Tulie and Brecie, the Elk Camp headwoman, were sitting beside the fire at the exit gate of the womanhood camp. Giving them a nod and a smile, Vincavec made to walk past nonchalantly, but Brecie got up and stopped him.
Annoyed and tired, he shrugged and rolled his eyes, just wondering what she had in store for him now. True, Elk and Amber Camp (and hence Musk-Ox / Mammoth Camp also, siding with his mother's Amber Camp) had been quarrelling for decades, over the amber-for-salt trade issue, and who was entitled to do direct trade with the riverpeople, and who was not. But the woman was really taking it a step too far if she was going to hassle him on this special night.
It was not Brecie who addressed him, however. Motioned into action by Brecie and looking slightly embarassed herself, Tulie rose also, a waterskin and a leather rag in her hands, and informed Vincavec: „It's nothing personal, but we must insist you wash - there."
She looked at his crotch pointedly. „Everybody knows that virginal blood carries tremendous power," she continued. „That is why all the bloodied bedding from this tent will be burnt. It is also well known that by using parts of a body, like blood or hair for instance, a shaman can gain control over a person. So, Vincavec, we must make sure you do not leave here with any traces of blood of ... the woman you were with." Tulie finished a bit lamely.
So Brecie was apparently using Crozie's horror-stories about evil shamans, that Tulie was exposed to all winter, to build up her personal influence. Clever woman. Vincavec himself did not believe such magic would work. If it did, he reasoned, entire tribes would be under some shaman's control somewhere. His own experiments had not worked either.
Sighing, he reached for the waterskin and started rinsing himself; there was no point in argueing, and he was really tired. He did reject the towel skin though; there was just no telling who (thinking of certain Vulture Camp members) might have used it before and left their pubic lice to go visiting without formal introduction.
Just when he was done and about to leave, Brecie stopped him again. Turning to Tulie she said:
„We need to search his clothes. He might have hidden something, you know, some hair or something blood-soaked."
„Brecie, I really think you're exaggerating it.", Tulie tried to intercede, but when Brecie reminded her that they had agreed previously that all this was logical to do and was really part of caring for the safety of the new women, Vincavec just dumped his clothing at their feet, and Tulie picked trough the heap unenthusiastically, casting him an apologetic glance.
Moments later, with a very shocked expression, she held up a small, blood-stained rag.
Vincavec knew immediately what it must be that Tulie had found: Chaleg's blood container for Dollie. She must have bitten it open, he reasoned, to extract the last bits of blood, thus it looked like a rag now and not like a bladder any more, but someone who knew what this must have been could still make out the nozzle and stopper hanging down from one side, crusted in dried blood and easy to overlook.
Of course the woman would have thrown the piece of evidence away. Why did it have to land on his pile of clothing? That's what you get for doing a good deed, he thought, his mind reeling. Here went his good reputation, if he still had one, along with his bride price claim on Ayla ... unless the Spirit Woman would take an interest in someone who reportedly practised black magic, if only to stop him. He would welcome any opportunity to talk to her at length.
But he needed to act quickly now, before Brecie would come out of the mixture of surprise and gloating visible on her face. Feigning false contridedness, he said to Tulie: „Well then, there's no harm in trying, is there? I just knew you observant women would find it before I got out with that. Right, just burn it, I didn't intend to use it for anything major anyway."
To his immense relief, Tulie tossed the thing into the fire quickly with apparent apprehension, just when Brecie rose triumphantly and announced they would drag him to the councils for attempted rape of someone's spirit.
Brecie had not really expected to find anything incriminating in his clothing, but had wanted to drive home the point that Vincavec was not to be trusted. Now that something actually had turned up, she felt reconfirmed by the Mother and was determined to use this to curb his influence as best she could.
Besides, she was genuinely concerned he had been about to do something very serious with someone else's spirit. She had always known it, she told herself: It was just not normal for someone so young (and a man to boot) to be so powerful already - First Caller.
At the very least, Vincavec must have sent those evil spirits that had befallen his older brother's bowels and had made something within the poor man's body tear or burst, killing him after days of pain and fever - precisely at the right time for the younger brother to assume the positions of mamut and headman of Musk-Ox Camp in one go. For the wellbeing of all Mamutoi, she needed to stop him.
Vincavec stood there, still stark naked, arms crossed, smiling benignly, while Brecie announced her intention to bring this case to the council of sisters and have him banned from the ranks of those who served at the very least. The former blood container in the fire was charred to unrecognizable condition already.
This could have turned out really nasty for him if Tulie had been less superstitious and they had kept the so-called evidence, unless Dollie or Chaleg would have supported his story, which was quite unlikely since it would have harmed their own standing substantially. Casting doubt upon Latie's virginity was not an appealing option either.
