Star Path--People of Cahokia

by W. Michael Gear

  She paused. “But on a similar subject, what did you see in that woman? Willow Blossom? How did she mislead you, of all people?”

  He took a deep breath, regretted it as his cracked ribs sent spears through his chest. “She lit up for me. Her eyes sparkled. That smile.”

  “Any woman can do that.”

  “You don’t.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question. How did she fool you? By Piasa’s swinging balls, what were you thinking?”

  “I was lonely. And, well, I thought that maybe she could be another you.”

  This time the pain in his heart came from a different kind of wound. Looking at Wooden Doll, he suddenly understood that there would never be another one like her.

  Sixty-six

  The tonka’tzi’s elevated palace dominated a large flat-topped mound on the western margin of the Great Plaza across from the World Tree pole that rose in the plaza’s center. Larger in area, though not as tall as the Morning Star’s palace, the tonka’tzi’s palace played host to visiting embassies, was an informal meeting place for different nations while in Cahokia, and served as the dwelling of the tonka’tzi. Here, Wind lived with her husband, Fine Catch, and her considerable household and professional staff.

  Running the palace took effort and consumed time. Not only might Wind be required to offer the occasional unexpected feast to visiting nobility, but the mound staff and guests needed a constant supply of food, water, beds, storage, shelter for subordinates and slaves, not to mention the necessities of state such as recorders, messengers, a bevy of warriors on call for security, the occasional medical professional, surveyors, consultations with the Sky Priests, and who knew what else.

  That entailed a steady supply of firewood, cooks, people who could sew, the servicing of chamber pots, washing, people who could help with hair, and a multitude of other skills that might be called upon at a moment’s notice.

  In addition to her duties up at the Council House, the running of Cahokia, as a city, fell in Wind’s lap. She was the second-to-final arbiter of disputes, subject only to the Morning Star himself. Rarely, however, did the living god deign to involve himself in the mundane affairs of the city. Therefore, every squabble between settlements of dirt farmers, misunderstandings between the various petty chieftainships in the Earth Clans, Trade relations, boundary disputes, broken contracts, and even the occasional domestic disturbance ended up on Wind’s doorstep.

  Which brought Blue Heron and Columella to the tonka’tzi’s palace. They both sat in their litters, each having been brought up the steps of the tonka’tzi’s palace mound and between the two-headed eagle guardian posts that invoked Hunga Ahuito. They’d been carried into the great room, with its audience consisting of the occasional House lord, some of the Earth Clans chiefs and matrons. A smattering of lesser nobility was present; the ones who stayed as a show of status or in the hopes of cadging a free meal.

  Now it was Blue Heron and Columella’s turn. A chance to raise the stakes—not that Wind wasn’t fully aware of the growing crisis in the Four Winds Clan, but this would make it official. Take the conflict out of the shadows, the next move in a calculated struggle that would eventually see one side or the other prevailing.

  After the black drink had been brewed, and the pipe smoked with the appropriate prayers uttered to the Spirit World, Wind—seated atop her dais on the other side of the fire—asked, “What brings you to the tonka’tzi?”

  “We come with grievances,” Columella began. “As matron of Evening Star Town, I am here to declare that my House has been abused and belittled, and while I am hesitant to do so, I must inform you that as of this moment, Evening Star Town has been forced to withdraw its support of the current Clan Keeper. Neither Spotted Wrist nor his agents are welcome in Evening Star Town. A messenger has delivered our notice to the Keeper. I am here, Tonka’tzi, to inform you in person that should the Keeper’s agents be found operating in Evening Star Town, they will be summarily removed. If they resist, they will be removed in an unpleasant fashion.”

  Wind’s expression might have been cast from stone. “Lady Blue Heron?”

  “I am here to file a complaint. My palace was torn apart by the Keeper after I had informed him—upon my honor as a Four Winds Clan noble—that a missing person he sought was not in my residence. Further, that the person he had taken, and then lost control of, was an agent of the Lady Night Shadow Star, and working in her service as a caretaker of her property while she is away on the Morning Star’s business in the south.”

