The Winter Boy

by Sally Wiener Grotta

  “I don’t fully understand it myself.”

  “Tell me what you know of her.”

  “She has a powerful intelligence, a quick wit, and is devoted to our Peace.” Tayar paused. “But that sounds like any Allesha, doesn’t it? How can I explain why she’s different? It’s not so much what she is, but how she makes you feel. She uses her abilities to cut through people, to expose their deepest fears or uncertainties, probing until you begin to doubt everything.”

  “Yes, very Alleshine.”

  “But with one major difference. She uses her skills as a weapon rather than a tool. Still, that may be my own fears speaking. Perhaps she’s merely an Allesha who won’t be turned from what she believes in, even when it means disrupting the Peace of our Valley. Isn’t that something to be admired?”

  “You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself. Why can’t you describe what you think of her without trying to see it from all sides at once? Tell me honestly, do you hate her?”

  Tayar considered the question, gauging the true weight and shape of her emotions. “No,” she decided. “I don’t hate her.”

  “A woman capable of murder?”

  “That’s yet to be proven.”

  “But that was your first thought when you heard that Caith was dead. Not that some old woman had an accident, but that she’d been killed for the guns.”

  “That’s my failing,” Tayar said ruefully.

  “Or your insight. If you don’t hate her, what do you feel?”

  “Discomfort with her ideas, her vehemence, because it is so compelling. It would be easy to agree with her. Yet, I abhor what she espouses.”

  “Which is…?” Dov pressed.

  “That all Mwertik should be killed indiscriminately. Even children.” Tayar shivered, remembering how Kiv had implied that Tayar was bound to agree.

  “But what would you have thought of her ideas before you met me, before you discovered my birth?”

  Tayar might have been staring at Dov, but she realized she’d been seeing Kiv, sitting opposite her at this table. However, Dov was here now, watching her so earnestly, using skills she had taught him, helping her probe her own thoughts and feelings. Dov, the Mwertik, who would soon be her first Alleman. Did that change who she was, what she felt and believed? She took a slow breath, seeking the truth within herself. “Your parentage,” she decided, “hasn’t changed my views, only strengthened my resolve. Somehow, we must find a way to make the Peace work for them, as well as for us.”

  “That’s why I’m here. To get them to listen.”

  “Yes.”

  “While that other Allesha is busy trying to kill them. And despite the fact that I’ll be just another Alleman, meat for their knives.”

  Tayar struggled for an answer that might save her Winter Boy. “Not if we can devise a way for them to find the truth about you, without it appearing to come from us.”

  “More deceptions.”

  “No, the unveiling of the truth, finally.”

  “And manipulations.”

  “For the sake of your life… for our Peace. Or would you have us relinquish the future to those stolen guns?”

  “Tayar, do you still believe in everything you’ve taught me?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Then what has you so off balance?”

  “Caith.”

  “Yes, and the guns.” Dov flicked his hand dismissively. “But there’s something else. You used to be so sure. Recently, you’ve been acting like you’re walking on hollow ground that might collapse if you put too much weight on it. Then, in the storehouse, I saw you with those other Alleshi.”

  “What do you think you saw?”

  “It wasn’t that you weren’t respectful, not in your words or actions. But you didn’t treat them like Alleshi.”

  “That’s because I’m one of them.”

  “No. I think it’s because you don’t quite feel that you are — or, maybe, that you don’t want to be. But you can’t turn away from them. Can you tell me why?”

  “Dov, you are truly becoming an Alleman.”

  “You’re avoiding my question.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “And you’re not ready to answer.”

  “Not yet, dear. Mostly because I’m not sure of the answers.”

  “Can I help?”

  “Yes, you do help.”

  “I mean, with finding your answers.”

  “So do I. We’re both discovering a lot about ourselves. By the end of our Season, I wonder which of us will be the most changed.” Tayar picked up her spoon and began to eat the soup. “You know, Dov, you’re right. I am hungry.”

