'Those who slew the Yellow Knives,' said Hci, 'have they fled.'
'No more than we,' said Cuwignaka.
'Should you come again into contact with them,' said Hci, 'inform them that our forces may be joined near the council lodge.'
I had thought that the resistance would organize itself in that area. I twas at the center of the camp. Too, it was on high ground.
'I understand,' said Cuwignaka.
'Will you deliver the message?' asked Hci.
'You may consider it delivered,' said Cuwignaka.
'Good,' said Hci. He then turned his kaiila, but, again, pulled it up short. He turned back to face us. 'Mahpiyasapa has returned,' he said. 'He and Kahintokapa, of the Yellow-Kaiila Riders, are commanding the defense. We fear only the return of the Kinyanpi, the Flighted Ones.'
'May I speak?' I asked.
'Yes,' said Hci.
'Such may be met,' I said. 'Watonka and his party wore yellow scarves or sashes that they might be recognized by the Kinyanpi. Your warriors, too, might adopt that device. In this way the Kinyanpi may be confused as to who to fire upon, particularly in the minglings of combat. Too, consider the deplyment of archers in teh corriders of aerial attack, to protect your riders. Shaprened stakes can discourage talon attacks. Ropes stretched between lodges can interfere with low-flight attacks and impede attempted landings. Cloths and covers, even separated and strung above the ground, can provide protective concealments, some serving to hide what is actually beneath them, particularly from high altitudes, others serving as patterns distractive to archers, patterns which make it difficult to target the objects they shelter, both with respect to their movements and locations.'
'Have you seen such things done effectively?' asked Hci.
'Yes,' I said.
'I will speak to Mahpiyasapa,' said Hci.
'Grunt is my friend,' I said. 'Did he return to the camp with Mahpiyasapa?'
'Yes,' said Hci. 'He is with us.'
'Good,' I said.
'Hci,' said Cuwignaka.
'Yes?' said Hci.
'What of Watonka?' asked Cuwignaka. 'Does he fight with the Yellow Knives?'
'It had been my intention to kill him,' said Hci. 'I rode to the camp of the Isanna. I found him there. He was already dead. So, too, were some others. I think they were killed by the Yellow Knives who had been with them. It had been done now with arrows, but knives. Too, the Yellow Knives were gone. It was probably done when the attack of the Kinyanpi began. They did not need him anymore then.'
'What of Bloketu?' asked Cuwignaka.
'The traitress?' asked Hci.
'Yes, Bloketu, the traitress,' said Cuwignaka.
'I do not know,' said Hci.
'You did not find her among the dead,' said Cuwignaka.
'No,' said Hci.
'The Yellow Knives must have taken her,' said Cuwignaka.
'Perhaps,' said Hci.'I myself had little doubt as to the fate of the lovely, betrayed traitress. I recalled the coils of subble rope which Iwoso, her maiden, had worn at her belt. Too, I had little doubt that Iwoso, long before the attack, working in secret, in anticipation, had prepared a beaded collar for her mistress. Iwoso, for her part in the attack, would now be an important woman among the Yellow Knives. A woman of such importance, of course, should have her own maiden.
'As you are only a woman and a slave,' said Hci, 'it would be my advice, since you have kaiila, that you flee.'
'Thank you for your consideration,' said Cuwignaka. Indeed, in my opinion, Hci was, at least in his own mind, trying to be courteous and helpful. He did think of Cuwignaka, for the most part, as though he were a woman, and he would think of me, nautrally enough, in terms of my collar. His remark was intended to be, and I think Cuwignaka understood it in this way, in our best interest. It seemed a new Hci with whom we spoke, one far less vain and arrogant than the one we had known.
'If you wish, on the other hand, to come to the area of the council lodge, to huddle there with the women and children, you may do so,' he said. 'The way to the council lodge, at this point, is clear.'
'Thank you,' said Cuwignaka.
'But there will be fighting there,' said Hci.
'We understand,' said Cuwignaka.
Hci then turned his kaiila about and rode from us.
'Did you see the movement of his shield before?' asked Cuwignaka.
'Yes,' I said. 'I have never seen anything like that. It is eerie.'
'I am afraid,' said Cuwignaka.
I felt suddenly chilly. Then I shook the chill from me. The sky was bright. In it were billowy white clouds. It was a good day for war.
'Shall we go to the council lodge or flee?' I asked.
'We shall decide that matter in a way becoming to my people,' said Cuwignaka. 'Do you see that lonely fleer in the sky?'
'Yes,' I said.
'If it should fly north or west,' he said, 'we shall go to the council lodge.'
'And if it should fly to the south or to the east?' I asked.
'Then,' said Cuwignaka, 'we shall go to the council lodge.'
'It is going north,' I observed.
'Then the matter is clear,' said Cuwignaka. 'We will go to the council lodge.'
'I was hoping that that would be the outcome,' I said.
'So, too, was I,' said Cuwignaka.
'It was very clever fleer,' I said.
'I was sure it would be,' said Cuwignaka.
We adjusted our weapons.
'Let us go,' I said.
'What of these?' asked Cuwignaka, gesturing with his lance to the three white slaves who had been in the charge of the Yellow Knives. They stood to one side, frightened. Their long tethers dangled from their necks to the dust. They were stripped. Their hands were bound behind their backs.
'You are in the presence of a free man,' I said to them, indicating Cuwignaka.
Quickly they fell to their knees, putting their heads to the dust.
'We will leave them,' I told Cuwignaka. 'They are only female slaves.'
'I, too, am only a female slave, Master,' said Wasnapohdi, looking up at me.
'You may accompany us,' I said.
'Thank you, Master,' she said.
The other slaves lifted their heads, remaining on their knees, bound, in the dust.
We left them behind, then, making our way toward the council lodge. They, lie other loot strewn about, robes and saddles, must wait to see who it was who would pick them up, who it was to whom they would then belong, whom they must then serve, absolutely and unquestioningly, with every perfection and particle of their intelligence and beauty.
Chapter 26
ONCE MORE TO TREAD DISPUTED, BLOODY DUST