  “And what reason did the Keeper allege for taking this person in the first place?”

  “The person known as Seven Skull Shield apparently embarrassed the Keeper in front of the Morning Star and assembled nobles by means of a remark about the Keeper’s inability to get Night Shadow Star to marry him.”

  Snickers sounded around the room. The story had indeed made the rounds.

  Blue Heron watched as the recorders in the back of the room sorted through their various colored beads, making a record of the charges.

  Where she perched on cougar hides atop her dais, Wind shifted, thoughtfully, propped her chin with her fist. “This sounds like Four Winds Clan business; why was this not dealt with by the clan matron?”

  “She apparently doesn’t think the honor or integrity of Evening Star House is worth her time,” Columella replied. “And, Tonka’tzi, this is an affront aimed specifically at my House. My agents have discovered that neither North Star House, Horned Serpent House, nor River House have been searched. To us, this smacks of a political vendetta. Therefore, in the interest of keeping the peace, we hope to bring this to you for a ruling.”

  “Very well.” Wind snapped her fingers. “I need messengers to summon Clan Keeper Spotted Wrist and Four Winds Clan Matron Rising Flame. I need to hear their side of the dispute.”

  Along the back wall, two young men leapt to their feet. Each carried a staff of office as he raced from the room.

  Wind arched an eyebrow. “It may be a while. Care for a cup of tea and some freshly roasted turkey?”

  Given the formality of the session, Wind prudently allowed the staff, nobles, and busybodies to wait in the room. To Blue Heron’s delight, as she sipped at her cup of tea, a constant trickle of people entered the great room, fully aware of the drama being played out. Excellent, couldn’t be better. The more ears to hear, the more mouths to spread the tale.

  The call, “Make way for Rising Flame, Four Winds Clan matron,” announced the arrival. Rising Flame came striding into the room, followed by several of her attendants and an armored warrior from her security escort.

  That latter fact amused Blue Heron. No one but Morning Star had ever wandered around with armed warriors until Night Shadow Star had taken to having Fire Cat constantly in her company during Walking Smoke’s reign of terror. Once Rising Flame had adopted the practice, so had Slender Fox and some of the younger and aspiring nobles. So, too, had Three Fingers, a fact that annoyed War Duck and one that Blue Heron herself would probably have to deal with before eliminating the threat to her old rivals at River House.

  “Tonka’tzi,” Rising Flame greeted, striding up to the fire and between Blue Heron’s and Columella’s litters. She gave them both sidelong glances, immediately surmising the meaning of their presence. “I do hope that you have not been inconvenienced by a minor clan squabble that should have been taken care of in a less public manner.”

  “Both Evening Star House and Lady Blue Heron have made charges against the Four Winds Clan Keeper, both have stated that they applied to you for redress and were unsatisfied. Are you familiar with the merits of their case?”

  “I am, Tonka’tzi. Though I must confess that while I find Lady Blue Heron’s interest understandable given her previous associations with the miscreant, Lady Columella’s concern for a clanless and shiftless thief is somewhat incomprehensible in this matter.”

  “What is at issue here,” Blue Heron insisted, “is not the thief’s character, but th
e way the Keeper is treating me and Evening Star House. The fact that our word of honor is cast aside as worthless, that my palace was torn apart, ceramics broken, statuary smashed, grain spilled, oil jars upended, and personal effects soiled goes beyond the Keeper’s mandate. The job of the Keeper—”

  “We know what the job of the Keeper is,” Rising Flame interrupted. “The fact that a known criminal—”

  “Do you know what the Keeper’s job is?” Blue Heron shot back. “It’s to keep harmony among the various Houses in the Four Winds Clan. To ensure that House doesn’t rise against House. That—”

  “And you were so good at that? Playing each House off against the others? Having them at a constant low boil? Each scheming against the others?”

  “It’s not even a year, Matron. And Evening Star House is on the verge of revolt.”

  “We are,” Columella interjected. “If we find the Keeper or his people in Evening Star Town, he will be forcibly removed. If he comes with his squadron behind him, he will be met with force of arms.”

