Twenty-nine

For the most part Fire Cat could cope with his physical desires. He’d been raised to be a war chief. Uncle had taught him to endure privation of every sort, be it cold, heat, pain, or the ragged edge of physical exhaustion.

He had fallen in love with Night Shadow Star understanding the bitter reality of his situation. He had pledged her his service on his honor and the honor of his ancestors. He was Red Wing—and when one’s sacred word was given, that oath bound him until either it was rescinded by the person it was given to, or death.

As it was, he understood that Piasa had forbidden Night Shadow Star and him from ever sharing their bodies, though neither he nor she understood the why of it all. Power had decreed that they live chastely, and somehow that single abstention apparently had saved the city of Cahokia. And supposedly later, it had allowed them to free her brother’s soul in the Underworld. Leave it to gods, Spirits, and Power to figure out how that balanced the scales of Cosmic Trade, but apparently it did.

Several times Fire Cat and Night Shadow Star had teetered on the edge, hearts pounding, blood racing, as they held each other and stared into the other’s eyes. He’d seen her desire in the parting of her lips, the rising of her breath, the desperation with which she clung to him. Not that she could miss his own protruding arousal where she pressed herself against it. To tear himself away from her had been brutal.

Nevertheless, he lived with the knowledge that at least he got to share his life with her. Was able to watch her, enjoy her smile, and find ample satisfaction in his ability to make her already difficult life easier. Especially in view of her soul possession and the terrible strain it placed on her. That Power had chosen him to serve such a woman he considered a rare honor. That she understood and appreciated his sacrifice? That made any privation worth it.

He had come so close to failing himself and her last night. Had she given him the slightest encouragement, he would have ignored the voice of warning in his head. It had been torture enough to watch her suffering from exhaustion and cold; he’d have given anything to have pulled her close and hugged her to him at the fire. But that would have embarrassed her in front of the Traders. He’d taken risk enough to suggest they share bedding.

And I would have willingly condemned us to who knows what sort of disaster and tragedy. Sacrificed her future, perhaps even her life for a single night of sharing her body.

Fire Cat kept running that thought through his head as he crouched in the brush just back from the bank and kept watch on the river.

Beyond the gray screen of forest on the eastern bank, dawn was a dull gray glow in the east. The morning birds had begun to call, and fish jumped to leave rings out in the river.

Fire Cat fought the urge to shiver; the morning chill seemed worse than last night’s, more penetrating, or else it was so deep in his bones it would take days to warm up.

Slipping out of his and Night Shadow Star’s bed had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He could have spent eternity just being close to her.

The memory brought a smile to his lips.

What a fool a man could be when it came to a woman.

His duty was here, watching. Their lives and success would depend on knowledge and cunning from here on out. The only way to avoid a run-in with Blood Talon was to know where the squadron first was. Understand that, and the key to avoiding him was suddenly feasible.

“He’s going to be coming soon,” Fire Cat promised himself, checking to see that the breeze was still coming in off the river, that there was no way the smell of their small fire would carry to the Cahokians.

Fire Cat tightened his grip on his war club, hearing a stealthy foot as it rasped in the sumac behind him. He turned his head to see Night Shadow Star as she eased along the creek-side trail. He made room, allowing her a seat on the grass beside him. The patch of wild cherry that screened him from the river was just on the verge of blooming, leaving enough openings that he could see without being seen.

“How are you this morning?” He kept his voice at a whisper. “Feeling better?”

“I’ll live,” she whispered back, tucking her blanket around her. “I wouldn’t have. I had that deep bone-cold chill. By myself, in my wet blankets, I’d have died.”

“That might be an overstatement.”

“As it was, I was warm. Slept well.”

That was a lie, but he smiled at her attempt to put the best face on it that she could.

Then she surprised him. “Actually, it was a hard night. But not from the cold or that unforgiving gravel.” She drew a breath. “What are we going to do?”

“Go to Cofitachequi and kill Walking Smoke.”

She shook her head sadly. “This is torturing me. I want you as a woman wants a man.”

“What does Piasa say to that?”

“He’s out there,” she gestured aimlessly at the forest. “He knows how I ache to live with you as a normal woman does with the man she loves.”

“We paid a price, more than once, you’ll recall, to save Cahokia. Doesn’t matter that we don’t understand the why of it, that’s the bargain we made. Power doesn’t like it when you break your word.”

She glanced sidelong at the forest. “What if I ordered you? Right now. Told you to take me, here, on this little patch of grass?”

He smothered a chuckle. “I swore to serve you, so I’d decline.”

“You’d disobey a direct order? You swore that night—”

“I swore I’d serve you without reservation. Violating a promise you gave to Piasa isn’t acting in your best interest.”

“Wrong. You swore that you’d follow my orders, no matter what they were. I don’t remember your memory being so clouded.”

