don't know how we must be feeling about all this?'
The woman sat down cowed.
Harth raised her eyes. 'And this overstretching, does it not occur to you that should it happen it might well bring disaster down on us all?'
Carnelian had to speak. 'Listen to Mother Harth. Time is running out for you. Daily he grows more powerful among the young.'
The Assembly rose in stormy protest. 'Do you suggest that our own children would turn against us?'
'Underestimate the Master at your peril,' Carnelian cried above the din.
'We know you bleed, white man. If you bleed, we can kill you,' Crowrane cried back.
'Leave us now,' Akaisha said to Carnelian, fear for him bright in her eyes.
He stood for some moments regarding her. She lifted her chin, urging him to go. Bending, he passed under the curtain and into the brilliance of the day. He descended to the Grove, then walked to his mother tree. He lay in his hollow waiting, watching through the branches wisps of clouds changing shape in the sky.
When Akaisha came he saw in her face what she had come to say.
'We shall light the signal fire. When our men return, we shall kill the Master.'
Carnelian's stomach clenched. So it was done. 'Who can you trust to do it?'
Akaisha's face set into a mask. 'We shall do it ourselves.'
He met her eyes. 'And what is to happen to me?' Her eyes twitched as she regarded him. 'Carnie, you too are to die.'
Smoke rising from the Crag brought the Tribe running to see what was wrong. Standing on the summit near the fire, Carnelian was watching for Osidian's return. Crowrane and a couple of the other veterans armed with spears stood around him and he had been told that if he should cause any trouble, they would run him through. Narrowing his eyes, Carnelian could see nothing but a speckling of herds clinging to the horizon.
A shout made everyone rise to their feet. Carnelian watched riders detach from the herds: a dark rivulet trickling towards him. In the vanguard was the figure Carnelian sought; a giant among the rest.
Carnelian waited with the Elders in the Ancestor House. Outside, down the steps, the Tribe had gathered in the clearing, so many their crowd stretched off into the mottled shade. All eyes were turned up to the little house of bones.
Eyeing Crowrane, Kyte and the others waiting beside the doorway, Carnelian felt the depth of his betrayal. Looking round, he saw shame on every face. It reminded him how far these people had been pushed that they dared not trust their own children; that they should be prepared to defile their most sacred place with murder. His eyes locked with those of Akaisha, who twitched a smile.
They heard the footfalls on the porch outside. The assassins narrowed their eyes and readied their spears. Carnelian wanted to turn away but refused to allow himself the cowardice of not watching Osidian die. He had asked the Elders to allow him to deliver the fatal blow, but they had refused him, staring. Carnelian was filled with fear at how close his own death was, but his heart welcomed it.
The curtain lifted and a figure stood framed by the dazzle of the day. It walked in and was followed by another and another, and Crowrane and the others drew back, protesting that these people, whoever they were, had not been given permission to come in. The last figure to enter eclipsed all light. Carnelian struggled for his vision to return and saw it was Ravan and some other youths, with Osidian standing behind them a marble colossus against the bone traceries of the wall. Amidst the storm of protests, Carnelian had attention for nothing but Osidian's face. There was a stillness in his downcast eyes. Carnelian knew that manner, that stance: it was the imperial demeanour of a Master.
As Osidian lifted his gaze, Carnelian felt the Elders quail but it was Ravan who spoke.
'Why are you armed, my fathers?'
Crowrane and the others regarded the spears in their hands with a kind of surprise.
'Is it perhaps because of the emergency that made you light the signal fire?'
The Elders had fallen silent, their gaze focused on Ravan.
'What is it that made you light the fire, my fathers and mothers?'
Kyte spoke up: The Master is a danger to the Tribe.'
Ravan affected surprise. 'A danger? Did he not save us from the Bluedancing and the Woading? From famine? Did he not free our children from the tithe?'
'But why has he done these things, my son?' said Akaisha.
'He seeks power,' said Harth.
To make war first on the tribes and then the Standing Dead,' said Ginkga.
'He's ravener possessed,' cried Crowrane.
Ravan smiled. 'It seems to me it is you who are possessed.' He pointed at Crowrane's spear. 'You were going to spill his blood here, on the sacred floor of our mother's bones.'
Many of the Assembly cast down their eyes, ashamed.
Carnelian stepped forward. 'Listen to them, Ravan, everything they're saying is true.'
'You have already betrayed the Master once and now you try to do so again.'
Carnelian felt Osidian's gaze and was drawn to meet his eyes. Expecting hatred, he was shocked to see there nothing but an amusement that chilled him to the core.
Ravan stepped towards the Elders. 'You fear the Master because he does what you cannot do. You disgust me. Is there anything you would not do to keep your bony grip on power?'
Akaisha leapt to her feet in fury. 'Be silent.'
'I will not, mother.' He regarded the old with sad contempt. 'You are few and we, the young, are many. You cling to the old ways and cannot see the new world we are making. You are unfit to rule and so, reluctantly, we shall have to rule in your place.'
THE WORLD REMADE
Slaughter is the mother of new worlds.
The Tribe will not let you rule,' cried Harth.
The young men will,' replied Ravan. He smiled. 'Without us the Tribe will have no water and the Koppie will be exposed defenceless to our enemies.'
Ginkga looked aghast. 'You're prepared to threaten your own people?'
'It is the men who shall protect them from all want, as we have always done.'
Crowrane stood forward. 'We are the protectors of the Tribe.'
Mossie was crying. 'Our children will not turn away from us.'
Ravan opened his arms wide. 'Ask them.'
The Elders did, all at once, some petitioning, some threatening their grandsons. The youths standing behind Ravan went paler, but they held their place and nodded.
As they fell silent, Akaisha raised her voice. 'You, Ravan and this gang of boys might be prepared to betray your people, but we shall see how many of the rest will support you.'
Ravan glanced at Osidian then looked back at his mother. 'You should consider carefully before doing anything that might lead to bloodshed.'
Akaisha blinked and stared at her son as if she was seeing him for the first time. Around her, the other Elders seemed to sag and age before Carnelian's eyes.
'Go now,' Ravan said, harshly. 'Prepare the people for the new world.'
Some glared at him through their tears, but even they obeyed him. As they filed past, Carnelian felt ashamed. Akaisha looked at him, but he could not bear to see her face and turned away. He kept his gaze averted as they shuffled past him. Finally, the curtain fell and the gloom returned.
