Shifting Plains

by Jean Johnson

  They weren’t the only ones headed toward the center of the sprawling encampment. Tava had learned the various horn calls the Family used to keep itself informed. There were calls to announce the return and the condition of a warband, alarms sounded for when strangers approached or wild beasts were spotted stalking the herds, and variations for summoning the leader of a Family, the two primary Councils, a general assembly consisting of a few people from each kin-family, and a grand assembly of everyone who could walk, save for the outermost herd watchers.

  This was just a general assembly. Instead of more than eight hundred people converging on the center of camp, the numbers that assembled ended up being closer to about one hundred and fifty, though there were enough bodies making their way into the ageome, the largest domed tent in the whole of the camp, that Tava couldn’t be completely sure of the actual number. Many were the older members of the Family, with gray salting at least half the heads that she counted. A good number were also teenagers, those who bordered the ages between being old enough to tend the herds responsibly and old enough to tend some other, more skill-dependent chore.

  Since she didn’t know why the assembly had been called, Tava focused more of her attention on the construction of the ageome. It had an outer ring like the warband geome, but the outer ring required eight stout poles to support its staves, for it also had a second, middle ring requiring four more poles, taller than the outer set. The roof-staves were also painted, some dark brown, others ginger and tan; the effect on the white roof made it look like a stylized stripe-cat hide.

  Across from the front door—which was a double door with both panels pulled wide—a normal, single door sat at the back. Two braziers had been set off to either side, currently smoking lightly from grass-log embers draped with a couple coils of rora vine. The felted carpets covering the ground held scattered cushions and low tables suitable for small group projects, games, and other reasons people might want to gather in a large, sheltered area, particularly on a damp day like this one was. All in all, it was a pleasant place to gather, she thought. It was a pity she had been too busy with her many lessons to have entered the ageome until now.

  Some of the bodies in the tent were clustering around a figure near the center, embracing and exclaiming. It took Kodan a few moments to pick out the name of the person being greeted. When he did, he winced. But it was too late; the influx of bodies had carried him right up to a familiar, dark-haired, hazel-eyed woman. He didn’t even have the excuse of holding a pail in his hands, since the three of them had stopped by the holy geome to deliver the milk. Forced by politeness, Kodan grasped the woman’s forearms—more to forestall her from attempting an unwanted hug than because he wanted to touch her.

  “Rahala,” he acknowledged simply.

  She smiled broadly at him, her fingers flexing on the undersides of his forearms. Caressing him secretly. “Kodan! I understand you are now the Lord of Tiger. Congratulations—my condolences on the loss of your great-father. Chodan was a good leader for the Family. But I knew you’d be his equal, if you ever had the chance. Of course, circumstances have changed once again, but I know I’ll rely heavily on you for your good advice in the days to come.”

  He didn’t know what to make of her strange comment. Pulling his arms free, suppressing the urge to scrub away the ticklish, unwelcome sensations her fingers had left, Kodan glanced around the tent. The only faces he saw were the ones he recognized, the members of Family Tiger who had been sent by their kin and their neighbors to see what was going on here.

  “You came back alone? Where is your escort?” Kodan asked, frowning at her. “Was it you that blew the an-tak? You know that such a thing isn’t done unless there’s a very good reason, Rahala, and returning safely from a trip isn’t reason enough to call an assembly. You have taken several people away from their tasks.”

  “I came alone because I no longer need an escort . . . and yes, I sounded the call for this assembly. I happen to have the best of reasons. People of the Tiger!” Rahala called out, turning away from him slightly so that she could address the others in the broad, tall ageome. “I bring you the best of news. Once more, Family Tiger has a princess!”

  Kodan stared at her in shock. Reflexively, he glanced at Tava, who also looked startled by Rahala’s news. It seemed impossible that she should know Tava was a shapeshifter, and even more improbable that she could sound so happy about it—but she continued.