  “That is unacceptable,” Rising Flame replied coldly.

  “Unless you want to test the resolve of our squadrons, you’ll find a way to accept it, Clan Matron.”

  “Enough!” Wind snapped from her dais. She leaned forward on her litter, a hard gaze fixing Rising Flame. “But for a last-minute miracle, we barely avoided open warfare between the Houses last fall. I will not see it come to that over a simple thief.”

  “He’s not a ‘simple thief,’” Blue Heron shot back. “He is the man Lady Night Shadow Star placed in charge of her affairs. He is a personally appointed representative of her authority.”

  “This is Seven Skull Shield we’re talking about,” Rising Flame cried. “He’s a known thief, a womanizer, a slippery…” She made a face. “Are you sure you want to make a stand on a thief’s behalf?”

  “Why did Spotted Wrist’s warriors enter Night Shadow Star’s palace by stealth? Seize Seven Skull Shield and lock him in a cage to be tortured?”

  “The man’s a thief.”

  “What did he steal?” Blue Heron asked.

  “I can name the Quiz Quiz War Medicine, for one.”

  “Ah, the War Medicine box that he acquired while recovering the sacred Bundle stolen from the Surveyors’ Society? The one the Quiz Quiz brought to ensure their success in stealing our Bundle? The same War Medicine he Traded to you, honestly and up front, in exchange for the release of the Trader, Winder? Why didn’t you order him seized on the spot?”

  Rising Flame’s glare was sharper than a freshly ground bone stiletto. “It is common knowledge that he was the assassin who threatened to cut Round Pot’s throat at River House, the man who extinguished their sacred fire.”

  Columella dryly said, “To my knowledge, no one has ever had their throat cut with a potsherd. Beyond that, not even Round Pot can say for a fact that Seven Skull Shield was the man in her room that night searching for the Quiz Quiz, which means it is not common knowledge. But, for argument, let’s say it was. What did Round Pot and War Duck declare stolen that night?”

  Rising Flame’s brow pinched. “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s an easy question.”

  “I haven’t a clue as to what was missing.”

  “Some thief,” Columella said, turning her attention back to Wind. “Tonka’tzi, you are fully aware—as many in this room are not—that Seven Skull Shield is and has been an agent for the Morning Star House. He was instrumental in ending Walking Smoke’s murderous spree, saving countless lives. He provided us service when the Itza would have led us into disaster and was responsible for bringing the Quiz Quiz to justice. That he—”

  “The man is a scoundrel!” Rising Flame barked.

  “He embarrassed Spotted Wrist,” Blue Heron insisted, “and that’s why he was taken, caged, beaten, and abused. He—”

  “The beast is a most loathsome and despicable creature!” Spotted Wrist bellowed as he forced his way through the now-packed doorway. “You should have heard the things he confessed to while he was in my custody. The rape of children, sacrilege, the man shouted insults against Power, and that he walked the avenues of Cahokia for as long as he did? That is a disgrace to all of us!”

  Blue Heron turned in her litter as she watched the Hero of the North stride forward. He stopped, a falcon-feather cloak thrown back over his shoulders; a beautifully dyed crimson war shirt hung down to his knees. His Four Winds tattoos had faded into the deep lines on his cheeks.

  “The rape of children?” Columella almost spat the words. “Either you don’t know Seven Skull Shield, or you’re a foul-mouthed liar on top of being a complete incompetent.”

  “You don’t speak to me in that tone, woman,” Spotted Wrist declared, pointing a hard finger at her.

  “You’ll hear the truth in whatever tone I decide to put it in.”

  “Enough!” Wind thundered from her dais. She fixed hard eyes on Spotted Wrist. “War Leader, what is the purpose of the Four Winds Clan Keeper? I mean, just what is it that you are supposed to do?”

  “Tonka’tzi, surely you jest. You know fully well what the Clan Keeper’s responsibilities—”

  “Do you know?”

  “Of course. I am to discover and foil plots against the Four Winds Clan Houses, to ensure the safety of Morning Star and ensure harmony throughout—”

  “What part of going to war with Evening Star House ensures harmony between the Houses?”

