Клэр Белл - The Named - The Complete Series

Ratha’s gaze darted to Thakur. He seemed to wilt a bit as other stares followed hers. He sighed and sat up. “He is not here, Fessran, because I told him to stay with the yearlings. I thought it best that we make our decision without him.” Thakur paused. “Remember what happened during the dance-hunt.”

Fessran walked to the base of the sunning rock and looked up at Ratha.“Giver of the New Law, I do recall what happened then and that is why I speak in praise of him. Never have I seen such courage, even among my own torchbearers.”

“Firekeeper leader,” said Thakur, “you forget that he is neither Named nor of the clan. Our own yearlings may not come to this meeting until they have proven themselves worthy.”

But the Un-Named One has proven himself,Ratha thought suddenly.When he turned back the herdbeast so I could save Bundi, he showed his worth.

“He can’t be treated as a yearling, Thakur,” said Fessran. “He isn’t one. Ratha said his coming is something new to the clan. It can’t be dealt with in old ways.”

The Firekeeper leader turned again to the sunning rock.“Clan leader, I and the Firekeepers ask that he be allowed into this gathering so he may hear our words.”

A surprised murmur rippled through the group and Ratha caught an undercurrent of growls from the herders. Shoman leaped to his feet, his tail lashing.

“I have no praise for the Un-Named One,” the lop-eared herder sneered, glaring at Thakur. “But I join with the Firekeepers and ask that he be brought before us.”

Thakur’s jaw dropped. His eyes narrowed at Shoman. He looked to Ratha. “Is it the will of the Named?” he asked, his voice sounding harsh.

“Yes, Thakur,” she said and saw his eyes frost. “The meeting will wait while you fetch him.”

Clanfolk parted to let the herding teacher through. When he was gone, Ratha studied the two others who had spoken: Shoman, with his lip curled and his whiskers drawn back in a malicious grin, and Fessran, with her eyes eager, but not entirely innocent.

Ratha suddenly wished she could be down among them, waiting for someone else on the sunning rock to make the decisions and find the answers.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Thakur returning with Orange-Eyes. The Un-Named One looked guarded and wary as he followed Thakur to a place among the herders. He sought to catch Thakur’s gaze, but the herding teacher, who had led him in without looking at him, turned his face away. The silvercoat lowered his head and whisked his tail away from Thakur’s.

On the other side of the meeting circle, the Firekeepers stirred. Fessran rose again.“Now that the Un-Named One is among us, as he deserves to be, I may speak. I am not one to praise the clanless ones. I have seen too many of us fall to them. But, as Ratha has said, some of them hold the same light in their eyes as we do and want more than the lives of raiders and scavengers.”

A hard voice broke from the growls of the herders.“Ptahh! What he wants is to fill his belly with the flesh of our herdbeasts!”

Heads turned to Shoman. Fessran tried to answer, but her words were drowned in the sudden uproar. Ratha slapped the sunning rock with her paw to quiet the gathering.“Let Fessran speak.” She directed a meaningful glance at Shoman.

Fessran also eyed Shoman and said,“If that’s all you think he wants, why did you ask that he be brought to the meeting?”

“So that all of you may see him for what he is.” Shoman’s gaze darted over the group. “You, Cherfan,” he said to a herder in the back, “you, who lost a lair-son to the Un-Named. You, Mondir, who buried the body of your littermate after a raid. All of you who bear scars on your coats. Look at him. Those eyes. Are they like ours? Those teeth. They could easily slash our throats.” He turned back to Fessran. “You don’t think of that, Firekeeper.”

Fessran only yawned.“You bear no scars on your pelt,” she said dryly. Some of the Firekeepers lolled their tongues in derisive grins.

Shoman’s eyes blazed. “Wounds may be deep but unseen. I know my lair-father died at the jaws of the Un-Named. That is enough.”

Several of the herders who were Shoman’s friends flattened their ears at the Un-Named One. The silvercoat ignored them, drawing himself in and sitting stiffly.

“No, it is not enough,” Fessran snapped. “What you want, Shoman, is revenge, not what is best for the rest of us. As for teeth, we all have them and we could all bite each other’s throats if we were savage enough.” She stamped impatiently. “You of the clan, don’t you know what you sawthat night of the dance-hunt? You saw someone with the strength of will to fight his fear of the Red Tongue, someone who stood his ground against my Firekeepers even when he was sick and starving.”

Fessran began to circle, twitching her tail.“Yes, he wants to fill his belly. All of us do. And he will earn that right by using his courage to defend our herds.”

She reared up on her hind legs, her belly fur showing golden-white in the flame’s glow.

“Cherfan!” she called to him. “You lost a litterling in the Un-Named raids. What was his name?”

Cherfan reacted slowly, blinking in surprise.“He was called Shongshar.”

“Good. What the Un-Named have taken, they will give back. Had Cherfan’s cub lived, he would have been a brave herder and sired strong young. I have seen that this one”—she wagged her whiskers toward the silvercoat—“shows much courage in guarding the animals. As for young, we will have to wait a little while, but not too long, I think.” Fessran cast a sly glance at the young females among the Firekeepers.

Trust Fessran to provide a little humor,Ratha thought, but the Firekeeper’s words made her uneasy and the shadow of an old memory fell across her mind. She looked for Thakur and found him sitting stiffly. She had never seen him look so solemn.

“Shongshar is a good name,” Fessran was saying. “It shouldn’t be lost. Let the newcomer join and give him that name. Let the clan have a new Shongshar!”

Again there was an uproar. Ratha noticed that the silvercoat was saying the name to himself; trying it to see how it fit. Fessran, obviously enjoying the attention she was getting, swaggered over to Thakur. For an instant he didn’t seem to know she was there, then he jerked his head around and faced her.

The Firekeeper’s intent wasn’t malicious as Shoman’s had been. She did have a tendency to poke fun at those who took themselves too seriously. Ratha herself had received a few sharp digs from the claws of Fessran’s wit.

“Herder, you spoke against the Un-Named One at the start of this meeting,” Fessran said, still looking amused. “Why are you quiet now?” The sudden misery on his face made the Firekeeper lose her grin. Her brows drew together and she said something to Thakur in a softer tone that Ratha couldn’t hear.

She caught Thakur’s reply as he got to his feet.

“No, Fessran. The clan needs to hear this.” He surveyed the group, looking into the eyes of all who were assembled… except those of the newcomer. “I wish to cast no doubt on the truth of Fessran’s words. I only remind you that there are many trails to one place and each one shows us different sights. Fessran has taken you along one trail; I must show another.” Thakur paused. “First I must tell you that the one who sits beside me is worthy to bear the dead cub’s name. He saved a yearling from death on a herdbeast’s horns. Ratha can tell you that story better than I.”

“If you mean to support him,” Fessran interrupted, her eyes wide, “why did you want to leave him out of the meeting?”

“I have other words besides those of praise,” Thakur snapped back. “Firekeeper leader, like everyone else here, I try to make things easy for myself. What I have to say would be easier if he weren’t listening to it.”