A Hollow Mountain (The Brightest Shadow Book 2), page 77
After eating too much, Mohuno slammed his mug down and rose to his feet. "Eat your fill, my friends! We have more than enough!" With that boast, he moved to leave the feasting hall, only to spot another man standing in his way.
Though Mohuno didn't know him well, he thought the man's name was Patole. He was one of the remaining Bloodskin men, one of those with the hottest blood. Judging from the fire in his eyes, perhaps he wanted to be the new chieftain.
"You think you can set yourself up as some sort of northern lord?" Patole struck him in the chest, a challenge instead of an attack. "You fight with women, lowlanders, and boys. No man of any true clan would ever follow you!"
"Strong words." Mohuno smiled back. He couldn't deny the accusation, so he simply refused it. "The men of any true clan fight with their blood, not words. Challenge us, if you dare."
Several men around the table banged their mugs in approval and Patole let out a furious breath. "You've run from every fight in your life. When the Hero walked with us, the Steelbones refused to fight. You have nothing but the strength of cowards."
"Where were you, in the battle where your chieftain died? If living is cowardice, every fallen Bloodskin calls you a coward."
"You think your tiny clan can match us? We are the tribe of the Hero himself! He underwent our rituals and became one of us!" The response from the men was surprisingly loud, and even Mohuno felt something within himself. He strangled it and simply smiled in response.
"The Hero isn't here now, is he?" Mohuno struck the other man in the chest, just as he had been struck. "You are nothing. With your chieftain dead, your men abandon you by the day and your women come to our furs at night. Should anyone be surprised that the Hero left you as well?"
"You will regret this." Patole drew an axe and slammed it down into the table. "There's only one thing you said right: real men fight with their blood, not words. We shall see whose blood is hottest."
He left the hall without looking back once. Mohuno pretended to laugh and knocked the axe of challenge over with one hand, as if it was nothing but a joke.
In truth, he was looking at the weapon more carefully. Despite his posturing, the Bloodskin clan was still a significant threat. They had two men remaining with blood hotter than his, and since the fatal battle they had gathered new men.
And the axe was poorly made, not Patole's true weapon. The outburst had been a planned challenge from the start.
Mohuno turned away carelessly, and he really did put the matter out of his mind. If the clans continued as he saw them, it seemed likely that there would be war between Steelbones and Bloodskins. But that wouldn't matter at all if the Stormpeaks man killed him before the day was over.
"We received your invitation." The man's teeth flashed blue as he spoke. "But we are not here to talk. Your head will be the only message we send back."
"I will be glad to receive it, since I'm likely to be missing a head then." Mohuno adopted the confidence of madness. Since he couldn't win a fight, that was the only weapon he had. "The Stormpeaks suffered when the Deathspawn attacked as well. Even you could benefit from cooperation."
"The bear does not lie with the bicorn. You prey on lowlanders, but we prey on your clans."
A drop of sweat began to roll down the back of Mohuno's head and he forced his smile to stay in place. Time for a more desperate gamble. "We are no longer just a clan."
Hesitating, the Stormpeak man regarded him coldly.
"Your clan may be a bear, but even the bear cannot feast on everything. When the errants and the Deathspawn come, I've seen you hold back. The Steelbone clan now has a permanent alliance with the northern lowlander kingdoms. Take my head and an errant will soon take yours."
"Lies." The blue grimace widened, but the man didn't attack. Mohuno was lying through his teeth, so he only kept smiling.
They stared at one another and Mohuno realized that his entire future might rest on his ability to not back down. When the Stormpeak man started to lift one of his weapons, Mohuno didn't reach for his own, just looked at it with mild amusement. His opponent was skeptical, but if he could add just a little more doubt about his strength...
"Your weapons, chieftain." The female voice took them both off guard, as they had been alert for heated blood, not cold. And yet the woman walked between them without any hesitation.