When the Elk Camp headwoman was taking a breath, the young shaman interrupted her: „Brecie my dear, I understand your concern as an older watching woman." He stressed the „older", and she scowled. „But before you make a fool of yourself in front of the councils, let me ask you: On whose behalf are you going to plead?"
Now she was puzzled. He clearly had been up to something evil, the councils would see that, wouldn't they?
His smile broadened. „Brecie, I understand that you are going to accuse me of trying to harm some woman."
She nodded; that was putting it mildly.
„That accusation is quite pointless if you can't name the woman I was supposedly trying to harm, wouldn't you say so?" He had a point, and Tulie was nodding. This quite deflated her cause.
„But, since the tent was dark, you can't honestly say with which woman I was, now can you? And besides," he added, nodding towards the piece of tissue burning in the fire, „you just burned your evidence. Good night gals, sweet dreams."
A grin much more confident than he actually was on his face, he picked up his clothing and strutted away into the dark, leaving a dumbfounded Brecie, and Tulie lost in thought. That little rag had not looked like the quality workmanship Mamm ... Musk-Ox Camp put into all their tools, but if it was not Vincavec's, whose was it, to what purpose, and why did Vincavec back them up? She knew the stories about women-to-be feigning virginity like everyone else did, but could it be that Jondalar's refusal to do the rites for Latie was because he had been with her earlier?
She refused to believe it, but if it had been Dollie and Chaleg, or any other couple, why would Vincavec cover for them? Tulie decided to have a quiet talk with Old Mamut before making any decision; this was too spiritual a matter for her own knowledge. Then she waved Brecie over to help her throw Chaleg out of the women's tent so that everybody could get some sleep.
Jondalarsaw Latie coming toward him. He smiled and stopped to watch her. She walked with an independent stride now, smiled confidently at people who nodded greetings.
There is a difference, he thought. It always amazed him to see the change that First Rites brought. Latie was no longer a child, or a giggling, nervous girl. Though she was still young, she moved with the assurance of a woman.
"Hello, Jondalar," she said, smiling.
"Hello, Latie. You're looking happy." A lovely young woman, he thought to himself as he smiled. His eyes conveyed his feeling. She responded with an indrawn breath and widened eyes, and then a look that answered his unconscious invitation.
"I am. I was getting so tired of staying in one place all the time. This is the first chance I've had to walk around by myself...or with anyone I want." She swayed a little closer as she looked up at him. "Where are you going?"
She looked disappointed when he told her he was looking for Ayla, and he was glad he'd not break her heart when he would leave, which would be soon.
At the same time Old Mamut was talking to Ayla: „Your reluctance is giving Vincavec hope. He asked me again today if I thought you were considering his offer. He said, if you didn't want to break your Promise, he was going to talk to Ranec about accepting him as a co-mate. His offer could increase your Bride Price substantially, and give very high status to all of you. How would you feel about it, Ayla? Would you be willing to accept Vincavec as a co-mate with Ranec?"
"Vincavec said something about that on the hunt. I'd have to talk to Ranec and see
how he feels about it," Ayla said.
Mamut thought she showed remarkably little enthusiasm, either way. This was a bad time for a joining, with her grief still so strong.
On the day of the matrimonial, Vincavec was frantic. Ayla had told him days earlier that she might agree to a co-mating if Ranec would not mind, and Ranec had in turn told him he might acquiesce if Ayla or Tulie insisted. Tulie had thankfully not brought the First Rites issue to the public, and had likely stopped Brecie as well, but she had not been as supportive of his pleas as she had been before.
Vincavec, like old Mamut and the rest of the mamuti, was convinced that Ayla was not just Mamut - One Who Served the Mother - she had to be something more. Perhaps she embodied some supernatural presence; she might even be Mut Herself, incarnate. It was all the more believable because she did not flaunt it. But whatever her power, he was sure some important destiny awaited her. There was a reason for her existence, and he fervently wanted to be a part of it. She was the chosen of the Great Earth Mother.
The chosen of the Great Earth Mother had chosen the traveller from the far west, as was probably preordained, and rode with him into the sunset, leaving her people behind her to drop tears to the shroud of ash that still covered everything. Vincavec had never felt so lacking and unworthy, which he tried to mask by making snide remarks to Tulie about accepting amber for a bride.
Deegie was too happy with her mating to Branag this day to be overly sorry, but Latie was really devastated by the couple's departure, and not Jondalar's only as such. Ever since her vision, she had been sure Ayla would teach her horse-taming magic, but that was not to be now. She would have to work out that magic all on her own if her vision was to come true, but that would take years of learning the lore of those who served beforehand, and what if the Mother blessed her in the meantime? And wouldn't the mamuti consider her presumptuous if she asked to be an acolyte just because she would like to be able to handle horses like Ayla did? No, she decided, she would not ask; she rejected the mamuti tent anyway since they had denied her brother Rydag his humanity.