The Standing Dead - Stone Dance of the Chameleon 02 (87 page)

'I
will
make
them
believe
me.'

Osidian
threw
up
his
hands.
'Enough.
I
shall
not
touch your
precious
savage.
Is
that
enough?'

Carnelian
considered
trying
to
get
Osidian
to
swear
a blood
oath,
but
he
feared
pushing
him
too
far
and
so
he gave
a
nod.

That
night
Akaisha's
hearth
were
disturbed
by
a succession
of
women
visitors
saying
they
had
come
to
see if
it
was
true
the
Elders
had
given
the
Master
command over
all
their
menfolk.
Over
and
over
again,
wearily, Akaisha
had
to
confirm
it,
but
Carnelian
could
see
the visitors
were
hardly
attending
to
what
she
said,
but
rather sneaking
sidelong
glimpses
at
Osidian,
whose
face
the firelight
was
making
brighter
than
the
moon.

Later,
men
began
to
come
in
twos
and
threes
to
talk
to the
Master.
Ravan
at
his
side,
Osidian
received
them away
from
the
hearthlight
near
the
rootstair.

When
Fern
and
Sil
left
the
hearth,
Carnelian
followed them.
Both
turned
to
face
him.

'Be
careful,'
Carnelian
said
to
Fern.

Sil
frowned.
'You
will
be
going
with
Fern
tomorrow, won't
you?'

Carnelian
shook
his
head.
'He
wants
me
here.'

Sil
glanced
at
the
Master.
Fern
was
examining Carnelian's
eyes
and
saw
from
where
the
danger
might come.

Sil
smiled
at
Carnelian
and
then
led
her
husband
away to
their
sleeping
hollow.
Unhappy,
Carnelian
watched them
go.
He
felt
someone
near
him
and
saw
it
was Akaisha.

'Has
the
Master
told
you
his
intentions,
Carnie?'

As
he
told
her
what
he
knew,
her
forehead
creased
into an
ever
deeper
frown.
'I
don't
like
it.
It
has
a
smell
of impiety.'
She
gripped
his
arm.
'Are
we
doing
the
right thing?'

'What
choice
do
we
have?'

She
looked
up
at
him,
probing
his
face,
then
letting
go, she
looked
away.
Following
her
line
of
sight,
Carnelian saw
the
black
shapes
of
two
men
nodding
as
they
received a
mutter
of
instructions
from
Ravan,
beside
whom
loomed Osidian's
immensity.

Carnelian
saw
how
much
she
was
struggling
with doubt.
'I
must
start
tomorrow.
Will
you
help
me?'

She
tore
her
gaze
back
to
him.
'You'll
need
quite
a
few of
us
to
oversee
the
work.'

The
next
morning
Carnelian
took
Poppy
down
to
the Newditch
with
the
rest
of
the
Tribe
to
watch
the
men
ride away.
Osidian
rode
at
their
head
with
Galewing
and
his son,
Hirane.
Ravan
and
Krow
were
close
behind. Searching
for
Fern,
Carnelian
found
him
further
back.
He watched
until
Akaisha
and
a
score
of
other
women
came for
him
and,
together,
they
went
down
to
the
Bluedancing field.

Their
camp
had
trampled
all
the
ferns
into
the earth.
He
saw
the
attempts
they
had
made
at
forming hearths.
These
were
so
close
to
each
other
that
the scatter
of
sleeping
bodies
formed
a
single
mat
of
grubby cloth
and
flesh
which
reminded
Carnelian,
uncomfortably,
of
the
way
their
men
had
looked
lying
on
the battlefield.

'Poor
creatures,'
Sil
said
in
a
low
voice.

They
brought
it
upon
themselves,'
Akaisha
snapped
to a
nervous
nodding
murmur
of
agreement.

Before
they
reached
them,
the
Bluedancing
began coming
alive.
Carnelian
could
see
their
dirty
faces gaping.
They
stumbled
to
their
feet,
clutching
their children
to
their
hips.
A
deputation
of
their
Elders
came out
to
meet
the
Ochre.
Akaisha
brought
her
own
people
to a
halt.
The
salt
bangles
of
the
Bluedancing
hung
loose with
their
skin
on
the
sticks
of
their
limbs.
Most
had
made an
attempt
to
brush
back
their
hair,
but
their
faces
were grimy,
and
their
robes
and
head
blankets
filthy.
They stank.
It
was
clear
that
however
much
water
they
were being
given,
it
was
not
enough
to
wash
with.

Their
dark
eyes
were
fixed
on
Akaisha.

Today
you
work
elsewhere,'
she
said.
The
uncharacteristically
harsh
tone
in
her
voice
caused Carnelian
to
look
at
her.
Akaisha's
narrowing
eyes,
her taut
thinned
lips
seemed
to
show
aloofness
but
he
knew her
well
enough
to
see
her
pain.

The
Bluedancing
women
bowed
a
little
and
made
their way
back
to
gather
their
people
and,
then,
woman
and child,
carrying
mattocks,
they
all
followed
Akaisha and
the
Ochre
down
to
the
Bloodwood
Tree.

'How
shall
they
dig?'
Akaisha
asked
him.