Natala respectfully raised a bundle to him, wrapped in emerald cloth as they only wove in the north. She uncovered it and revealed that she carried a dozen blades. They might have been the spoils of a raid, yet as the cloth fell away, the edges gleamed the red of bloodsteel. Mohuno did his best not to show any surprise.
"If these meet with your satisfaction, the northern smiths will send a hundred more."
Mohuno picked up one of the swords and pretended to look at it with mild interest, though in truth he was impressed by the edge. Weapons with blood of their own...
"Nothing but a ploy!" The Stormpeak pointed an axe toward Natala and she simply stared back at him.
"The Steelmasters have retreated from the border with Espal, so Portantese Steeljudges have already begun to travel into the desert. And your clan has seen what occurs when the Deathspawn and Wahleen agree. They've come to a new agreement that will send them deeper into the mountains."
"Don't taunt him, Natala." Mohuno smirked at the man with confidence he was only starting to feel. "He already knows what he will bring into the mountains if he strikes at us."
For several rapid heartbeats, the man looked between them. Mohuno stiffened his face in a smirk and willed his words to be true. When at last the Stormpeak turned and stalked away, he prevented himself from sighing, but his shoulders went slack in relief.
Once the man was away, Mohuno turned to Natala. "Was any of that true?"
"What I said about the movements of the north was mixed truth and lies I thought they would believe. The Stormpeaks scorn lowlander politics, but they also fear them." She turned toward him, a warm smile spreading across her face. "Bluffing him was a clever choice. Even if you had managed to overcome him by strength of arms, you would only have drawn the Stormpeaks down on us. Now, they will hesitate."
"What happens when they hesitate long enough to find out that we lied to them?"
"By then, it may be the truth. There may not be a hundred bloodsteel blades traveling south, but these were forged by a northern smith for me. You've already seen how much a trade agreement with the north can benefit you, so imagine going one step further."
"Yes, I've seen everything you've done." Mohuno had noted Natala mostly for her beauty, considering her just another woman working together with Cabari to sell ombo wool. After the courage she'd shown against the Stormpeak, he looked at her anew, and he only liked some of what he saw. "Just what is your game here, Bloodskin? Do you seek to join the Steelbone clan?"
"Perhaps I do." She smiled at him, but her eyes shifted toward the feasting hall, and he realized that they were being watched. The intelligence she displayed set his blood burning, yet it left something deep within him cold. Since she was right, he simply reached out to touch her neck.
"You know where you can find me." With that loud invitation, he left her there and walked into the village.
Since it was not yet night, Mohuno spoke with his men and the women who had become merchants. Cabari was not with them, fearing the gathering of warriors, but he was surprised at how many of the other women urged him to ask his questions to Natala instead. While his eyes had been elsewhere, she had wormed her way into the meat of his clan.
Though her smile was encouraging, Mohuno couldn't ignore the steel he saw in her eyes. This Natala needed to be watched just as much as the other Bloodskins. Could she have been sent by them? But no, the Bloodskins were fools who would never stoop to working with a woman. And he had a feeling that she would never stoop to work with them.
As he encouraged his men and spoke to other clans, he took the time to ask a few other Bloodskins about her. Those who knew her all agreed that she was beautiful, but utterly limp in the furs. A few suggested that there was something strange about her and advised him to stay away, lest she poison him with her cold blood.
Distracted by his thoughts, he returned to his room alone. He had more furs than before, of finer quality than he had known, yet every night passed uneasily. Refusing to think of anyone else, he lay down to sleep, but it eluded him.
Then Natala slipped into his room. He had never expected her to actually come and only stared as she closed the door and sat down opposite him.
"I have no interest in sharing your furs, Mohuno."
"Well, this is the worst seduction I've ever heard." He sat up and grinned at her, intrigued despite himself. "Then why are you here?"
"Because I think we must come to an agreement." She met his gaze and he knew that she had the same strength as Tani, if not her fire. "You have strength, but your attempts at trade will fail if you do not improve them."
