook’s cheeks in such a rush that Attu wondered why the girl wa
sn’t sobbing. Instead, she stood silent among the ferns, her heart in her eyes, gazing at Suka.

  “Come soon,” she whispered, and standing on her toes, she kissed Suka’s cheek. She turned to Attu, the pain of her longing filling her face with a mixture of hope and fear. Then Farnook darted away, making no sound as she ran among the ferns and rotten tree stumps, away from the river and south toward the Raven Clan’s settlement.

  I can’t believe Kagit will give Farnook to you, cousin, but I know you have to try. And if you cannot have her, I’m afraid Farnook will never be able to recover from the wound your attempt will inflict upon her. To hope again, after all these moons...

  Silently, Attu and Suka made their way to the river, where Rika and Meavu were picking the dark purple berries that had dried in clusters along its edge.

  “Safe and good to eat,” Rika assured Attu as she turned away to begin picking again.

  “There’s Rovek... and the others,” Meavu added, blushing as she walked away down the riverbank. Soon Attu heard her squealing. Looking up, he saw Rovek dangling a huge fish in a pole net over Meavu.

  “Get that wet thing out of here,” Meavu yelled as if drops of water landing on her head might seriously injure her.

  Rovek grinned. “I caught it for you.” He pretended to be hurt as he jiggled the net, sending drops of fishy water onto Meavu’s head, again.

  “You are not my hunter,” Meavu said.

  Rovek answered something Attu couldn’t hear. Meavu blushed furiously, and Rovek stepped toward her.

  “She’s no longer your little Kip,” Rika said as she watched the two walk away down the bank toward the others fishing nearby. “Their spirits are calling to each other-”

  “As mine calls to yours.” Attu turned toward his woman, his own net still holding a dripping fish.

  “Don’t even think it,” Rika warned as she backed away. “Or you’ll find wet fish in your sleeping furs tonight instead of me.”

  “Is that a promise?” Attu asked, his voice menacing as he took another step toward her.

  Rika squealed and ran for the cover of the trees, Attu right behind her, net waving.