  “Well, that’s one thing that will never change about my Allesha,” Dov said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

  Chapter 72

  After finishing her morning chores, Tayar/Rishana kissed her Winter Boy and left to join all the other Alleshi slogging through the mud toward the Communal Hall. Few greeted one another, and then only in hushed tones of grief and shock. Word of Caith’s death had reached every sister in The Valley, and it appeared all were determined to attend the Council meeting, even those in Season. So many Alleshi converged on the hall entrance that a throng milled around on the outer platform, awaiting entry. Though the sun had finally broken through the low grey clouds, warming The Valley with hints of the coming spring, Rishana gathered her cloak around her, warding off a chill that had nothing to do with the air.

  Rishana saw Savah/Peren walk slowly among their sisters, stopping to whisper to a select few. Peren’s complexion was blanched, with dark circles under her eyes. Her step faltered, as though she were having difficulty supporting her own body. She must have been searching the library all night. When she approached Veryl, Rishana positioned herself to overhear Peren’s muffled question, “Have you seen Elnor?” Rishana couldn’t make out Veryl’s answer, but Peren moved on, shaking her head.

  Why was Peren looking for Elnor? Hadn’t they spent the night in the library together, searching for answers? Rishana couldn’t remember a time in recent years when Elnor hadn’t devoted her off Seasons to assisting Peren. But Elnor was more than Peren’s research assistant, she was Peren’s second self, her shadow, and would undoubtedly succeed her as lead researcher when the time came.

  Slowly, Rishana drifted forward as Alleshi filed into the building. It was so crowded in the large vestibule that it was almost impossible to remove her coat, let alone hang it up on one of the wall hooks. Jostled from all sides, Rishana accidentally stepped on Heinda’s foot. She had no sooner apologized than someone jabbed her in the ribs, followed by a muffled, “Sorry” behind her. Taller than most, Rishana scanned the hall. Meika beckoned to her from the doorway of one of the smaller meeting rooms, but the press of bodies made it impossible for Rishana to move in any direction other than forward. Next to the double doors to the Assembly Room, Michale stood at a podium with a roll call sheet. Rishana found her name and signed next to it, handing the pen to the woman behind her without looking back to see who it was.

  The Alleshi funneled into the Assembly Room, breaking off with sighs of relief and dispersing into small circles of friends who comforted and questioned one another in subdued tones. But when Rishana was disgorged from the doorway, she didn’t know where to go. She’d usually sit with Peren, Dara, Meika, or sometimes, Caith. Now where, and with whom, did she belong?

  As was usual for a Council meeting, chairs and tables were scattered in clusters, angled to face the large fireplace at the front of the room. Rishana proceeded up the tiered floor that afforded an unobstructed view of the front from any seat. She chose an armchair about a third of the way up.

  Rishana watched the roomful of women for hints, studying postures, gestures and expressions. How did these interlinking circles of friends relate to various factions? Who were the leaders? Who the followers? Were any Alleshi unaligned and free to think for themselves? Whom could she trust to not want to harm her Winter Boy? And what of the limp
ing woman whose tracks returned to The Valley?

  Rishana blurred her vision, as she had been taught, to seek patterns of movement, refocusing only to investigate any disruption which might reveal an uneven gait. A figure toward the rear of the room — Heinda — walked unevenly; Rishana didn’t believe their minor collision in the vestibule warranted such an exaggerated limp. Had Heinda been favoring her left foot before Rishana accidently stepped on it? Near the doorway, the flow of Alleshi entering the room deflected around one — Devra — whose left hand rested on her lower back as she hobbled slowly. A back injury or simply age finally catching up with her? No doubt the winter chill had settled into old bones throughout The Valley; several others moved as though the warmth of spring would come none too soon.

  Group by group, the Alleshi settled into chairs; murmured conversations subsided. A cough here and there, the sibilance of a few whispers, the scraping of furniture and the clinking of pitchers and glasses. The room was not quiet, but a tense expectancy descended.