  “That’s right. While I traveled westward, stretching my experiences and my horizons . . . somehow, I finally figured out how to stretch myself! And I have learned very quickly—look!” Running her hands through her thick, dark locks, sweeping them back over her shoulders, Rahala unbuttoned her green chamsa. Pulling it open, she bared her torso to the gathered waistband of her breikas.

  Kodan flinched, not wanting to see any part of her skin . . . but a different dismay filled him. Her chest was covered in a pelt of dark brown fur the exact same shade as her hair. It wasn’t a trick, either; he could see where the hairs started growing out of her skin up by her collarbone, and the overall contour matched too closely to her curves to have been some sort of cleverly crafted animal hide.

  “. . . I have already mastered five shapes . . . and I just know I’ll be able to master several more. At the rate I have been learning, I know I’ll master them very soon,” Rahala boasted, raising her voice above the exclamations of the others in the ageome. Tugging the folds of her tunic straight, she refastened it at waist and shoulder, hiding her furred chest. “I hope to have enough learned for it to be worth Family Tiger’s while for me to enter the Princess Challenge! Of course, I realize I may not win . . . but I do plan on bringing back to life the last, missing traces of prestige and power our Family deserves. Rejoice, Family Tiger! You have a princess to rule over you once again!”

  Oh . . . Gods . . . Disgusted, Kodan started to turn away. Rahala quickly caught his hand, holding him close.

  “As I said, Kodan . . . I know I can rely on your good, sound advice in how to best rule Family Tiger. We’ll have to go over what needs doing very soon. I don’t want the Family to suffer from the slightest neglect anymore. Together, we can restore its full glory.” She squeezed his hand and smiled warmly at him again.

  Kodan tugged his hand free. Rahala’s revelation was distasteful to him. Technically, he had to advise her; he was the Lord of Tiger, even if he had been so for barely a week. It was his duty to transition the reins of power into her hands, now that she was a princess. That fact alone continued to bewilder him. Rahala was twenty, and he couldn’t remember if he had ever heard of a maiden that old suddenly developing shapeshifter powers. As old as eighteen, but not twenty.

  Thankfully, the others moved forward to congratulate Rahala on her new powers, giving her little chance to recapture his fingers. Someone else touched his hand—his other hand. It was Tava. She tugged him back out of the knot of men and women swarming to chatter with the returned maiden in their midst. Stopping near one of the braziers, she beckoned his head down into range and whispered in his ear.

  “Kodan, I have to know. Did you bring me onto the Plains so that I would become a princess of your people? Did you want me to rule this Family?”

  She would ask those questions. Turning his head, Kodan murmured his answer in her ear, careful to keep his reply equally as private. “Yes, and no. Yes, I wanted you to come onto the Plains, because you’re a shapeshifter. Because you are Shifterai, even if you were raised elsewhere. You are a princess because it is your birthright.

  “But no, I didn’t think specifically of you becoming the Princess of Family Tiger. Nor would you have to rule if you chose otherwise. I wouldn’t expect or demand it of you.” He pulled back just enough to meet her gaze. “I just want you to be you . . . and to have the chance to court you. Once you’re free of your ten days.”

  She blushed a little, but smiled. “Two more days . . .”

  “Kodan?” Rahala asked, moving closer. Her eyes were on Tava, her e
xpression filled with curiosity. “Who is this woman? I don’t recognize her.”

  “This is Tava Ell Var, formerly of the Mornai. She’ll be adopted by the Family in two more days,” Kodan explained. Mindful of the others watching them, he continued the introductions politely. “Tava, this is Rah . . . Arahala Jen Liu of Family Tiger, Clan Cat.”

  “You must feel very lucky, having the honor and privilege of being adopted among the Shifterai,” Rahala said, holding up her arms in a greeting.

  Glancing down, Tava realized the other young woman was offering her forearms palm-down for clasping. That was considered more of a dominant stance than a gracious one when offered first, at least as Soukut had explained it to her. Whoever this woman is, Kodan doesn’t like her, and she makes me think she’s trying just a little too hard to claim her status.