"Don't think I haven't noticed you involving yourself with Steelbone affairs. But coming here tonight... the men of your clan will not be pleased with you."
"That is the agreement I wish to make. Let everyone believe that you have taken me as your woman and I will work together with you. The people of the villages you protect could do far more for you, and your numbers could swell further. Some are attracted to your stability, but more would join if I-"
"Why pretend?" Mohuno smiled, and when she didn't flinch, he leaned closer. "Bloodskin men may be too weak for a woman of your intelligence, but for me, it is quite the opposite. I don't care if you're smarter than me. Become my woman in truth and our children could lead the Steelbones with our strengths combined!"
He saw a hint of resignation in her eyes and, infuriatingly, disappointment. "If that is your price, I will pay it. But you must know that I will never desire you."
"This really is the worst seduction." He stopped imagining her joining him and simply sat back. What truly enraged him was that she had seen his desire and thought that he was just like other men. Though he hoped that she would change her mind if he proved her wrong, other thoughts shoved their way to the forefront. "I suppose just as some men desire men, some women might likewise scorn men."
"Something like that."
"Then your alliance sounds like it will be cold and unpleasant for both of us."
"Take whoever you want to your furs. You will never hear a single jealous word from me." At last Natala smiled at him again, a real smile that reached her eyes. "The other women who came to you at night only want to use you for the power you represent. I am here because you're smarter than the others. I would have no need to manipulate you into making good decisions. We could truly work together as equals."
"If you had begun there, this would have been a much easier conversation." Mohuno relaxed back against the wall and watched her. "Say that I accept your agreement. You've already shown that you can help with trade, but what is this suggestion of a real alliance with the north?"
"It is only an extension of what you've done with your villages. Approach the northern nations not as barbarian raiders, but as another nation. Tell them that you can ensure safety passing through your lands in return for a tax on their goods."
"That sounds like another name for raiding."
"Merchants prefer predictable costs to greater losses. In my time in the Maenhu, I have discovered that many reduce their travel through the mountains because of the threat of raiders. If you can convince them to make a treaty with you, not only will you take in certain rewards every year, you will see trade increase threefold."
As he considered her words, his mind began to burn with new thoughts. If it worked, it would only be a stronger version of the structures he had already created. The idea of the Steelbone clan being respected by the northern errants as no clan ever had before filled him with a strange sort of pride. No one would sneer at them as barbarians any longer. They might grow so strong that even the name Steelbone was no longer enough...
Mohuno smiled at Natala. "It seems this could be an interesting night after all."
Chapter 57
-
"Others in the past have had purpose, for what little good it did them. Entire empires falling and rising solely for the sake of a seal, a sealed [translation uncertain]. Yet when I attempt to seek out those seals in my dreams, I can see nothing but the knowledge that it is not yet time."
- excerpt from First of the Sages
-
Though she wanted to sprint the entire distance to the mine, Celivia forced herself to keep pace with Fijn and Big Ragh. Ever since she woke up, her mind seemed too eager to leap to action, though she wasn't sure if she was unjustly shifting responsibility onto her rebirth. Regardless, she needed to think so that she was certain of what she should do when she returned to the mine.
She was relatively certain she knew who had been responsible for poisoning her, but as the mine finally came into sight, she decided it would be best to ask. Other than the humans, the only resource she had was her band. There was no sense in shutting them out now.
"Fijn, do you think that Splinters could have slipped the reagents into my food?"
"It's possible, Kaen." He gave her a strange shrug. "Nobody really wants to touch the worst of the meat, but everybody knows that you eat it. Anybody in our band could have planted the reagents if they had them."
"I'm not certain where he acquired them, but he has the most motive."
"Sure he's smart enough for that?" Big Ragh asked. When they both looked at him, he quickly raised his hands defensively. "I mean, I'm not smart enough for it. Just found out I knew even less than I thought I did. Even if I could get fancy reagents, I wouldn't know the first damn thing to do with them."
