I suddenly felt chilly. 'I do not know,' I said.
'Do you recall, Tatankasa,' asked Cuwignaka, 'some days ago, when we spoke with Bloketu and Iwoso outside our lodge. I was scraping a hide.'
'Yes,' I said.
'Iwoso was to become important, it seemed,' he said. 'From this we conjectured that Watonka, and Bloketu, too, would then be even more important.'
'Yes,' I said.
'How could one be more important among my people than to be a civil chieftain of a rich band?' asked Cuwignaka.
'To become, I suppose, a high chief of all the bands,' I said, 'a chief of the tribe, as a whole.'
'but there are no first chiefs, no high chiefs, among Kaiila, exept maybe, sometime, a war chief,' said Cuwignaka. 'It is not our way.'
'Perhaps there could be presige, and riches, garnered in gift giving, as the result of arranging the peace,' I said. I recalled we had thought about this matter along these lines before. It had, at that time, seemed a sensible way of viewing matters.
'Watonka is already rich in women and kaiila,' said Cuwignaka. 'There is only one thing he cannot be rich in, among our peoples.'
'What is that?' I asked.
'Power,' said Cuwignaka.
'What are you saying?' I asked, alarmed. 'I am becoming afraid.'
'What time is it?' asked Cuwignaka.
'It must be noon, by now,' I said.
'There is no time to lose,' said Cuwignaka, leaping to his feet.
'What is wrong?' I asked.
'The camp is going to be attacked,' said Cuwignaka. 'The pickets, the guards, have been withdrawn from the west. The Pte was early! Watonka looks to the sky, to the southeast!'
'I do not understand,' I said.
'Why were the Pte early?' asked Cuwignaka.
'I do not know,' I said.
'They were being hunted, being driven, by a new people,' Said Cuwignaka. 'Something is behind them. A new force has come into our country.'
'But wAtonka was looking to the sky,' I said.
'That is what makes me most afraid,' he said. 'It is like the old stories, told long ago by travelers, warriors who had ridden farther than others.'
'What can we do?' I asked.
'We must alert the camp,' said Cuwignaka.
'Even if you are right,' I said, 'even if the camp should be in danger, even if attack was imminent, no one will believe us. You wear the dress of a woman. I am a slave. We will be only mocked, only laughed at.'
'One will not laugh at us or mock us,' said Cuwignaka. 'There is one who will listen.'
'Who is that?' I asked.
'Hci,' said Cuwignaka, angrily.
He then rushed from the lodge and I, rising to my feet, hurried after him. Outside he looked wildly to the sky, to the southeast, and then began to run between the lodges. I, too, looked at the sky. It was clear.
Chapter 20
KINYANPI
'Behold,' laughed Hci, sitting with cronies, cross-legged, outside the lodge of the Sleen Soldiers, 'it is the pretty sister of Canka, and Canka's slave, Tatankasa.'
'Listen to me, Hci,' said Cuwignaka, 'please!'
'Kneel,' said Hci to us.
We knelt.
'She tried to enter the lodge of the dance,' laughed Hci, pointing at Cuwignaka. 'She is not permitted to do so!'
There was laughter from the young men sitting in the circle.
'I must speak to you,' said Cuwignaka.
'I am busy,' said Hci. There was laughter.
'I must speak to you!' said Cuwignaka.
'Do not come to plead lenience for your foolish brother, who tried to kill my father, Mahpiyasapa, this morning!' inquired Hci.
'The camp is in danger,' said Cuwignaka.
'What?' asked Hci.
'The Yellow Knives with Watonka are not civil chiefs,' said Cuwignaka. 'They have been recognized by a blond slave, once the property of Yellow Knives. They are war chiefs.'
'That is absurd,' said Hci.
'The pickets and guards have been drawn in from the west,' said Cuwignaka. 'Watonka has not gone to the council, nor have the Yellow Knives. The Pte were early! Watonka looked to the sky, to the southwest!'
'To the sky?' asked one of the men with Hci.
'It is as in the old stories,' said one of the men.
'These are lies,' said Hci. 'This is a trick. You are trying to make me look foolish.'
'The guards have been drawn in from the west,' said one man. 'I know that.'
'The Pte were early,' said another. 'We all know that.'
'Who says Watonka is not in the council lodge?' asked Hci.
'Shortly before noon,' I said, 'I saw him still in the camp of the Isanna, with the Yellow Knives. I do not think it is his intention to go to the council lodge. I saw him watching the sky, to the southeast.'
'Others were in the council lodge?' asked Hci.
'Most others, yes,' I said. 'I think so.'
'The greates men of our people, most of them, are in that lodge, Hci,' said Cuwignaka, 'gathered in that one place. Surely you understand what that could mean?'
'This is all a trick on your part,' said Hci.
'No,' said Cuwignaka.
'If what you say is correct,' said Hci, 'Watonka would be a traitor. He would be betraying the Kaiila.'
'I am convinced that that is the case,' said Cuwignaka.
'It cannot be,' said Hci.
'To achieve his personal ends,' said Cuwignaka, grimly, 'even a good man can sometimes do great wrong. Can you believe that, Hci?'
Hci looked down, angrily.
'Can you believe it, Hci?' asked Cuwignaka.
'Hci looked up, angrily. 'Yes,' he said.
'Act,' said Cuwignaka. 'The Sleen Soldiers have police powers in the camp. Act!'
'It is a trick,' said Hci, angrily.
'It is past noon,' said Cuwignaka. 'There is little time.'
'It is a trick,' said Hci.
'I swear that it is not,' said Cuwignaka. 'Had I a shield I would swear by it.'
Hci looked at him, startled.
'That is a most holy and sacred oath,' said one of the Sleen Soldiers, frightened.
'Would yuo truly swear by a shield?' asked Hci.
