unworthiness and lived in despair that he would ever join
Tearsong as a god.
The only thing he had to feel proud of was Goldmoon,
but if she continued with this stubborn championing of the
heretic Riverwind, she, too, would be lost.
There were more immediate dangers than River wind,
however. “We waste time on this,” Arrowthorn declared.
“We must speak of the book.”
“Hollow-sky’s gift? I was wondering about that. I could
not find it last night. I wanted to read the last page.”
“It is in my lodge. If I could, I would bum it before I
would let it defile your eyes.”
“Father! Why?”
“It is full of slanders, vile insinuations against the line
of priestesses and all the warriors they have married and
made chieftains. At the same time it praises Loreman’s line.
One who reads this book would think the tribe survived
only because of the wisdom and generosity of Loreman’s
ancestors.”
“But how can that be? Loreman said he condensed it
from ancient writings?”
“If I could get my hands on those writings . . . but
Loreman’s grandfather hid them away from the tribe. ‘For
safekeeping,’ he said, in anticipation, no doubt, of the day
his jackal heirs would gain the daring to threaten us.”
“They’ve given it to me in public, for the whole tribe to
read, so we could not bum it,” Goldmoon reasoned.
Arrowthorn nodded. “Loreman must have hoped that
you would believe it, be shamed by it, and marry one of his
sons to gain some semblance of respectability.”
“That is exceedingly unlikely.” Goldmoon sniffed.
“There was a time you cared very much for Hollow-
sky,” he said quietly.
Goldmoon’s eyes narrowed.
Arrowthorn looked away from his daughter, his eyes
misted with tears she must not see. The chieftain had hoped
Goldmoon could love whatever man she must marry, but
her disgust for Hollow-sky was clear. He spoke softly,
“This matter has weighed heavily on me for many years. I
do not want you to be unhappy, Goldmoon, and I can
understand that your feelings for Hollow-sky have cooled
now that you are older and your judgment more sound. But
if no other powerful warrior of worthy family can be found,
you must consider Hollow-sky your only suitor. Your
marriage to him would keep our tribe together.” He paused
and added, “That is your duty.”
Goldmoon breathed deeply, controlling her turbulent
feelings. It was rare that her father expressed his concern for
her happiness, and she was touched that he did so now. But
that did little to soften her anger. Now any accusations she
made against Hollow-sky for sabotaging his opponents’
poles yesterday would look like a weak counter-attack;
Hollow-sky’s character did not enter into this, only his skill
as a warrior and his family’s position in the tribe. The
injustice galled her.
“Why must my duty to the tribe always come first?”
she asked. “Why can’t I choose with my heart as other
women may?”
“You are not as other women.” Arrowthorn raised his
hands as though they were the trays of a balancing scale.
“Weigh carefully which is more important, your heart or
your duty. Consider – Loreman is powerful, Hollow-sky
may become even more so. Unless you wed a strong leader
whom all the people will follow, you will never be able to
fend off the historian’s or his son’s lust for the office of
chieftain. They will divide and splinter the tribe. Then there
will be no priestess, no Book of the Gods, no faith. We must
prevent this at all costs, even if it means sacrificing our
happiness.” He rose and gently stroked her hair as he had
when she was a child. Then he left without another word.
Goldmoon’s head remained bowed in humility at her
father’s words and the tears she had seen gleaming in his
eyes. Arrowthorn was right. The tribe must be kept together
at any price. She could not leave her people without her
guidance as a priestess. And the Book of the Gods must be
preserved, for in that volume the names of those who were
to become gods at death were written down. The faith that
had bound her people since the time of darkness must