Free Two Rivers by Zoe Saadia Page B

ready to
help. It reassured him.
    “I’m prepared to forget this,” he said, surprised to hear his
own voice firm. His heart was still pumping, and his limbs trembled badly.
    Seeta rose to his feet, reeling, trying not to lean on his
friends’ arms.
    “I’m not sure I’ll forget this that easily,” he said, coughing
again to clear his throat. “But I will try.” The dark glance he shot at Two
Rivers said he would not be forgetting any of this. “Let us go and do our
duty.”
    The silence returned as their steps drew away, dying gradually,
swallowed by the deepening dusk. He listened to the wind, feeling it blowing
strongly, rustling in the treetops.
    Against his will, he looked up, taking in the glowering sky,
grayish and displeased. He should not have lost his temper this way. What he
did was beneath the dignity of the man he thought himself to be. No better than
the hotheaded cub from across the Great Sparkling Water.
    “Well, I take back what I said earlier.” Iraquas’ voice broke
into his thoughts, light and trembling with amusement.
    “What?”
    “About you losing your temper. I’ve seen it now, and I don’t
want to see it again. Not a pretty sight.”
    “Oh, shut up!”
    The young man laughed, unabashed. “Will you be pressing your
knife at my throat if I don’t?” He shook his head. “What a sight! One moment
you were walking away all dignity and pride. The next, you are slamming him
against that tree, about to cut his throat. And no one saw you move, I swear.
It was as though the Evil Twin gave you some of his power.” The large eyes
stared at him, partly amused, partly wondering. “You were at least five, maybe
six steps away from him, but no one saw you moving, let alone leaping, or
snatching your knife. It was hair-raising, to watch this.”
    “Stop talking nonsense,” said Two Rivers, unsettled. He didn’t
remember himself moving or pulling his knife out either. “You were busy fuming
about the Councils and Mothers of the Clans. You didn’t watch.”
    “Of course, I was watching. When he said you should have been
busy lying with that stupid boy instead of wandering around with decent people, I was angered as well. It was as though he was accusing you of lying
around with me. As though I would let anyone do anything like that to me.”
    He felt his fists clenching again, going rigid, his nails
sinking into the flesh of his palms. “The filthy lump of rotten meat! I should
have killed him after all.”
    But Iraquas just shrugged, unperturbed. “You take insults too
easily, brother. So what if he thinks you would lie with the boy. There are men
who are doing these things. Nothing wrong about that.”
    “Well, it may be all right for those who like it, but I don’t
appreciate being accused of such lovemaking. I don’t do this.”
    “I know you don’t, man! Calm down. What a hothead you are. Let
us go to the stream and make ourselves clean for the ceremony.” The young man
brought his palms up, beaming. “I can’t wait for the evening. Oh, I missed
those battle preparations. It’s been too long since the last raid.”
     
     

 
    Chapter 7
     
    The drums beat evenly, rolling around the square, stern and
soft at the same time. Calming . In the light of the flickering fires,
the faces of the dancers looked strange, their paint still immaculate, their
eyes firm, concentrated, their movements strong, in perfect accord with the
drumming.
    Mesmerized against his will, Tekeni watched the singers beating
their sticks, following the lead of the main drum. They were painted too, and
their low voices filled the square with a strange tranquility. They were yet to
work themselves and the dancers up.
    The memories of the War Dance of his people, the first War
Dance in which he had been allowed to participate, swayed him, making his
stomach heave. He had been one of the dancers back then, painted and clad in a
loincloth only, holding an axe instead of a club. Oh, how thrilled he had