“Are we really having this discussion? I am only a servant. You do remember that, don’t you? You’re the lady, I’m the one who’s bound to you.”

A saucy glint filled her dark eyes. “I free you. Absolve you of your oath. Now what are you going to do?”

He blinked, lifted an eyebrow. A curious unease filled his chest. “You mean that?”

She nodded sadly, rubbing her shins with nervous hands. “I’m tired, Fire Cat. I hurt all over. I’m afraid of what’s going to happen to us upriver, let alone in Cofitachequi if we ever get that far. For the first time in my life, I am no longer Night Shadow Star, only a lone woman without station or privilege. Blood Talon is out here somewhere ready to kill you and the others and take me back.”

She took a breath. “I’m possessed by voices telling me terrible things. I see flickers of light. Bits of movement that aren’t there when I look twice. I don’t know who I am anymore. I’m … I’m scared.”

He reached out, laid his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her close. “Then it’s no time to be making the kind of decisions you can’t take back.”

“In Cahokia, everything was … how do I say this? Familiar? Comfortable? Established? I knew who I was, what I had to do, and who I had to be.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Do you?”

“I’ve been there, remember? War chief to bound servant in the space of a single turning of the moon. One minute I’m a noble war chief, a hero, the next my wives are enslaved and my children are dead, my world conquered, and I’m oath-bound to serve a people I hate. Unlike your journey now, I spent that journey bound, in the bottom of a canoe, weeping.”

She smiled wearily, her eyes losing their focus as they did when Piasa was talking in her ear.

When her expression cleared, she said, “Are you always so wise and courageous?”

“No. Remember when we began our journey to the Underworld in the Spirit Cave? I was a shivering, frightened wreck. Too terrified to move. I would have died there, consumed by my fear. You were like a pillar of stone, unwavering and strong.”

“You were just in a place where you didn’t understand the rules. In the end, you saved us all.”

“And now the roles are reversed, that’s all. For once in your life, you’re cast loose without roots. You’re cold, physically exhausted, in a totally unknown place, on a strange river, and you’ve just discovered the hunters are hard on your trail.”

“So, let’s run.”

“Everyone has doubts in their moments of trial, Lady. For the moment you don’t think you know who you are, but you will find that solid core again, and be all the stronger for it. Meanwhile, take the moment, live as someone besides yourself for once. Trust me on this.”

She nodded, and he thought he could feel the resolve building inside her again.

She glanced at him. “I meant it. You are free. I take back your oath of service.”

He tried to exhale around the sudden tension in his chest. “Let us see where the future takes us, Lady. For absolving me of my oath, I deeply and sincerely thank you. But for now, let it be our secret.”

“Why?”

“Because while it might not have consequences here, it would anywhere else. What would they say in Cahokia? He’s free, yet he still lives in her palace, orders her household staff around, stomps around behind her like her personal servant in his armor. Or do you wish me to remove myself from your life?”

“Yes, I see. Very well, we…”

He gestured for silence, withdrew his arm, and leaned forward.

It was the sound that tipped him off: soft voices carrying over the water, then the hollow thunk of a paddle on a canoe gunwale. The morning had brightened to the point that the leaden reflection off the water had turned silver where the current eddied and flowed.

He caught the first movement, watched as the war canoe’s shape formed behind the mat of cherry stems and branches. The warriors were bent to the paddles, all stroking in unison as the sleek war canoe cut water like some mythical predator. The craft slipped cleanly past as it sliced crisp Vs of wake. The hull’s bright red color looked dull in the predawn light.

For a moment, Fire Cat considered pulling up his bow, standing, and taking a shot. Blood Talon was passing no more than twenty paces away. With a single arrow, he could kill the squadron first. Pull a second and kill Nutcracker as the man stumbled to his feet in surprise.

After that, the rest of the warriors would be in a panic. As Fire Cat’s arrows took them one by one, they’d break, turn, paddle like the Spirit-possessed to get out of range.

More than enough time to gather the Traders and slip away into the forest.

As if she shared his thoughts, Night Shadow Star’s hand reached out, settled on his arm.

She barely whispered, “Piasa says ‘Don’t do it.’”

“It would solve so many problems, Lady.”

By then it was too late. The canoe had moved on.

Night Shadow Star exhaled wearily, staring empty-eyed off to the side. “You had better be right, Lord. I’m unhappy enough with this whole situation.”

Fire Cat made a face, really uncomfortable with the tone in her voice as she said, “I give you this, you give me something in return.”

She cocked her head, shot a questioning glance to one side, and said, “That woman isn’t here. This woman is, and she will make new terms.” A pause. “I will kill him.”

“What just happened here?”

“Hush, I’m bargaining,” she told him.

“About what?”

“I’ll know that when I finally make the bargain.”

“Great.” A person could never tell when it came to Power.

Blood Talon should be so lucky.