  Hester stood up from her seat near the fireplace and turned to speak, stilling even the softest whispers. “As all of you now know, Caith is dead. Michale found her yesterday, at the foot of one of the storehouse ladders.”

  “Was it murder?” Yalaene demanded.

  Several voices called out.

  “Murder?”

  “What is she talking about?”

  “Never!”

  Hester raised her voice to be heard over the commotion. “Please allow me to give my report.” She waited for the company to resettle, then continued. “She had considerable bruising, consistent with a fall, though no bones were broken, which meant it probably couldn’t have been from too high. However, the body appeared too well composed to have fallen in place. After removing her to the clinic for further examination, I found contusions almost encircling her upper arms, as though she had been gripped roughly there. In addition, other troubling information has been unearthed. Two hundred of our most advanced guns are missing from the armory, and we have reason to believe they were taken at the same time as Caith’s death. We found fresh tracks leading from the storehouse toward the southeast pass, which appear to coincide with the theft and death.” Hester paused, glancing around the room. “They seem to indicate that two women left this Valley with the thieves.”

  “Two of us?”

  “Who?”

  “Must be outsiders.”

  Hester nodded to Michale who stood with the roll call sheets in her hands. Seeing and understanding, the company suddenly hushed. Hester returned to her seat.

  “Has everyone signed?” Michale asked.

  Oriane, Lin and Stepha came forward and, leaning on one of the nearby side tables, signed their names.

  As they returned to their seats, Michale asked, “Anyone else?” She looked around the room, her eyes resting on each Allesha in turn. When she came to Rishana, it felt like a gentle probe requiring a response, even if no more than a nod. No one else stepped forward.

  Michale slowly studied the sheet and announced, “Five signatures are missing. Ruth.”

  “She’s in Season.” Someone said from the back.

  “Yes, but has anyone seen her since yesterday afternoon?” Michale asked.

  “I did. She was out walking with her boy this morning,” Oriane said.

  Michale glanced down at the sheet. “Natar.”

  “I went to see her yesterday evening to tell her about the Council,” Heinda said. “But her boy is struggling against a key transition. She told me she wouldn’t be coming.”

  Michale pulled the next name from the roll call. “Lavar.”

  “She has a terrible cold,” Hester said. “I told her to stay home, as much for our sakes as hers.”

  Michale didn’t refer to the sheet before saying, “Kiv.”

  “Gone,” Devra allowed a touch of sadness to flavor the word.

  “Gone?” Michale asked.

  “Yes, with the guns.”

  The entire company turned in their seats to stare at Devra.

  “I tried to stop them, but they were determined.” Devra sighed against the weight of all those eyes. “Kiv… and Elnor… that would be the fifth name on your list.”

  Peren spun around in her seat to look at Devra, who nodded back. Peren fell back into her chair’s cushions, her head bowed, her shoulders curved inward.

  “Devra, please tell us what you know,” Michale said as she sat down.

  Devra stood with difficulty, pushing herself up with her right hand on the arm of the chair, while her left supported her back. Though her torso was bent more than usual, she raised her head high, so all could hear her. “I was on my way to the storehouse when I heard a horse neigh, and saw silhouettes of animals and people headed uphill.”

  The room crackled with anger, irritation, confusion and questions.

  “Who?”

  “What time?”

  “Where?”

  Rishana blurred her vision once again and tuned her hearing, seeking the rhythms and undertones that might reveal the truth behind the words being thrown about, the patterns of affiliation and dissent within the room.

  “Ten Allemen, Kiv and Elnor, with nine horses,” Devra responded.

  “Allemen?” several exclaimed in an ascending scale from gasps to shocked cries.

  “Which Allemen?”

  “What did they say?”

  Rishana felt, rather than saw, a disruption of movement as Hester stood. “Please, Sisters, let Devra tell what she knows. Then we can try to fill in the gaps with our questions.” Hester returned to her seat, restoring the physical equilibrium of the room without relieving the tension.

