come to see me, Krow?'
The Master wants to know how much progress you've made here.'
Carnelian closed his eyes and tried to imagine how much of the ditch was still to be cut; how much they had already cut and how long it had taken.
He opened his eyes, feeling sick at heart. 'In the end it will come down to whether the Bluedancing will still work.'
Krow smiled coldly. They'll work all right.'
'You're returning to him today?'
Krow nodded.
Tell him that in eight days the work here will be complete.'
Krow took leave of him with a kind of bow and then Carnelian was left alone to brood on what he had learned about Osidian's preparations. Sil and Poppy appeared and Carnelian helped them make the evening meal.
Night had fallen before Akaisha and Whin returned. Everyone could see they had been quarrelling. Akaisha said they had come up from the Homeditch gates, now guarded by the men of the Tribe. Though everyone was desperate to know what the Elders had decided, neither Akaisha nor Whin volunteered anything.
Later, Akaisha took an opportunity to talk to Carnelian alone. 'I suppose you'd better know.' She looked unhappy. 'We have had to take some of their children away from them. There's no other way we can be sure to be safe when our men are away.'
Carnelian was aware she would not look him directly in the eye.
'We have to send them away to ensure the good behaviour of their mothers.' 'Send them where?'
'Galewing will take them with him tomorrow when he returns to the Master.'
Carnelian could not believe this. 'If you must take their children, why not bring them up here where you can keep an eye on them?'
When Akaisha would not answer, he took her hands in his. She glanced up at him.
'Surely you understand, Carnie? How could we hurt them ourselves?'
Carnelian let go of her hands. 'But you're happy to let the men do it?'
'It won't come to that. Their mothers would do nothing to risk their children.'
'I can't believe you want to send any children out there, among the herds and the raveners. Who'll care for them?'
Akaisha grimaced. 'We can't have them here. We can't.'
'What do you fear, Akaisha?'
She shook her head in answer. He thought about it.
'Is it that having them among the hearths the women won't be able to distinguish the Bluedancing children from those of the Tribe?'
Akaisha looked up at him and there were tears in her eyes. 'What have we become?' she whispered. 'What have we become?'
Akaisha conspired with Carnelian to draw out breakfast as long as they could. It was the other overseers gathering waiting for them at the edge of their rootearth that eventually forced them to rise.
'We'll have to face it some time,' Carnelian said.
With the others, they marched in silence down to the camp of the Bluedancing. When it came in sight, Carnelian was as reluctant as everyone else to go any nearer, but he pushed forward nonetheless.
The Bluedancing seemed carved from wood. Carnelian tried not to catch glimpses of their eyes as they were ordered to their work. They shuffled along, their chins digging into their bony chests. They looked like sartlar.
He accompanied them to the ditch and, removing his robe, was determined to work among them as he had done for days. It made him feel better to be sharing their labour.
He clawed at the mud, but hard as he worked, he was aware of the space there was around him. Every time he glanced up he would catch glimpses of the hatred in their eyes. It sapped his strength. Their eyes made him question why he was sharing their work. Was it that he was doing penance for the guilt he felt? Was it that if he pretended to share their suffering no one would be able to blame him for his part in what was being done to them? It was Osidian who had brought all this about, but who was it had brought Osidian to the Koppie and at every turn protected him, nurtured him until he had grown into what he was today? Ultimately, Carnelian could not pretend his hands were clean of any of Osidian's crimes. He dropped his mattock and looked at his red, earthy hands. He left the ditch. It was about time he took responsibility for what he was and what he had done.
He ceased work with the Bluedancing but tried instead to get as much food and water as he could for them. He made sure to keep an eye on their Ochre overseers. He understood what spurred these women to cruelty. Sometimes, when he saw the thin arms of the Bluedancing plucking at the red earth, he grew enraged, desiring to lash them, to heap abuse on them, but he had delved deep enough to see this was guilt taking possession of him: by bringing his victims low, he could hope to justify keeping them in their place.
He did not judge the Ochre. They had lived all their lives with the constant threat of having their children stolen from them. It was not easy for them to have become the very thing they most hated.
Days later Carnelian, worn down by another day working as an overseer, returned to the hearth desperate for its familial warmth. Sil and the other women were lining their bench. A smell of stew was drifting in the air. He went to wash first and smiled when one of the children greeted him, then jumped when something in the shadow under the mother tree moved.
'You,' he gasped, seeing it was Osidian.
'I have come to impart to you the role you will play in my great hunt.'
Osidian said no more and Carnelian was glad when he left him alone to his washing, for it gave him time to order his thoughts. When he joined the hearth he found Osidian was not there.
'Ravan?' Carnelian asked as Akaisha handed him a steaming bowl.
The Master came without either of my sons,' she said, severely.
'Did he say-?'
'He said nothing.'
Akaisha must have seen his anger, for she put her hand on his arm. 'We need him, Carnie,' she said, quietly. 'If his plan fails, the Tribe will starve.'
He gave her a nod, smiling, and she released him.
Carnelian carried the bowl to his sleeping hollow. Osidian was there.
'I have brought you some food,' Carnelian said, in Quya.
'Leave it on the ground,' the shadow replied. Carnelian put the bowl down. 'Are the hostage children well?'
'Well enough.' 'Was that your idea?'
Osidian smiled. 'Amusingly, the savages thought it up entirely on their own. It seems they have the capacity to learn something from their superiors.'
'Why are you training the Ochre for war?'
'Carnelian, you have known my intentions since the day we reached the Earthsky.'
Carnelian became exasperated. 'You really believe the Ochre can win you back your throne?'
They shall be but the first tribe of my host.'
'Plainsmen against the legions?'
'My first move in the game that is to come.'
Carnelian felt he was talking to a madman.
Osidian took him by the shoulders. 'Believe me, Carnelian, we shall return to Osrakum and regain everything we have lost.'
Carnelian took a step back to break the hold Osidian had on him. 'Even if you were successful, you would be returning to Osrakum alone. I shall remain here with these people.'
'I will not allow that,' said Osidian, his voice ice.
''You will not allow?' You may control events here, Osidian, but you do not control me. I know you could
