ICE BURIAL: The Oldest Human Murder Mystery (The Mother People Series Book 3) (34 page)

“
That is difficult,
”
Runor murmured, watching his face carefully. He was volatile, very volatile. Something had happened to him. He was not the Leader any more and he was certainly not the Mordor from before, but the person he must have become after that. She could understand better now.

“
I must find the woman
Zena
, as well,
”
Mordor said abruptly.

“
Why do you wish to find
Zena
?
”

Rage transformed Mordor
’s
features.
“S
he is a witch; I have learned that she is a witch, that is why,
”
he said forcefully.
“
A witch must not be permitted to live.
”

Runor did not allow her expression to change, and her voice was neutral when she spoke.
“
You have known other witches?
”

“
Many,
”
he replied.
“S
o many I am weary with them.
”

He
realized abruptly that it was true. He was weary of being the only person who could deal with them, the only one who knew that they must be killed.

“
Tell me of them,
”
Runor suggested.

“
You do not know?
”
Mordor sounded surprised.
“
I had thought all people knew.
”
He rubbed his belly, aware that there was pain inside it. He should have more food. He picked up a
nother
handful of nuts but put them down again without eating. His other hand brought the mead to his lips and he drank.

Runor did not answer, just waited expectantly, and after a moment Mordor spoke again.
“
There are witches everywhere,
”
he told her seriously,
“
but only I know which are the real ones. Even Korg does not know. He does not like me to speak of witches, only of the Great Spirit.
”

“
But you know the real ones,
”
Runor prompted. She must keep him speaking.

Mordor smiled, the kindly smile they had seen so many times
.
Runor tried not to flinch.
“
The voices tell me,
”
he confid
ed
.
“
Even before the Great Sp
irit the voices came, and
I obeyed them
. The people did not like that
and we had to leave. She was dead, the big one, the one we called mother, but she was not mother, she was a witch. I knew this but the others did not, so they were angry.
”

His face changed, became scathing and full of hatred.
“S
he deserved to die! It was her fault. Over and over she had the men, all of them, every man she could find, young and old; she did not care. No one but a witch could do such things. That is how I knew. The others should have known too but they would not see!
”
His voice rose to a pitch of fury, and his face was so suffused with anger that Runor almost cried out in alarm.

The Leader passed a trembling hand across his damp forehead.
“
But she is gone now,
”
he said in a calmer tone.
“
Yes, she is gone. After that, I went to the villages to look for other witches,
”
he told Runor proudly, looking at her for approval.
“
I found them when they were still young, and then
I made sure
they were gone before they could do harm, before they could infect us all.
”
He smiled again, and nodded to himself in satisfaction.

So what she had suspected was true. He had killed them all.
Pity assailed Runor, for the young women who must have felt such terror, but also, unexpectedly, for Mordor. He too was a victim, even as he was a killer. How strange this man was, and how terrible! No wonder Korg watched him constantly.

Mordor looked at her expectantly, waiting for her praise. Runor
concealed a
shudder.
“
The witches
are dead
now
,
”
she replied
,
keeping sadness from her face.

Mordor nodded craftily.
“
I went at night so
no one
would see me,
”
he explained.
“
Korg did not know. He thinks he knows all things but it is not so.
”
Korg had found out about some of them, he remembered - but not all. Sometimes he had
found
witches
without Korg knowing. That had been exciting, to sneak into the villages by himself and wait for the young women to come out of their huts to go to the bushes or
to get
firewood. He always knew which ones were witches
. E
ven without the voices it was easy to tell because they were always full-bodied and eager, with lust in their hearts. When he whispered to them of pleasure they did not draw back in fear but laughed and came closer. He did not like it when they struggled, though. They had no right to struggle when they were supposed to die.

He sighed. It had been a long time since he had
looked
for a witch. Korg
did
not let him go anywhere by himself now, and
Gurd
was always watching.

Korg always told him what to do, he thought petulantly, as if he knew what was best always. But he did not. Still, to be without his brother felt strange. How had he come to be without Korg?

“
Where is Korg?
”
he asked, suddenly agitated.
“
Korg should be here to help me.
”

“
Korg will come soon,
”
Runor soothed him.
“
He will be here very soon.
”

“
I will look for him,
”
Mordor said, alarmed now that Korg was not here. He should not be without Korg. He tried to stand but the dizziness overcame him again and he sat back. He took
more
nuts but even the feeling of them in his hand made him nauseous, and they fell from his fingers
again
.