  Since the other woman was patiently waiting, still smiling in a friendly manner, Tava lifted her own hands. She had always been viewed as an outsider back in Five Springs for her unusual origins and her unfeminine ways. There was little this woman could do to make her feel more uncomfortable than that, though Tava guessed it would be prudent to keep an eye on the differences between what this other woman said and what she did.

  “Welcome to Family Tiger . . . or rather, welcome in a few more days. I look forward to presiding over your petition for adoption. Who is your sponsor into the Family?” Rahala inquired, releasing Tava after a brief squeeze.

  “South Paw Warband sponsors her,” Kodan stated, hedging around the fact that it had been more his own idea than anyone else’s in the warband. Somehow, I don’t think it’s wise to let Rahala know just yet that I intend to court Tava, instead of her . . . like she’s still clearly hoping I will.

  “South Paw Warband?” Rahala repeated, raising her brows.

  Kodan nodded. “We came across her while she was being threatened by a Mornai Alder, who was trying to steal her property and turn her into a servant. Naturally, we couldn’t stand by and watch a woman being beaten. We negotiated for the sale of her property, rather than its theft, and brought her and her goods back to the Family.”

  “Tava is already a blessing for Family Tiger, above and beyond the tangible wealth she brings,” a somewhat hoarse voice interjected. It belonged to Priestess Soulet; she smiled wryly at Tava, though her comments were addressed to the newly returned princess. “She’s been asking a lot of questions for us to answer, keeping us talking from dawn to dusk and beyond . . . as you can hear. Tava has also learned far more than is normally expected of anyone for their ten days of instruction—as much in these eight days as I’ve seen most others learn in two full turnings of Brother Moon. And she’s learned it well enough that we’re now hard-pressed to find something new for her to learn.”

  “That’s . . . good to know. That’s very good,” Rahala praised. “It’s wonderful to know that a newcomer is so eager to learn, and hopefully just as eager to contribute. As I said, I look forward to reviewing your petition for adoption.”

  “Your own petition to be declared a Princess of the People must be reviewed first,” Kodan stated firmly, annoyed at her phrasing.

  “What do you mean, my own petition?” Rahala countered.

  Kodan didn’t back down. If she’s going to demand that Tava goes through a formal petition, then so will I. She probably wants to review Tava’s adoption personally in case I’m the driving force behind her presence on the Plains. Apparently I was right to want to hide just how much my hand ensured Tava’s relocation.

  He folded his arms across his chest, continuing before Rahala could fully protest. “I have never heard of any female shapeshifter developing her powers at your age. Male ones, yes, but we all know men finish maturing at a slower rate than women.

  “I will also not accept a display of fur on your chest as proof, when I did not see you shape it into place on your bare flesh. I have heard of certain potions and mage-crafted amulets that can simulate such things. In order to quell all doubts about your abilities, you will be expected to demonstrate those abilities to the Family as a whole . . . in four days’ time,” he stated.

  “Four days?” Arahala protested. “Why wait so long? Why not call a full assembly today? I’m ready and willing to prove I’m a shifter right here and now!”

  “Because we are busy with other matters . . . and because Tailtip Warband has not returned. By delaying only four days, we will hopefully give them time to rejoin us. You do want the doubts of everyone in the Family to be firmly laid to rest, don’t you?” he asked pointedly.

  From the hint of irritation in her hazel eyes, his point had been driven home. She didn’t lose her smile, however. “. . . Of course. But surely we don’t have to wait four whole days? Why not tomorrow?”

  “I’m busy tomorrow. The day after is Tava’s adoption day, which I’m sure you’ll not want to overshadow your own glory,” he stated, struggling to keep the sarcasm out of his tone. “After that, we’ll need at least a full day to prepare a second feast to honor you—presuming you do pass your petition with flying feathers.” He smiled as he said it, making his words sound more like he was implying a jest than a challenge to her claim. “Consider it three extra days to practice trying to master a sixth shape . . . since I’m sure you’ll want to impress everyone.”

