Louise Cooper - Indigo 06 - Avatar (10 page)

Indigo stared at her. “A what?”

“You don’t know about
hushu
?” Shalune paused with her ladle in midair and a peculiar expression on her face.

Grimya, too, was nonplussed, and Indigo shook her head. “I’ve never heard the word.”

“Ah. Well, better maybe that it stays that way; save you from a few bad dreams. Anyway, you don’t need to worry about
hushu
now that you’re safe here.” She showed her teeth again. “I’m proud that I was the one to find you. The Ancestral Lady is pleased with me, and that gives me plenty of
ches
.”

Grimya supplied silently:
I have heard that word. It means that she is more greatly respected than before by the other women
. Sagely, she added,
Uluye is not pleased about that, I think
.

Uluye wouldn’t be.... Indigo suppressed a smile.

Unaware of the exchange between them, Shalune set a bowl in front of Indigo and another on the floor before Grimya. “Enough questions for now,” she said firmly. “Eat, or there’ll be no time to enjoy your meal before we must start to prepare for tonight’s ceremony.”

She rose to leave, and Indigo said, “Shalune—one last question. What will be expected of me tonight? I know nothing about the ceremony, or even why it’s taking place.” Hoping she didn’t sound glib, she added, “I don’t want to make any mistakes and let you down.”

Shalune frowned and her mouth quirked briefly in a small moue of irritation. “Uluye didn’t tell you that either?
Ach
... well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. This is Ancestors Night, the night of the full moon. A lot of people from the villages hereabouts will come to the lake to take part. All you must do is go to the lakeside and be seen. Nothing else. Don’t talk, just look, and let the people we bring to you touch your robe for good luck, the way they did on our journey here.”

“I understand.” Indigo was relieved, though still deeply curious about the ceremony’s nature and meaning. “Thank you.”

Shalune grinned. “Eat now. We will be back soon.”

The curtain fell behind her, and Indigo turned her attention to her meal. It was one of the many odd quirks of this cult that no one was permitted to dine with the oracle, or even to watch the oracle dining. Indigo’s food was prepared for her—she wasn’t, as she had discovered early on, allowed to do more than the absolute minimum for herself—but to witness her eating her meal was taboo.

Other taboos included stepping over the threshold of her cave quarters if she were not present or were seen to be asleep, speaking the names of any of her predecessors in her presence, and touching her, in however small a way, without the express permission of a high-ranking priestess. High rank, Indigo had learned, was reserved for a very exclusive few, who included Uluye, Shalune and a bare two or three others—among them, Uluye’s own daughter.

When Yima had been introduced to her ten days ago, Indigo had been astonished, first by the extraordinary physical resemblance she bore to her mother, and second, by the revelation that the High Priestess should have a daughter in the first place. It surprised her that while the women of the cult disdained all but the minimum of contact with men, there was no taboo among their ranks against the bearing of children. Grimya, after a little judicious eavesdropping, had found out more. It seemed that if they wished to, the women were permitted to leave the citadel and to take and live with a mate for a short while. Any daughters of the union were welcomed into the cult when their mothers chose to return; sons, however, were fostered to families grateful for such a privilege, and thereafter forgotten.

It was hard to imagine that Uluye had ever borne a child for the sake of love, or for even a passing passion, but easy enough to see another and more pragmatic motive. Yima was sixteen years old and destined to be the image of her mother in more than the physical sense, for she was training to become, one day in the future, Uluye’s successor as head of the cult. A little to Indigo’s surprise, Uluye’s intention seemed to have the approval of all the priestesses, even Shalune’s. The only one who apparently had not been consulted was Yima herself, but that, it seemed, was an irrelevance. Yima would obey her mother in this as in everything else, and when the time came, she would take up her role without demur.

Despite the fact that she was Uluye’s child and Uluye’s puppet, Indigo took an immediate and intuitive liking to Yima. Though she had inherited her mother’s physical qualities of lean, rangy frame and strong-boned features, two more different temperaments would have been hard to find. Where Uluye was quick-tempered, authoritarian, and suspicious of all around her, Yima was quiet, modest, and trusting almost to the point of naivety. It was a pity, Indigo thought, that her life both now and in the future should be so circumscribed by her mother’s rigid demands, for she had a suspicion that Yima was not cut out to be a natural leader. She also suspected that Shalune privately shared her view, though the fat woman never broached the subject. But it was not Shalune’s place—as Uluye had made quite clear—to question the decisions of the High Priestess, or even to express an opinion of her own.