  “I am not going to war with Evening Star House. If they have taken offense at my pursuit of my duties, I would respectfully suggest that the fault lies with the good Matron Columella and that old dried-up, so-called friend of hers.” He made a face. “Oh, excuse me. That’s your sister, isn’t it?”

  Rising Flame took a deep breath and rolled her eyes. The others in the room were silent as mist, eyes wide, taking in the spectacle.

  “Make peace, Keeper,” Wind snapped. “That’s an order.”

  “I’ve made my peace, Tonka’tzi. I did it by flattening the Shawnee, by crushing the heretics at Red Wing Town, and by squashing the Houses that were on the verge of war here last fall. You deal with your enemies your way, and I will deal with mine in my own.”

  That old familiar tightening of Wind’s eyes made Blue Heron flinch.

  The tonka’tzi said, “The position of Keeper isn’t a blunt instrument, War Leader. It’s more like a fine obsidian blade that is to be used judiciously.” To Rising Flame she added, “Clan Matron, please instruct your Clan Keeper on the proper conduct of his office. Please inform him of the value that the Four Winds Clan nobility place upon their word of honor. Explain to him that unless individuals can be proven to be working against the interests of peace and harmony within the Four Winds Clan, they are not to be seized, tortured, and harmed.”

  “But—”

  “Matron Columella,” Wind thundered, refusing to be interrupted, “you will assist the Clan Keeper in the pursuit of his official duties.”

  Then Wind extended a finger Blue Heron’s way. “Lady Blue Heron, you will not harbor fugitives from Clan justice. As the old Clan Keeper, you will offer any assistance the new Keeper asks of you. You will give that assistance freely and without dissembling. Is that understood?”

  “It is, Tonka’tzi.”

  “Then it is finished. I don’t care what you have to do, make peace.”

  From where she sat in her litter, Blue Heron could hear Spotted Wrist’s teeth as they ground in his clamped jaws. The man’s eyes gleamed like fire. He turned, stomping his way back through the crowd that, showing uncommonly good sense, scrambled out of his way.

  Rising Flame, her young face pinched, growled something too soft to hear. She fixed first on Columella, saying, “Don’t do this to me again.” And to Blue Heron, “We had a deal. You were supposed to help him.”

  “I tried. Clan Matron, in order to learn, a person must first listen. It doesn’t matter how much water you have to pour into a vessel if the vessel already thin
ks it’s full.”

  Rising Flame shook her head, as if in despair, and stalked out.

  Wind had stepped down from her dais, waving the whispering and incredulous crowd away. She glanced back and forth between Columella and Blue Heron. “I hope that you both know what you’re doing, because I know that man. He’ll never forget what you did to him here tonight.”

  “It has already gone too far,” Blue Heron told her. “From here on, he can’t come directly at us. Not without embarrassing Rising Flame and the others.”

  Columella added, “He has to come at us from the shadows now, and, Tonka’tzi, if there’s any chance we have of coming out of this alive, it’s because in the shadows, we’re on equal footing.”

  “Just don’t let this thing burn out of control. I’ve invested too much in this city just to see you two burn it down over some clanless thief.”

  “Haven’t lost one yet,” Blue Heron muttered, but life had taught her, there was always a first time.

  Sixty-seven

  “Did you hear what that old camp bitch said? Lectured me, did she? On my responsibilities as Four Winds Clan Keeper? Pus and blood, who does she think she is?” Spotted Wrist ranted as he strode back and forth before his palace fire.

  He kept glaring stilettos of rage at the broken and empty cage along the south wall.

  Rising Flame stood in the center of the room, her arms crossed. As she watched him pace, she said, “She’s the tonka’tzi. Daughter of Black Tail and Magic Woman, aunt to Chunkey Boy, the young man who now hosts Morning Star’s souls in his human body.”

  She had inspected the broken cage earlier, noticed the severed rawhide bindings. She’d been around long enough, had traveled through the southern lands, to know something about cages. The like were built for bears. Not easy to take apart. Someone had been sawing at the bindings for some time before enough had been cut to free the prisoner.