There was something he must do. Rofina
;
that was it. He must find Rofina, and the woman called
Zena
.

A dreadful suspicion came into him. They were hiding Rofina; that was it. They did not want him to see her.
“S
omeone must bring Rofina to me,
”
he thundered, pounding the ground with his fist.
“
I must see Rofina!
”

The force of his demand made Runor jump, but
she kept her
voice
soothing
.
“
I will ask someone to bring her,
”
she said,
and hoped the des
peration in her heart
did not show in her
eyes.
She had to keep him here, just for a little longer…

His face rebellious, Mordor tried again to stand.
Runor put out her hand to stop him.
“
In just a moment someone will come,
”
she said emphatically,
“
and then I will ask.
”
To her relief, Mordor fell back into a sitting position.

Runor
listened to the sounds outside her hut. There was a rushing noise in the air now
, almost a roaring. The wind must have risen, or
perhaps it was something more
. She hoped it was.
S
he
could not
wait much longer.

“
Yes, have someone bring her,
”
Mordor agreed, looking at her with unfocussed eyes.
“
That is good. Then we will go together to the villages, tell them the truth....
”

“
The truth?
”
Runor was startled again. Did he know after all?

Mordor leaped to his feet, stood there swaying.
“
The truth that the woman
Zena
is a witch! They must know the truth!
”

He was deathly pale. Runor stared. Why was he suddenly so pale? There must be something wrong with him, something besides the m
adness, and the m
ead.
“
You are not well,
”
she said, concerned.
“
Perhaps you should sit again
and
rest
for a time.
”

Mordor heard her words, but he could not seem to see her properly. Maybe she was right and he should stay here until
t
his weakness passed. Nausea invaded his belly as he lowered himself to the ground, then receded as he stopped moving.

“
You have been Leader for many years.
”
Runor forced admiration into her voice, hoping to steady him with praise.

Mordor seemed suddenly to recover.
“
That is true. I am still the Leader, the only one who can speak for the Great Spirit,
”
he told her
.
His voice rang with authority, and for the first time since he had come Runor felt the familiar magnetism of his presence. It had always been there, that magnetism. She remembered it well.

“
You have been to many villages to speak of the Great Spirit,
”
she went on, in the same admiring tone.

“
Indeed I have,
”
he answered proudly.

In an instant, his expression changed to fury.
“
But now the woman
Zena
goes there before me and the people will not listen! The girls will not come and the people do not obey and it is all the fault of the witch...
”
His voice trailed off as the nausea returned.

He frowned, bewildered. Why did he feel so ill? He sat brooding
on all that had happened
.
Before, everyone had listened to him, obeyed him, and now they did not, and he had felt all right, but now he felt ill, but the witch
Zena
was not here....

Runor watched him in growing alarm. H
is skin was waxen,
and there was sweat all over his face. Truly, he was not well. This, she had not expected.
Madness she had planned for, but not
illness
.
She was afraid suddenly, terribly afraid. He was too volatile, too unpredictable; she did not know what was wrong with him, what might come next...

The fear left her as quickly as it had come. It did not matter. The end was the same.

Mordor seemed to feel her gaze on his face. He looked up at her suddenly, and his eyes widened as understanding came. Runor! It was Runor who was doing this to him, making everything go wrong, making him feel dizzy and sick.
Zena
was not here, but Runor was. She was
draining
his strength
,
keeping Rofina from him, keeping him here with her words, her mead...

Another thought came, and he stiffened. Maybe she was even giving him some kind of poison in the mead. Was that why he felt so ill?

He threw the bowl onto the ground and lurched toward her, still staring into her face, and Runor saw that all the madness in his eyes was directed now at her.

“
You!
”
he said.
“
You are the one. You have poisoned me!
”

Runor frowned. What did he mean? But that did
not matter either. The rushing n
oise
outside
was very loud now, the wind more fierce.
And then she heard the other sound.
Water; was it water lapping
at
the edges of her hut
.
She listened  carefully and knew it was true. The waters were coming. Soon it would all be over.

She waited, motionless, as Mordor came closer and closer, like a man drawn by a rope. His eyes were intent, murderous. There was no more time.