"I suspect that he had help, but that's another question." Celivia gestured toward the barracks ahead. "When we arrive, the evacuation is top priority. I don't have the authority for that and we don't know the current situation. I'll talk to Ghasfik while the two of you gather the band. If you find Splinters... don't let on that we suspect for now."
They nodded and split away from her as they arrived. As Celivia walked to the band's quarters, she continued pondering the question that Big Ragh had stumbled across. He was right: even if Splinters could have thought of such a plan, the reagents to cause a natural rebirth were rare and expensive. That meant he needed help, and she had a bad feeling that she knew who could have offered it.
Though she didn't want to suspect Jeraeli, the other woman was the only person with the resources. She also had the motive, wanting Celivia disabled by the rebirth while she finished her work. Her only question was why Splinters would work with her, but maybe he hated some women more than others.
Grateful that the barracks appeared mostly empty at first, Celivia gradually realized that it was too remarkable to be a coincidence. When she saw Ghasfik and he immediately leapt to his feet, she knew that something was wrong.
"We have a problem, Kaen." He walked closer but didn't bother to lower his voice. "While you were gone, they called for every warrior. I covered for you, but Jeraeli is suspicious and threatened punishment if you didn't show yourself."
"Why were all the warriors called to serve?"
"A group of humans began attacking to the west, raiding both our patrols and human errants. Jeraeli sent most of our forces to eliminate them. Is everything alright?"
"No. Not even close." Celivia rubbed her eyes, reconsidering. The raiders were almost certainly sent by Melal as a diversion, and she estimated that he would arrive soon. Having fewer soldiers in the mine reduced the potential casualties, but... "Jeraeli is still present?"
"Of course. She's never left on any of the patrols."
Then negotiation needed to be her first choice, even if it sacrificed the element of surprise. Jeraeli hadn't attempted to kill her, after all, only disable her harmlessly. "Listen: the human Hero is approaching and he intends to kill everyone here. Above all, we need to evacuate anyone who can't fight. I would prefer if Jeraeli cooperated with us, but it needs to happen one way or another."
"I see." Ghasfik stared at her for a long moment, and she worried that she might have pushed her second too far, but eventually he nodded. "I don't like this, Kaen, but I'll follow orders. Especially if the threat is as grave as you say."
"It's worse. Ask Fijn and Big Ragh if you don't believe me."
It wasn't long before the others began to return. Puga led in Brifik, who looked more alert than before, though he carried a jug along with him. They both seemed only puzzled about what was happening, so no explanations had been given yet. Good.
Before everyone had gathered, Huthur sat down beside her. "I don't know if it matters, Kaen, but there's something very strange in the mine."
"Tell me." She glanced toward the others, but most were discussing matters with Fijn and Big Ragh.
"Some time ago, one of the mine shafts struck something unusual. What it is, I can't say, because even builders were forbidden there. Since then, mining has slowed down."
"As if they found what they wanted?"
"I don't know, but soldiers moved some strange barrels into the cleared tunnel. I should have stayed away, but when I saw Jeraeli supervising them personally, I took another look." Huthur was already speaking in a low voice, but it neared a whisper. "They were sealed barrels, tightly sealed. The only reason to use those would be if you were transporting something extremely valuable."
"But they were taken into the tunnel and never removed?" When Huthur nodded, Celivia tried to add that thought to what she knew. "If my theory is correct, Jeraeli has access to a large number of reagents. Is it possible that she's creating a rebirth chamber for some reason?"
'If so, none of the builders I know worked on it. If you ask me, those barrels contain something dangerous."
Though Celivia had no viable theories, she knew that Huthur had risked himself to acquire that information. "Thank you, Huthur. Later, I'm going to send the others to begin an evacuation. I want you to go investigate these barrels instead."