  “This is fair and reasonable,” Priestess Soulet stated. “We may not be Family Lion, with plenty of princesses to spare, but it would be nice if we had a multerai princess. Or at least someone close to it.”

  Glancing around at the nodding Family members, Rahala returned her attention to Kodan. She gave him a strange half smile, one that looked part bitter, part smug. “Then I’ll try my best to impress you, Lord Kodan. Perhaps I’ll even manage it, now that I’m a princess.”

  Managing a polite nod, Kodan strode for the back door of the ageome, leaving her to the others. He carefully did not look back at Tava, in order to give the impression that she was not important enough to still be on his mind. He didn’t want Rahala on his mind, either, but her parting comment lingered as he retreated to the privacy of his own geome. He had erected it behind the ageome, in the position that had once been reserved for his own great-father’s home, which meant a short trip through the increasing patter of rain.

  Once the door was shut, all he had to do was stir up the embers in his brazier, add a couple tufted grass-logs to bring up the blaze, and rap one of his two lightglobes to life. Dropping onto his bed, Kodan lay back and stared at the single row of staves forming the spokes of his roof. So long as he was in here, Rahala—I won’t call her Arahala in my thoughts—couldn’t disturb him. A pity he couldn’t hide in here forever, though.

  That last quip of hers, “now that I’m a princess . . .” Is that what she thinks has been holding back any interest in her? I don’t care if a woman is a princess! I just care if she’s smart, and witty, and charming, and not status-hungry . . . all of which Tava is. She knows what a princess is by now. I know Soukut and the others have taught her everything they can think of regarding such things. If she wanted the status and rank of a princess, she would have revealed herself as a shapeshifter by now! But she doesn’t . . .

  Unfortunately, he acknowledged, grimacing, Rahala does. Mother Earth . . . whatever possessed You to give her of all women the power to shift her shape? Gods . . . I hope it’s just a trick. If it is, I can declare her a shame to her people and cast her out of the Family. Another grimace pulled his lips back from his teeth, from the urge to bite something. Unfortunately, she seems so smug about her abilities, so sure of them . . . I don’t think it is a trick.

  If Rahala is a real princess . . . I don’t know what she’ll do to the Family once she starts to lead us. She certainly won’t like the fact that I’m courting—or will be courting—Tava. Which is why I have to get Tava adopted before Rahala can prove anything formally. Before she’s fully adopted, she’s just a guest, and the Princess of Family Tiger can send a mere guest packing, if she so desires. Technically, I could, too. But I do
n’t want to. Rather the opposite.

  Part of it, he decided, lying on his bed and listening to the pattering of the rain on the roof of his geome, is that Rahala seemed to set her sight on me from the very moment she turned into a maiden . . . Alright, maybe a turn or two of Sister Moon after she went into the maiden’s geome. But she’s always tried to catch my interest over the years. She went into the geome when she turned, what, twelve? Thirteen?

  I remember I was twenty, maybe twenty-one when I first noticed her attempts to spend time in my company. I was already a multerai, too . . . which might have compounded her interest, Kodan allowed. But I was too busy worrying over my future, as a fledgling warlord and a potential future Lord of the Family. I didn’t have the time to spare for courting the older maidens, and I certainly wasn’t interested in a fledgling girl. The hearth-priestess and the earth-priestesses caution men to avoid courting the younger maidens, because they’re still so young and don’t know their own minds. There are plenty of tales of older men marrying young maidens, only to find both parties regretting it later on, when she finishes growing up and changes her mind.

  Of course, the irony of it all is that Rahala hasn’t changed her mind regarding me.

  At first, he hadn’t actively discouraged her, though he hadn’t exactly encouraged her interest, either. The Shifterai knew that young love was simply a phase one went through. Even Kodan had suffered it for a little while in his youth, though it had been a much older maiden when he was about fourteen, a maiden who had met a man from another Family when they were wintering in the City that year. She had ended up marrying him and moving to that other Family, and Kodan had gotten over his crush within a short period of time. It helped that he had known at the time that he was too young for her, leaving him philosophical at best about love.