Part 66 (2/2)
The rest of the elders were gathered in the longhut when they arrived. They all nodded politely and tried not to stare at Keirith. Darak chose a place next to Muina, and Keirith sat down beside him. Elasoth nodded to him and he nodded back. He was a natural choice to join the council. All of Elathar's boys were good, steady lads, although Elasoth had always seemed shyer than his younger brothers. He didn't know whether that would hurt Keirith or help him.
Nor could he predict how Lorthan would respond to their revelations. Ennit's uncle was a sweet, soft-spoken man, but easily swayed by the opinions of others, especially Strail who never hesitated to speak his mind.
Ifrenn's presence was a blow. Darak had counted on Sanok's support and had been shocked to learn how feeble he'd become. To his shame, he had not even noticed Sanok's absence on the beach, but he promised himself that before the day was over, he would visit him.
”Darak. Stop daydreaming and answer the girl.”
He looked up to find Nionik's daughter leaning toward him, a waterskin cradled in her arms.
”Thank you, Oma.” He held up the cup, eyeing her swelling belly. ”Not long now.”
She straightened, one hand on her back. ”By the full moon, Mother Griane says. Elasoth swears it'll be a boy from the way he kicks.”
”What do men know?” Muina shook her head dismissively. ”Use the needle on a thread, child.”
”I did. It swung round and round no matter how many times I did it. Another girl for sure.” With a sigh, she continued around the circle. Elasoth looked fl.u.s.tered when she poured his water; obviously, this was his first council meeting and he wasn't sure how to behave.
Nionik had no such reservations; he kissed Mirili's cheek and thanked her for the basket of oatcakes. As soon as she and Oma departed, he called for silence.
”The first order of business is to ascertain that it is, indeed, Keirith's spirit inside this man's body.”
”Good G.o.ds, why would I make that up?” Darak exclaimed. ”Do you think I'd pa.s.s off some stranger as my son?” He subsided under Nionik's quelling stare. The council had barely begun and already he'd forgotten Griane's warning. ”Forgive me. I just never expected a test would be required.”
He saw the panic in Keirith's eyes as he rose. Saw, too, how quickly he suppressed it. Gortin rested his hands lightly on Keirith's shoulders and closed his eye. For the first time, Darak was grateful for his limited gift; Struath would have sensed the remnants of the Zheron's spirit immediately.
Two deep creases formed between Gortin's brows. His eye flew open.
”What is it?” Nionik asked.
”Nothing. This is Keirith.” The tremor in Gortin's voice was plain. ”His spirit . . . has changed . . . but it is Keirith.”
”Changed? How?”
”A man's spirit is not fixed. It reflects the things that happen to him. The joys he has experienced. The suffering he has endured. Keirith's spirit has endured . . . a great deal.” Gortin bowed his head. ”I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”
Keirith's hand came up to cover Gortin's. Even hard-bitten Ifrenn seemed moved.
Maker, let them remember this moment. If they do, they can never condemn my boy.
Nionik waved Gortin and Keirith back to their places. ”We must now decide whether the Holly Tribe should be invited to share our deliberations.”
This time, he managed to keep his voice level. ”The Holly Tribe?”
”Morgath was brought before the combined councils for casting out the spirits of animals. Keirith-by your account, Darak-has cast out the spirit of a man. There is a precedent.”
He resisted the urge to shout, ”d.a.m.n the precedent!” Instead, he asked calmly, ”Will Keirith get a fair hearing from the Holly Tribe? The elders hardly know him.”
”Forgive me, Memory-Keeper, Oak-Chief . . .” Elasoth glanced around the circle uncertainly.
”Go on,” Muina ordered. ”You've as much right to speak as anyone else.”
”I just thought . . . since the elders of the Holly Tribe don't know Keirith, they would not be swayed by sentiment.”
”What's wrong with sentiment?” Lisula demanded. ”We are surely judging not only the act but the man who committed it. We who know Keirith best are best able to judge his character.”
Elasoth wilted visibly. The rest of the council began debating the point until Muina interrupted. ”If you call the elders of the Holly Tribe in, you might as well take the boy to the heart-oak now and have done with it.”
”They're not fools,” Strail rumbled. ”Well, most of them aren't. Can't say I think much of their new chief.”
Ifrenn hawked a gob of phlegm into the fire pit. ”He's a sanctimonious stick. How else could he have lived with my sister for so many years? She's so pious, she p.i.s.ses honey.”
Nionik cleared his throat. ”Your point, Strail? About the Holly Tribe.”
”Oh. Aye. Just that wise men-women too, I suppose-would keep their minds and ears open and not rush to judgment until they'd heard the whole story.”
Muina's voice overrode Lorthan's murmur of a.s.sent. ”As soon as they hear Morgath's name, Keirith is a dead man.”
Darak flinched, but Keirith accepted the brutal words without changing expression.
”I agree with the Grain-Grandmother,” Gortin said. ”It's too easy to draw parallels between Keirith's power and Morgath's without taking into account their natures.”
”A good point,” Lorthan said.
”Besides,” Muina added, ”this is our business. Must we run to the Holly Tribe every time we have a difficult problem to resolve? Bad enough that we have to discuss how many fish we can take from the lake and whether a hunter can cross the river in pursuit of a deer he's stalking.”
G.o.ds, she was clever. The two councils had argued both issues only this spring and there was still a good deal of acrimony about the outcome of that debate-especially among hunters like Ifrenn and Strail.
”Is there any more discussion? Then I call for a vote. Those in favor of inviting the elders of the Holly Tribe to our council?”
”Nay,” Elasoth said loudly. Lisula leaned toward him and whispered something. ”Oh. Forgive me, Oak-Chief.”
”Never mind,” Muina said. ”Despite Nionik's vote-calling and all-in-favoring, we're not very formal here.”
”All in-Does anyone wish to invite the elders of the Holly Tribe? Fine. Then we'll settle this matter ourselves.”
Darak breathed a quiet prayer of thanks to the Maker and another to Muina. The first battle had been fought and won.
Muina poked his knee. ”Control your temper,” she whispered.
”I'm trying. But it's hard-”
”I don't care how hard it is. If you start arguing with everyone, you'll condemn the boy as surely as the Holly Tribe. Forgive me, Oak-Chief,” she said in a normal voice. ”I was reminding Darak of his manners.”
Good-natured chuckles greeted her remark, as much over his discomfiture as Muina's bluntness. He couldn't risk alienating the council members, especially Ifrenn and Strail; they had always been jealous of his hunting skills. Keirith's fate could be determined by such personal issues, no matter what Strail said about wise men who would keep their minds and ears open.
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