Six

“War Leader, I fought one of the hardest fights I’ve ever fought,” Blood Talon declared. Burning with humiliation, he stood in front of the war chief’s fire. Clan Keeper Spotted Wrist sat perched on his litter atop a clay dais on the other side of the flames. The Hero of the North had his chin resting on his palm, his elbow braced on a propped knee.

Spotted Wrist was of Red Night’s lineage, and he was in line for the high chief’s seat up at North Star House in Serpent Woman Town should anything happen to High Chief Wolverine. Spotted Wrist was close to fifty, and his temples had begun to gray; lines now deeply incised his weather-blackened face and obscured his Four Winds tattoos. But nothing through the years had dimmed his hard black eyes or the strength in his angular jaw.

He looked every bit of what he was: a most capable military commander and a force to be reckoned with.

The palace, just east of the Morning Star’s great mound, was new, its walls still pale with fresh plaster, and the ceiling had barely begun to darken with soot. It stood on a low mound that had once belonged to Lady Lace, sister of Night Shadow Star and daughter of Red Warrior Tenkiller. After Lace’s abduction, the old palace had been burned, ritually cleansed, and a layer of earth had been added to cover the whole. Then the new palace had been built, ready just in time for Spotted Wrist to claim it as his just due for the conquest of Red Wing Town.

Blood Talon stared anxiously around the interior, noting the shields, bows, carvings, and other wealth that had been hung from the walls—trophies taken during Spotted Wrist’s glorious career. Present, too, were the occasional skulls, all polished and painted, as well as incised and decorated arm and leg bones from various adversaries Spotted Wrist had defeated in battle.

“What do you think?” Spotted Wrist turned his attention to Nutcracker. The squadron second was tall, in his early thirties, with long black hair and a deeply scarred left cheek.

“Blood Talon fought brilliantly, Keeper.” Nutcracker lifted expressive hands, palms out. “The Red Wing was like a dancer, every move smooth and perfect. Watching that fight, it was a thing of beauty. I wouldn’t have believed that any man alive was better than Blood Talon when it came to single combat with the club.”

“But he bested you!” Spotted Wrist turned his head back toward Blood Talon.

“It had to be some sort of magic, War Leader. Maybe Underworld Power. Something dark that that woman cast on me.”

He could feel Nutcracker’s questioning sidelong glance. In his own defense, he demanded, “How else do you explain it? He shouldn’t have known I was in earnest. We started, each of us pulling our blows, sparring, just like I told him we’d be. When I had him at the right tempo, I used a feint, swung fast and hard for the side of his head. The blow should have caved in his helmet and skull, but somehow he managed to dodge it.

“Thought I had him off balance, so I pressed the attack. Hard. Figured he’d be overwhelmed. He just parried, ducked, and skipped away each time.”

“So, he knew?”

“Of course, War Leader. Nothing else explains it. I tried goading him, told him what we did to his wives and children. Threw it right in his face. You could see it, he wanted to kill me. Hated me from down between his souls. We fought for blood and bone.”

“And yet he didn’t kill you?” Spotted Wrist mused, his eyes now on the fire, as if he were seeking some answer there.

Nutcracker said, “Keeper, the Red Wing laid the blade of his club against Blood Talon’s neck as softly as a songbird would alight on a limb. Like nothing I’d ever seen.”

“We dismissed the stories about him,” Blood Talon said in irritation. “All those impossible tales of his battle against the Itza, that he fought in the Underworld for Morning Star, that he singlehandedly saved Cahokia on the chunkey court. What were we to think? I was with those who captured him that night in his own palace. I carried his weeping body down to the canoes that night. That was not the man I faced today.”

“We caught him by surprise that night,” Nutcracker reminded. “Got him in his bed. Asleep.”

“I think it was magic,” Blood Talon insisted. Down in the heart of his bones, he absolutely burned with rage and shame. It had been such a simple assignment. Kill the Red Wing and make it look like an accident.

Yet here he stood after one of the hardest fights he’d been in since he was a youth in training.

Across the fire, Spotted Wrist’s eyes were hardening, the War Leader lost in thought. In the end, he slapped a hand to his muscular thigh, declaring, “What is it with her? I did everything for her. Took Red Wing Town for her. Covered for her when she got in trouble with those wild-weasel brothers of hers. And now she throws it in my face. She chooses that Red Wing filth over me?”

Blood Talon kept his mouth shut, having learned over the years to let his commander vent. He glanced sidelong at Nutcracker, seeing his old friend’s remarkably blank and empty-eyed expression. Smart man. Never give so much as a hint of amusement or emotion when the war leader was in this mood.

“I could just take her,” Spotted Wrist snapped. “Walk over there with a half dozen men, pick her up, and carry her off to the Four Winds Clan House. Have Rising Flame declare us married. It would all be over. Nice and neat.”

Blood Talon did his best to mimic Nutcracker’s empty expression. He’d already failed once today. Of course, the Red Wing would have no chance against that many warriors. There would be injuries, but they’d surround Fire Cat and take him down before anyone got killed.

“I’d do it in a heartbeat if I thought I could get away with it,” Spotted Wrist growled. “No one would blame me, either. It’s Morning Star. He’s the problem. Him and his missing copper. Who in Piasa’s name are the Koroa anyway? Some bunch of swamp-footed barbarians with mud between their toes. Probably have moss growing in their armpits. As if it’s my problem they can’t keep an eye on their own possessions.”

He shot a hard look at Blood Talon. “Any progress finding that accursed copper?”

“No, War Leader.”

“You will address me as Clan Keeper.”

“Yes, Clan Keeper.”

“And you should have seen old Blue Heron. She mocks me. Looks so rotted smug. I’d love nothing better than to hear that dried-out old skull of hers crack under a solid blow from my club.”

“Maybe you could enlist the dwarf?” Nutcracker asked carefully. “The one who spies for Lady Columella over in Evening Star House.”

“Name’s Flat Stone Pipe. Shares Columella’s bed, too, I’m told,” Blood Talon added, relieved to no longer be the center of attention.

“How do you think that works?” Spotted Wrist asked absently, his attention back on the fire.

“A little bit of this, a little bit of that?” Blood Talon suggested.

“Night Shadow Star has turned me into a mockery.” Spotted Wrist’s gaze was burning as hot as the fire he stared into. “Was she there this morning? Did she seem worried that the Red Wing was in a fight for his life? A woman usually can’t help herself when the man she loves is in danger. Did you see that?”

Blood Talon glanced at Nutcracker, who said, “I think she watched from inside her palace, Keeper. All I saw was a shadow standing back from the doorway.”

“Well, there’s that. At least she’s not giggly-girl-silly-in-love-with-him to the point she’d throw herself in the middle of a fight to save him.”

“Word is that after her possession by Piasa, she’s aged beyond her years,” Blood Talon said.

Spotted Wrist stroked his chin. “She’s not the child I remember, that’s for sure. And all the more beguiling because of it. You see it, don’t you? The reason why I’ve got to have this marriage? No other woman in all of Cahokia, not even the tonka’tzi, is as renowned, respected, or beloved by the people. Everyone knows she stands toe-to-toe with the Morning Star. He treats her as his equal. There is no greater prize in the entire world.”

Blood Talon bit his lip, forcing his face to remain blank, thinking, That is why she can spurn you, old friend. Because in the end, she’s more Powerful, with more authority and prestige than any woman you’ve ever known.

And he was supposed to travel halfway across the world with her after trying to murder her lover?

A cold shiver found its way down Blood Talon’s back. But perhaps there might be a way to bring the entire expedition to a halt. Buy them all time.

“War Lea … Clan Keeper, I have an idea.”