another, a chief to one of his tribe.
‘Before you were born, we went to war,’ he remarked. ‘You
know this, even you. Back then, the Tiger was strong, and we all
lived in his Shadow. But the Wolf gave us iron claws and iron
coats, and the Boar and the Deer rose with us, even the Bear
and the Eyriemen, a little. And we broke the Shadow Eaters; we
drove the people of the Tiger into the highlands.You have heard
the stories of these things?’
‘I have heard them.’ Her voice even sounded different, not a
girl’s any more, and yet more of her father’s daughter than
before.
‘You know that your mother was of their tribe.’
There was a hard edge to his tone, but when she answered, ‘I
know it,’ without any hurt in her voice, that seemed to satisfy
him.
‘She was trouble, an evil woman. The Tiger are ruled by their
women. You know this?’
‘I have heard it spoken.’ She was waiting for some stab of
anguish to engulf her over her mother, but she was Wolf, and
she was calm. I have no mother , she could tell herself. I have no
tiger within me.
‘They called her the Tiger Queen when she was still free –
before I took her,’ Akrit explained. ‘Even with a rope about her
neck, too much trouble.’ He gestured vaguely, shaking his head.
‘But we were hoping this day would come, when a child of hers
would come of age, and be of the Wolf. And here you are.’
A slow uncertainty was stealing over Maniye. The last thing
she had expected was so much talk of her mother. She had
stood before Akrit, feeling that half of her cut away, and now he
was fumblingly trying to join it back onto her.
‘I am of the Wolf,’ she said carefully.
Akrit nodded animatedly, and in that rapid motion she saw
just how drunk he really was. ‘But you are her daughter.’
‘I am your daughter.’ It was not something she had ever
wanted to be, before, but suddenly it was very important to her.
‘But you are hers . That is how they do things, among the
Shadow Eaters. The mother rules, and then the daughter.’ Akrit
grinned abruptly. ‘So it is time we bare our teeth again! This
spring the Winter Runners shall go to raid the highlands and
draw the Tiger out. And when we have their attention, when we
have bloodied them a little and reminded them of the strength of
the Wolf, we shall show you to them: the child of their queen.’
She was just watching now, saying nothing.
‘And they will kneel, because you are their dead queen’s get.
And you will bring them under the Wolf’s Shadow. You will
bring them under my Shadow, and they will league with the
Winter Runners, and we will be the strongest of the Wolf’s children, eh, Kalameshli Takes Iron?’
She felt as though she was tracking something through the
forest, print by print, scent by scent, and now she stood before
its lair, understanding what it was she had been hunting. She
wondered how much of this might have been couched differently, had he been sober. Akrit’s words for her were normally
few and hostile, but her passing her Test, her denying the tiger
within her, had been for him the culmination of many years of
scheming. Apparently he felt that he was allowed to relax his
guard just this much.
There was a High Chief of the Wolf, the first and only Chief
of Chiefs. Seven Skins of the Many Mouths tribe held that
honour, made such by the acclaim of his peers during the war
with the Tiger. He had masterminded the uprising of the Wolf,
when her father had been just one war leader amongst many,
albeit one who had taken more risks and won more victories
than most.
Seven Skins was old, though: years past Kalameshli’s age.
The time would come when he would pass into the forest, and
if there was to be another High Chief, who knew who that might
be? If Akrit could make the hated Shadow Eaters bow the knee,
then none would deny him.
This was the purpose he had contrived for her. It was a grand
plan, and one that might have failed at so many
‘Before you were born, we went to war,’ he remarked. ‘You
know this, even you. Back then, the Tiger was strong, and we all
lived in his Shadow. But the Wolf gave us iron claws and iron
coats, and the Boar and the Deer rose with us, even the Bear
and the Eyriemen, a little. And we broke the Shadow Eaters; we
drove the people of the Tiger into the highlands.You have heard
the stories of these things?’
‘I have heard them.’ Her voice even sounded different, not a
girl’s any more, and yet more of her father’s daughter than
before.
‘You know that your mother was of their tribe.’
There was a hard edge to his tone, but when she answered, ‘I
know it,’ without any hurt in her voice, that seemed to satisfy
him.
‘She was trouble, an evil woman. The Tiger are ruled by their
women. You know this?’
‘I have heard it spoken.’ She was waiting for some stab of
anguish to engulf her over her mother, but she was Wolf, and
she was calm. I have no mother , she could tell herself. I have no
tiger within me.
‘They called her the Tiger Queen when she was still free –
before I took her,’ Akrit explained. ‘Even with a rope about her
neck, too much trouble.’ He gestured vaguely, shaking his head.
‘But we were hoping this day would come, when a child of hers
would come of age, and be of the Wolf. And here you are.’
A slow uncertainty was stealing over Maniye. The last thing
she had expected was so much talk of her mother. She had
stood before Akrit, feeling that half of her cut away, and now he
was fumblingly trying to join it back onto her.
‘I am of the Wolf,’ she said carefully.
Akrit nodded animatedly, and in that rapid motion she saw
just how drunk he really was. ‘But you are her daughter.’
‘I am your daughter.’ It was not something she had ever
wanted to be, before, but suddenly it was very important to her.
‘But you are hers . That is how they do things, among the
Shadow Eaters. The mother rules, and then the daughter.’ Akrit
grinned abruptly. ‘So it is time we bare our teeth again! This
spring the Winter Runners shall go to raid the highlands and
draw the Tiger out. And when we have their attention, when we
have bloodied them a little and reminded them of the strength of
the Wolf, we shall show you to them: the child of their queen.’
She was just watching now, saying nothing.
‘And they will kneel, because you are their dead queen’s get.
And you will bring them under the Wolf’s Shadow. You will
bring them under my Shadow, and they will league with the
Winter Runners, and we will be the strongest of the Wolf’s children, eh, Kalameshli Takes Iron?’
She felt as though she was tracking something through the
forest, print by print, scent by scent, and now she stood before
its lair, understanding what it was she had been hunting. She
wondered how much of this might have been couched differently, had he been sober. Akrit’s words for her were normally
few and hostile, but her passing her Test, her denying the tiger
within her, had been for him the culmination of many years of
scheming. Apparently he felt that he was allowed to relax his
guard just this much.
There was a High Chief of the Wolf, the first and only Chief
of Chiefs. Seven Skins of the Many Mouths tribe held that
honour, made such by the acclaim of his peers during the war
with the Tiger. He had masterminded the uprising of the Wolf,
when her father had been just one war leader amongst many,
albeit one who had taken more risks and won more victories
than most.
Seven Skins was old, though: years past Kalameshli’s age.
The time would come when he would pass into the forest, and
if there was to be another High Chief, who knew who that might
be? If Akrit could make the hated Shadow Eaters bow the knee,
then none would deny him.
This was the purpose he had contrived for her. It was a grand
plan, and one that might have failed at so many
Similar Books