Not questioning Uluye’s decisions was a matter that Indigo suspected would become a bone of contention between herself and the High Priestess before long. Uluye demanded absolute obedience from all the women about her—and that included the oracle, whom she theoretically served. So while in most respects Uluye accorded Indigo all the reverence given the oracle by the other priestesses, she nevertheless expected her every command to be instantly obeyed, reinforcing Indigo’s feeling that despite her outward pretense, Uluye looked upon her as little more than a tool with which to implement her own will. Indigo disliked that intensely, but bearing Grimya’s earlier caution in mind, she kept her resentment to herself as far as was possible. Only to Shalune, and even then with great diplomacy, did she occasionally hint that she was not satisfied with a situation that suited Uluye’s will to the exclusion of all else.

Her relationship with Shalune had changed a great deal in the past few days. Now that they were able to communicate, Indigo found herself liking the fat woman more and more; as Grimya had predicted, they were becoming friends. There were still barriers of caution and uncertainty, complicated further by the gulf of Indigo’s status in the cult, but Shalune was both a realist and a pragmatist; Indigo behaved toward her as an equal, she therefore responded in kind and without awe. Why should even a goddess’s avatar not have friends if she so desired?

There was, of course, a degree of self-interest involved, for to be the oracle’s confidante earned Shalune still more
ches
among her peers, and it also ensured that Indigo did not fall too far under Uluye’s influence. As her language skills improved, Indigo realized that there were indeed areas of major disagreement between Uluye and Shalune and that, as Grimya suspected, Shalune would have liked to be head of the cult in Uluye’s stead. Observing the two women together and separately, she came to the conclusion that Shalune would have been the better choice, at least where secular matters were concerned, for she would have tempered Uluye’s rigid adherence to law with a modicum of common sense and compassion, qualities that Uluye either did not possess or was unwilling to show.

Under other circumstances, Indigo might have felt some sympathy for Uluye, for she had an intuition that the High Priestess’s unbending attitude sprang from the insecurity and loneliness to which absolute rulers so often fell prey. But however hard she tried, she couldn’t bring herself to like the tall woman. Shalune, for all that her friendship might have an ulterior motive, at least presented a human face to the world.

Grimya had already finished her food, licking the bowl to savor the last drops of liquid. Indigo had eaten enough—Shalune’s portions were more than generous—and she set her own bowl on the floor, urging the wolf to finish it. As she poured herself a cup of water from an ewer, she asked, “What did Shalune say was the name of this full moon ceremony, Grimya? Ancestors Night?”

Grimya licked her muzzle. “Yess. But I don’t know what that means.”

“Some rite of remembrance, perhaps, to honor the dead.” Indigo spoke casually, but at the same time, she repressed a small inward shiver. What kind of underworld, or otherworld, was the Ancestral Lady’s realm? Did she truly have dominion over the souls of the departed? The priestesses had explained very little of their religion to her, but she knew that they believed the Ancestral Lady had the power to grant joy or torment in the afterlife. Joy or torment ... an old, old memory stirred in Indigo’s mind, and with it came a dull, aching grief that over the years had become as familiar to her as her own features in a looking glass. A name in her thoughts, a face before her inner vision. Fenran....

Grimya, sensing something amiss, looked up. “Indigo? What’s wrong?”

Indigo made to dissemble, not wanting to share her thoughts—not even with Grimya—at this moment, but before she could speak, they heard footfalls outside the cave and the sounds of several voices. Grateful for the interruption, Indigo called out that she was ready to receive visitors, and as the curtain was moved aside, she saw Uluye on the threshold, with Shalune, Yima and two other women behind her.

Indigo inclined her head formally to the High Priestess. Two, she had decided, could play Uluye’s game; if she would not unbend, then Indigo would follow her example. “I’ve finished my meal,” she said. “You may all enter.”

