came. The smooth, rounded stones on the bottom were perfect, and she carefully selected several of them to refill the pouch of stones for her sling.
She was near a stand of pines and noticed small mounds pushing up under a layer of needles and twigs beneath the trees and brushed them aside. She found a clump of pinkish-buff mushrooms hidden underneath. She searched and found more until she had collected quite a nice little pile of pine mushrooms. These were good mushrooms, white and firm of flesh with a rather nice, slightly spicy smell and taste, but not everyone knew them. She filled a third gathering basket with them. Then she mounted Whinney, whistled for Wolf, and rode back, pushing her mare to a gallop for part of the distance. People were in the midst of preparing or eating their morning meal when she arrived. She went straight to the zelandonia pavilion and brought in two of the baskets. Only the two 'Firsts' were there.
'Did you find what you were looking for?' the One Who Was First asked.
'Yes,' Ayla said. 'Here are some good pine mushrooms, with a somewhat unusual flavour that I like very well,' she said, then showing them the basket of water hemlock, she said, 'I have never tasted these.'
'That's good. I hope you never do,' the large woman said.
'Outside, on Whinney's pannier is a big load of water parsnips. I was careful not to mix them,' Ayla said.
'I'll give them to one of the people who is cooking,' the taller, thinner Zelandoni First said. 'If they are not cooked well, they can be unpalatable.' She studied Ayla a while. 'This is uncomfortable for you, isn't it?'
'Yes. I have never deliberately collected something that I knew was harmful, especially knowing that it is intended to be given to someone, to kill him,' Ayla said.
'But you know if he is allowed to live, he will only cause more harm.'
'Yes, I know, but it still doesn't make me feel good about it.'
'And it shouldn't,' her First said. 'You are helping your people and taking the onus on yourself. It's a sacrifice, but sometimes it's what a Zelandoni must do.'
'I will make sure they go to the ones who should eat them,' Zelandoni First said. 'It is the sacrifice I must make. These are my people and he has hurt them long enough.'
'What about his other men?' the First asked.
'One of them, Gahaynar, is asking what he can do to make reparations. He is saying how sorry he is,' Zelandoni First said. 'I don't know if he is just trying to talk his way out of the punishment he knows is coming, or if he means it. I think I will let the Mother decide. If he ends up not eating the root and lives, I will let him go. If Balderan doesn't eat it and lives, I have already spoken with several people who have been personally harmed by him and are eager to see him pay. Most have lost family members or have been attacked themselves. If necessary, I will turn him over to them, but I would prefer it if this more subtle approach works.'
When Zelandonia First went to pick up the basket of hemlock she saw a slithering movement under the container. She quickly snatched the basket and moved it aside. Underneath was a snake, an extraordinary snake.
'Look at that!' the woman said.
Ayla and the First looked, then both took a small indrawn breath of surprise. It was a small snake, probably quite young, and the red stripes running the length of its body indicated it was a nonpoisonous type, but near the front of the body the stripes split into the shape of a Y. The snake had two heads! Both tongues slipped in and out of its mouths, sampling the air; then it started to move, but the movement was a bit erratic, as though it couldn't quite decide which way to go.
'Quick, get something to catch it before it gets away,' the First said.
Ayla found a small watertight woven bowl. 'Is this all right to use?' she asked Zelandonii First.
'Yes, that's fine,' she said.
The snake started moving as Ayla approached, but she turned the basket upside down and clamped it over the snake. It pulled its own tail in as she held it down firmly so it couldn't get out under the edge.
'Now what do we do?' Zelandoni First said.
'Do you have something flat that I can slip under that?' Ayla asked.
'I don't know. Maybe the edge of a shovel that's been ground flat. Would that work? Like this one?' She picked up the shovel that was used to clean ashes out of the hearth.
'Yes, that's perfect,' Ayla said. She took the shovel and slid the flat part under the basket, then picked them both up and held them together while she flipped them over. 'Is there a lid for this bowl? And some twine to tie it on?'
Zelandoni First found a small shallow bowl and gave it to Ayla, who set the bowl with the snake down, removed the shovel and pressed the shallow bowl on top, then tied them together. The three women left together to have a morning meal.
They planned that the meeting should start when the sun was highest in the sky, but people started gathering on the slope earlier to find seating and standing places with enough elevation so they could see and hear better. Everyone knew this was a serious meeting, but there was still a feeling of celebration and festivity in the air, mostly because of the sociability of being together, especially since it was unplanned. And because people were glad that the vicious troublemaker had been caught.
By the time the sun was high, the meeting area was filled to overflowing. Zelandoni First started the meeting and began by welcoming the First Among Those Who Serve The Great Earth Mother, and the rest of the visitors. She explained that the First was accompanying her Acolyte, and her former Acolyte, who was now a Zelandoni, on their Donier Tour, and had come to see the Most Ancient Sacred Site. She also mentioned that the First's Acolyte and her mate had captured Balderan and three of his men, when they tried to attack her. That information brought an undercurrent of voices from the audience.
'That is the main reason we called this gathering. Balderan has caused pain and suffering to many of you for many years. But now that we have him, we have to decide what to do with him. Whatever punishment we mete out to him should be something we all feel is appropriate,' Zelandoni First said.
Someone in the audience said, 'Kill him,' in a loud whisper that everyone heard, including the zelandonia.
The One Who Was First responded, 'That may well be the appropriate punishment, but who will do it, and how, is the question. It could be very unlucky if it is not handled properly,' the large woman said, 'for all of us. The Mother has declared strong prohibitions against people killing other people, except in extraordinary circumstances. In an effort to find a solution for coping with Balderan, we don't want to become what he is.'
'How did she catch him?' someone asked.
'You should ask her,' the First said, turning to Ayla.
This kind of situation always made her nervous, but she took a deep breath and tried to answer the question. 'I have been a hunter since I was very young, and the weapon I first learned to use was a stone hurled with a sling,' she began. For those who had not heard her speak before, her accent was a surprise. It was rare for a foreigner to become part of the zelandonia and she had to wait until people quieted down before she could continue. 'Now you know, I was not born a Zelandonii,' she said with a smile. Her comment brought a small chuckle from the audience.
'I was raised far to the east of here, and I met Jondalar when he was on his Journey.' People were settling down, getting ready to listen to what could be a very good story.
'When Balderan and his men first saw me, I had gone behind the trees for some privacy, and when I stood up to pull my leggings back on, they were staring at me. It made me angry that they were so impolite, and I told them so. Not that it did any good.' That brought a few chuckles from the group. 'I usually keep my sling wrapped around my head; it is an easy way to carry it. When he came after me, I don't think Balderan understood that it was a weapon as I began to unwind it.'
She unwound her sling as she was talking, then reached into her pouch and took out two of the stones she had collected from the dry streambed near their former camp earlier. She put the two ends of the sling together and placed a stone in the middle of a leather strap in a pocket that had formed from use. She had already selected a target: a varying hare in its brown summer coat sitting off to the side on a rock next to its hole. At the last minute, she also spied a pair of mallards, which had taken off from their nests near the river. With swift sure movements, she flung the first stone, and then the second.
People spoke out their surprise. 'Did you see that!' 'She killed that duck right out of the sky!' 'She killed a rabbit, too!' The demonstration gave them a sense of her skill.
