The Standing Dead - Stone Dance of the Chameleon 02 (47 page)

They
give
it
over
when
they
are
recruited,'
Carnelian said.
He
stared
into
the
night.
'I
just
didn't
...
I'm
so stupid.'

'It
seems
the
Standing
Dead
are
unaware
of
much
of the
suffering
they
inflict
upon
the
world.'

Carnelian
burned
with
shame.
'Couldn't
we
hide
him?'

She
gave
a
hollow
laugh.
'If
we
did,
they'd
take
a
child in
his
place.'

How
small
was
the
mesh
of
the
net
the
Masters had
cast
over
these
people.
'Will
they
...
punish
him here?'

'Most
likely
they'll
take
him
to
Makar
where,
as
an example
to
others,
they'll
hang
him,
mutilated,
upon
a cross.'

The
flat
resigned
tone
of
her
voice
was
chilling. 'If
that's
all?'
Akaisha
said.

Carnelian
saw
her
shape
begin
to
turn
away
and reached
out
and
fumbled
in
the
darkness
for
her
hand.

'Perhaps,
my
mother,
while
I'm
away
you
might
take care
of
Poppy
for
me.'

He
felt
some
tensing
in
her
hand
and
then
it
was
gently
pulled
away.
'You
shouldn't
care
for
her
so
much,
Carnie.'

'I
don't
share
your
prejudice
against
her,'
he
snapped.

Akaisha
took
him
by
the
arm.
'It's
not
that
...
It
is
only that
when
the
Gatherer
comes
she
might
be
selected
for the
tithe.'

Carnelian
felt
he
could
bear
no
more
pain.
'Fern
told me
the
same
thing.
But
surely
she's
Twostone.'

'She
ceased
to
be
that
when
I
accepted
her
into
my hearth.'

Then
why
did
you
risk
her
by
...
?'
He
paused
remembering
Ebeny.
'You
don't
want
to
lose
more
of
your
kin?'

'My
grand-daughter
is
my
heart.'

Carnelian
knew
it
was
cruel
to
say
more
but
could
not help
himself.
'And
Poppy
has
the
kind
of
prettiness
the Gatherer
likes.'

She
snatched
her
hand
from
his
arm.
'I'll
look
after
her for
you,'
she
said
and
walked
away.

When
Carnelian
returned,
he
did
not
want
to
go
to
the hearth
where
he
would
have
to
face
Fern
and
made
his way
instead
to
his
hollow.
Osidian
was
there
already asleep
with
Poppy.
Carnelian
lay
down
between
them. Poppy
moulded
herself
into
his
side.
Her
warmth
stirred a
panic
in
him
that
she
might
be
taken
away
to
Osrakum. Panic
turned
to
anger.
How
could
Akaisha
be
so
selfish? She
was
no
better
than
Harth
and
all
those
others
who hated
him
and
Osidian.

Carnelian's
heart
beat
faster
as
he
imagined
the dangers
the
next
day
would
bring.
Above
him
stars twinkled
in
and
out
of
existence
as
the
breathing
night stirred
the
branches
of
the
cedar.
He
saw
again
Osidian breaking
Ranegale
over
his
knee.
Loskai
had
had
to witness
that.
How
could
he
judge
him;
judge
his
father and
mother's
desire
for
revenge?
Plainsmen
had
to endure,
repeatedly,
the
rape
of
their
people.
It
tore
at
him that,
in
spite
of
this,
Akaisha
had
taken
them
both
in. How
could
he
think
it
was
she
who
threatened
Poppy? Was
it
she
who
forced
countless
barbarian
tribes
to
pay
a tithe
of
their
children
to
become
the
playthings
of
the

Masters
in
Osrakum?
What
right
had
he
to
blame
any
of them
when
it
was
his
own
kind
who
were
the
root
of
the world's
evil?

Shame
cooled
to
despair
as
an
image
of
Fern
crucified thrust
into
his
mind.
Struggle
as
he
might,
he
could
not dislodge
it.
He
turned
in
to
Osidian
desperate
for
the comfort
of
their
love.
Feeling
him
coming
awake,
he mumbled
into
his
neck:
'I'm
afraid.'

'And
you
accuse
me
of
cowardice?'
Osidian
said,
his body
unyielding.

Carnelian
edged
away,
as
chilled
as
if
he
had
been embracing
marble,
and
lay
as
far
from
the
warm
comforts of
the
world
as
any
of
the
Wise.

BREAKING EGGS

Everything begins with an uncurling.

(a
precept
of
the
Plainsmen)

Carnelian
woke
feeling
ragged.
He
lay
listening
to
the Grove
coming
awake,
glad
to
lie
in
the
hollow
as
long
as he
could.
He
was
reluctant
to
face
the
day.
He
wished
he could
go
back
to
not
knowing
about
Fern's
impending fate.
A
desire
came
over
him
to
stay
behind,
to
go
down to
work
under
the
Bloodwood
Tree
as
usual.
But
he
knew that,
even
if
it
led
them
both
to
death,
he
could
not
allow Osidian
to
go
alone,
curse
his
pride.