maku. Speak now
before the ancestors. Who is responsible for my death?”
10
After everything I had done and seen, I really thought it was too much that I could
still be surprised. However, good manners always bridge an awkward chasm.
“Honored Ones! I stand before you like a daughter, who asks for your blessing.” I
caught the eye of the man who looked oldest and smiled winningly at him, for the smiles
of young women could often soften the hearts of old men. He did not look amused, so
I quickly retrenched. “I have arrived unexpectedly here, not knowing what you want
of me.”
“We want justice,” said the head of Queen Anacaona. “You allowed the hunter who rides
at the behest of the foreign courts to cross the Great Smoke and raid into our country,
resulting in my death. Answer, maku.”
I recollected Keer’s questions, coming at the debate sideways instead of head-on.
“You shouldn’t have invaded Expedition Territory.”
“Do you scold me, child? The Council of Expedition broke the First Treaty, which their
ancestors and ours swore to uphold. That gave the Taino the right and the obligation
to invade, to protect our people from diseases like the salt plague.”
Here was an opening I could exploit! “It’s true that Expedition’s Council violated
the terms of the First Treaty. But the Council no longer rules Expedition. The people
of Expedition replaced the corrupt Council with a new Assembly. It is not justice
to punish the Assembly for actions they did not commit.” I surveyed the gathered ancestors.
They were patient, as the dead can be, but I had an idea they were not going to be
patient for long. I had to strike quickly. “Furthermore, youhad no right to quarantine me on Salt Island, because I was clean. I was never infested
with the salt plague. Isn’t that true? Wasn’t I clean?”
Queen Anacaona’s brown cheeks suffused with natural color, as if blood pumped through
them even though she had no heart. “You were clean. And Expedition does indeed have
a new government. But both those things are beside the point, as I believe you know.
Is it true, or is it not true, that a pack of maku spirit hunters crossed the Great
Smoke and raided into our country?”
“What is the Great Smoke?”
“Do they teach the young nothing in your country? The Great Smoke is the ocean of
all existence. It embraces all things, just as the ocean of water in the mortal world
embraces all lands. It is not easy to cross the Great Smoke, for Leviathan guards
it. But it can be done. Long ago, behiques wove a spirit fence around Taino country
precisely to keep out the spirit lords from other territories in the spirit world
because we did not want them to walk into our lands and disturb us. So let me ask
you again. Did the maku spirit hunters cross from your land to ours on a road made
of your bone and blood because in your nature and living body you partake both of
the spirit world and the mortal world? Was it your presence, your body, that cut a
gate in the spirit fence with which we protect ourselves? Did the Hunt enter the land
because of you? Speak the truth, maku. Be warned. In this country, lies are knives
you wield against your own flesh.”
The ancestors’ gazes pressed against me as if they were invisible blades waiting to
cut my flesh to ribbons. I had to tell the truth, but not because of the knives. I
had to tell the truth because this was a court of law. One did not lie in such a place.
“The Hunt did enter your country because I cut a gate in the fence. The Master of
the Wild Hunt compelled me to lead him to the dragon dreamer, to my cousin, Beatrice.
I never knew there was a spirit fence around your country. I never knew I could cut
through it, and that cutting through it would leave your lands vulnerable. For that,
I am truly sorry.”
Her gaze had a shine that was not like living eyes but more like polished wood beads.
before the ancestors. Who is responsible for my death?”
10
After everything I had done and seen, I really thought it was too much that I could
still be surprised. However, good manners always bridge an awkward chasm.
“Honored Ones! I stand before you like a daughter, who asks for your blessing.” I
caught the eye of the man who looked oldest and smiled winningly at him, for the smiles
of young women could often soften the hearts of old men. He did not look amused, so
I quickly retrenched. “I have arrived unexpectedly here, not knowing what you want
of me.”
“We want justice,” said the head of Queen Anacaona. “You allowed the hunter who rides
at the behest of the foreign courts to cross the Great Smoke and raid into our country,
resulting in my death. Answer, maku.”
I recollected Keer’s questions, coming at the debate sideways instead of head-on.
“You shouldn’t have invaded Expedition Territory.”
“Do you scold me, child? The Council of Expedition broke the First Treaty, which their
ancestors and ours swore to uphold. That gave the Taino the right and the obligation
to invade, to protect our people from diseases like the salt plague.”
Here was an opening I could exploit! “It’s true that Expedition’s Council violated
the terms of the First Treaty. But the Council no longer rules Expedition. The people
of Expedition replaced the corrupt Council with a new Assembly. It is not justice
to punish the Assembly for actions they did not commit.” I surveyed the gathered ancestors.
They were patient, as the dead can be, but I had an idea they were not going to be
patient for long. I had to strike quickly. “Furthermore, youhad no right to quarantine me on Salt Island, because I was clean. I was never infested
with the salt plague. Isn’t that true? Wasn’t I clean?”
Queen Anacaona’s brown cheeks suffused with natural color, as if blood pumped through
them even though she had no heart. “You were clean. And Expedition does indeed have
a new government. But both those things are beside the point, as I believe you know.
Is it true, or is it not true, that a pack of maku spirit hunters crossed the Great
Smoke and raided into our country?”
“What is the Great Smoke?”
“Do they teach the young nothing in your country? The Great Smoke is the ocean of
all existence. It embraces all things, just as the ocean of water in the mortal world
embraces all lands. It is not easy to cross the Great Smoke, for Leviathan guards
it. But it can be done. Long ago, behiques wove a spirit fence around Taino country
precisely to keep out the spirit lords from other territories in the spirit world
because we did not want them to walk into our lands and disturb us. So let me ask
you again. Did the maku spirit hunters cross from your land to ours on a road made
of your bone and blood because in your nature and living body you partake both of
the spirit world and the mortal world? Was it your presence, your body, that cut a
gate in the spirit fence with which we protect ourselves? Did the Hunt enter the land
because of you? Speak the truth, maku. Be warned. In this country, lies are knives
you wield against your own flesh.”
The ancestors’ gazes pressed against me as if they were invisible blades waiting to
cut my flesh to ribbons. I had to tell the truth, but not because of the knives. I
had to tell the truth because this was a court of law. One did not lie in such a place.
“The Hunt did enter your country because I cut a gate in the fence. The Master of
the Wild Hunt compelled me to lead him to the dragon dreamer, to my cousin, Beatrice.
I never knew there was a spirit fence around your country. I never knew I could cut
through it, and that cutting through it would leave your lands vulnerable. For that,
I am truly sorry.”
Her gaze had a shine that was not like living eyes but more like polished wood beads.
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