Uluye stalked into the cave. At her curt order, the two lower-ranking women gathered Indigo’s and Grimya’s empty dishes and took them away to be washed. When they had departed, Uluye said, “I understand that Shalune has told you what is expected of you at tonight’s ceremony.”

“She has.” Indigo was tempted to add:
which is more than you would condescend to do
, but she stilled her tongue.

“Very well.” Did a swift, unfriendly glance flick between Uluye and Shalune then? Impossible to be sure.... “You will be carried to the lakeside at sunset. Please speak to no one, and allow only those we bring before you to touch you.”

“Thank you,” Indigo said with a faint edge to her voice. “Shalune has already given me that instruction.”

This time there was an unmistakable exchange; anger from Uluye and smug satisfaction from Shalune. Yima, who stood between the two, quickly cast her gaze down and concentrated on her feet.

Then Uluye’s upper lip twitched and she addressed Indigo again. “I have brought your ceremonial robe. Please dress. We haven’t long before the rite begins.”

Grimya, who disliked Uluye even more than Indigo did, was keeping her thoughts carefully neutral. Hiding a smile, Indigo took the garment that Uluye held out. “Thank you,” she said again, more gently this time, and began to dress.

The drums that for two hours had been throbbing out their summons to the faithful of the villages fell silent at last, and a fanfare from the great horns announced the appearance of the ceremonial procession on the staircase. As they emerged into the fiery light of sunset, Indigo was astonished to see how many had answered the drums’ call, for the waterside was ringed with people, thronging in a circle that stretched all the way around the lake, from one side of the citadel to the other. At an order from Uluye, the warrior-priestesses at the head of the procession lit torches; fire flared on the staircase, and a huge shout went up from many massed throats as the crowd below saw the signal. They moved forward, the warriors leading, Uluye in full ritual garb following, and Indigo, precariously and nerverackingly carried on an open litter, behind her. She shut her eyes as the descent began, horrified by the litter’s swaying and by the effect of the great headdress on her sense of balance, and heard Grimya’s mental voice from where the wolf walked between Shalune and Yima in the litter’s wake.

It’s all right, Indigo, it’s safe. The stairs are wide enough, and the women must have done this many times before.

Indigo tried to concentrate on that reassurance and make herself believe it as their progress continued. Halfway down, the drums began again, thundering out an insistent rhythm, and she thought she could hear, mingling with their din, voices crying out and calling encouragement. Then at last they were on the final flight, a broad sweep that took them down onto the arena of bare red sand between the cliff wall and the lake. A flat, squared-off rock four or five feet high stood in the center of this plateau, and the litter-bearers set their burden on the rock, so that Indigo was enthroned above the heads of the crowd, where she could look down upon the entire proceedings.

It was, she thought as she drew in a sharp breath, an awesome scene. The sun had blazed down behind the trees, and the tropical night was falling with its uncanny rapidity. Before her in a line stood the priestesses, and Uluye alone before them, her crowned figure nightmarish in the torches’ jumping glare. Around the lakeside, the congregation watched and waited. A few, granted a privileged position on the edge of the arena, were lit by the torch glow, and Indigo saw strain and fear in their faces.

Suddenly the horns blared out another short fanfare, and the drums ceased. A bird shrieked from somewhere in the forest’s depths, and then as the last echoes died away, there was silence.

Uluye stepped forward. Arms crossed over her breasts, she walked with dignity to the lake and without a pause, waded into the water. An eager murmur went up from the watchers; a child wailed and was quickly hushed. Uluye kept moving, advancing down the sloping bank. The water rose to her thighs, to her waist, to her shoulders. Then she stopped, uttered a high-pitched cry and ducked under the water so that only the crown of her elaborate headdress showed above the surface.

The watchers gasped again. Two of the warrior-priestesses set down their spears and moved with silent efficiency to take up stances at the water’s edge. Every eye was on Uluye’s headdress, and Indigo found herself counting the passing seconds. They stretched on and on, and her pulse quickened. Surely no one could stay underwater for so long without coming up to breathe. She exchanged an uneasy glance with Grimya, kept counting....