  “With this back of mine, I never would have caught up to them if they hadn’t stopped in the glade just above the storehouse.” Devra rubbed her lower back with her left hand. “That’s when I saw the guns, when they were rearranging the bundles on the horses.” Her voice caught in her throat. “I tried to talk them into returning with me. But they refused, saying the guns were needed immediately to defend border villages, and they couldn’t wait any longer through endless Council debates.”

  “What did they say about Caith?” a neutral voice that might have been Lin’s inquired.

  “They didn’t.”

  “You didn’t ask?” came from the left, almost directly opposite Rishana’s own position.

  “I didn’t know.” Devra shook her head heavily. “How could I?”

  Rishana pictured the scene as yesterday’s muddy tracks had painted it in her mind. None of the new footprints, certainly not Devra’s lopsided ones, had led from The Valley directly to the clearing. Why would Devra set out for the storehouse in the middle of the night, when walking was obviously so painful to her, unless it was to rendezvous with Kiv? Devra was lying. But Rishana wasn’t about to confront her. Not until she understood how the answers would change the shape of the room and affect Dov’s safety. And not until she could figure out who else was involved.

  “So, what did they say?” Meika asked Devra.

  “Kiv did most of the talking.”

  “She would,” rasped someone a few rows behind Rishana, but Devra didn’t appear to hear it.

  “I asked Kiv what they intended to do with the guns. ‘Stop the slaughter,’ she said. ‘Protect our people.’”

  “Stop slaughter with slaughter? That makes no sense,” complained someone toward the front.

  “Does sitting here waiting for the Mwertik to strike again make any more sense?” came from behind.

  “We’re not sitting and waiting, any more than we have with others. We study, plan, find their weaknesses.” Another near the front.

  “We can’t even find the Mwertik.”

  The shape of the room was forming in Rishana’s mind. Of those Alleshi who spoke out, only a few appeared to have taken sides. Or were they avoiding exposing themselves until they were ready? Through it all, Dara and Peren remained uncharacteristically silent. Sitting beside them, Ayne watched everything,
gauging and weighing, perhaps in the same way Rishana was.

  “Kiv thinks she knows where the Mwertik are,” Devra said.

  “Is that why she wanted the guns?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did you do?”

  “What could I do?”

  “You could have told us right away when we might have had some chance of stopping them.”

  “How? By the time I returned home, they were long gone. Ever since my fall, I can’t move as quickly. I was exhausted by the effort of just getting home.” Devra paused, “And I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.”

  Jolted out of her concentration, Rishana found herself calling her own question, “What do you mean, what you wanted to do?”

  At the same time, Meika asked, “Are you saying you agree with what Kiv has done?”

  Devra adjusted her stance, unable to find a comfortable posture. “It’s complicated. I feared what would happen if we went after them… a band of Allemen and Alleshi… twelve of our own. I didn’t know what you… we… would do, if we did catch up with them. If I couldn’t stop them with my words, what would it take?” She paused. “And perhaps it was all to the better.”

  “The better?” Meika bristled.

  “Maybe, with the decision out of our hands, we can finally move forward. Stop the Mwertik.” Devra searched the room, studying the effects of her remark.

  Numerous Alleshi raised their voices in a cacophony of agreement or protest.

  “She’s right.”

  “How can you even consider such a thing?”

  “Why not? Maybe it’s time we became more realistic.”

  “All it will do is cause more trouble, more deaths.”

  “Mwertik deaths for once.”

  “Finally.” The latter was definitely Beatrice. But was she responding to the previous speaker, or referring to Ayne slowly unfolding her tall, lean frame from her chair?

  With Caith dead, Ayne was now the oldest in The Valley, but her age was a thing of effortless grace rather than fragility. Ayne didn’t say a word until all saw her and, one by one, quieted. Even then, she rested within the silence of the room, guiding others by example as she breathed slowly and deeply, calming the Council to order. She spoke first to Devra. “Thank you for your report.”