ICE BURIAL: The Oldest Human Murder Mystery (The Mother People Series Book 3) (51 page)

“
Korg
took them away
quickly
,” she
resumed.
“
He was angry but even more he was afraid. He knew what the men would do to
Mordor i
f they found
him.

“
I did not see them again for many years
, not until Rofina was almost grown and Mara a child. And when they did return, Mordor no longer existed.
Korg had t
urned
him
into the Leader
, had turned his
voices
into
the words of the Great Spirit
warning of great dangers if his proclamations were not obeyed
, his hatred of his mother
into the
rules of mating
that limited women to one mate, chosen for them by the Leader.
Even Mordor’s endless lust, his
ever-increasing
desire for young girls,
was
absorbed into the rules that
told
the
Leader
he must
initiate
all
the
young women
before any other man could touch them.

“
In its way,
” Runor said pensively, “
it was brilliant.
She
sighed. “It was a shock, too.
When the Leader greeted me as they came into the village, I saw no recognition in his face. He did
not know me,
had no memory of our time t
ogether. He did not
know who Rofina was either
, only that she was a beautiful young woman
.
Why that was so I still do not know, but I was glad. I wanted no more of Mordor.

“
Korg
knew who I was
, though.
He knew who Rofina was
,
too.
When he l
e
arned that I
was
the wise one for the village
, I saw his eyes grow
cold. He gestured at the pot of food I had nearby, then at Rofina,
then at Gurd, hiding in the trees
. Even without words, I
knew what he
was telling me.
If I did not cease to speak of the Great Mother, the Goddess, he would
tell
Gurd to do to Rofina what I had done to him.
G
urd
would have done it
gladly
. He
too knew who I was, and he hated me more than any other person.

Runor’s eyes closed, and when she spoke again the agony in her voice was hard to hear. “I could not let them do that to Rofina… I could not… She had suffered so much already, and she was so beautiful, so innocent, like a half-grown child. How could I let them destroy her completely? I could not, could not bear the thought…

“And so
Korg
destroyed me,
destroyed all that I had tried to do
after they had left
to make up for
the willful blindness of a foolish young woman.
Except Mara. I was determined to save Mara. I could not let her live
the rest of her life
with bitterness in her soul, as I had lived all those years.
That was wh
en
I knew I must kill
Mordor
,
so
Mara
could not harbor thoughts of revenge.
Already, I had made a pact
with the Goddess. She
had given
me the picture of what I must do, but I knew that in doing it I must forfeit my life. It was a bargain well worth making.

“I also knew that in killing Mordor, I would also kill Korg. Once Rofina was dead, he had no power over me, but once Mordor was dead, he would have
no power over
any of
the Mother People
.
Without Mordor, without the Great Spirit, Korg had
nothing
.
I had not thought of what
th
e Leader’s death
would do to Gurd. I should have thought of
that
, but I did not.
”

Runor laughed bitterly. “It was not hard
to
do what the Goddess had told me to do.
I simply waited for the Leader to return.
I knew he
wanted Rofina back and would come for her.
I was sure too, that Korg
had not told
him Rofina was dead. Korg knew as well as I did that the knowledge would devastate him. Mordor did not know Rofina was
his daughter, but he cared
very much
for her
even as he abused her
, though I still do not understand how that can be.

“
And then he came, as I
knew
he would. I was sure too that the waters would rise
, had felt the disaster looming
as one knows a storm
will come
, and seen it in the Mother’s picture
.
That is why I sent everyone to the circle of stones where they would be safe and stayed alone to wait for the Leader.
I had mead
and food
for him, but
wh
en
he spoke of
Zena
,
said that
she was a witch and must be killed,
I
realized
that the voi
ces had
r
eturned.
So I told
him
that
I
was
the real witch,
the leader of
all
the witches
, that all others would los
e
their power when I was dead.

“
After that, he behaved exactly as I
knew
he
would. It was not as hard as I had thought to fool the Leader.”

Runor
looked
surprised and gratified
, and
Zena
was glad to hear her sounding
more like herself again.

“Well,
you know the rest
,” Runor went on. “The Leader
tried to throttle me and t
he poisoned dart in my hand did not penetrate his skin
as I had intended
. Instead, the
rotten mead made him ill and then the
water took him
. That seemed to me just and right. I feel no remorse, except for th
e damage I have done to
the people I love.
For that, I beg forgiveness, from
Zena
most of all.

“And that is the truth
the Goddess
insisted
that
I
tell you
,
”
she finished
, trying to
inject humility into her voice but
sounding
slightly irritable
instead.

Zena almost laughed.
That too was
very like the Runor she knew
.
Runor did not
like bei
ng
asked
to do what she did not want to do
, even by the Goddess
.

“I forgive you absolutely,” she said immediately. “I do not think any of
what happened
was your fault.
Korg and the Leader and even Gurd would have been what they were, done what they did, even if you had not thrown the boiling food that day. Already, they were tormented men who could never be normal again, never know what kindness really meant.”

“
Zena
is right,” Larak said forcefully. “You did not cause any of this to happen, Runor. No, these tragedies were perpetrated because terrible cruelties had been meted out to three defenseless boys that changed them forever.”

Pila spoke next, s
urprising them. “I
suppose it is never right to throw boiling liquid at someone, but I
might
have
done it too
, if it was nearby and I had not been so weak.
And w
as it so wrong
for you to be
so angry? A woman should be angry if she is treated that way.”

“You are right,” Sorlin said with spirit. “No woman should be treated like that!”

“That is certainly so,” Mara agreed.
“Although I am not sure I would have dared to throw a pot of food at the Great Spirit, as I thought he was then. It would not have gone through that horrible bear mask anyway.

“I think you were very brave to do what you did,
”
she told her mother, and
Zena
saw
gratitude
in Runor’s eyes.

Niva
spoke next.
“What you did just now took even more courage,” she said
. “I know this becau
se I have had to do it too.”
The two women smiled at each other as if sharing a joke.
Then Runor turned back to her listeners.

“Thank you for your kind words
.
I am grateful for them. I will think about what you have said, and it will give me comfort.”

“It will,” Pila said. “But now you must rest. The story you have told us was hard for us to hear and even more devastating to tell, and you are worn out.” So saying, she
helped
Runor to rise
so Mara could lead
her mother to her hut.

Pila
had acted and sounded exactly like Teran, always
ready
to defuse tension with practicality
, Zena thought to herself
. In fact,
she
was
Teran, except
that she was still known as Pila.
Perhaps it was time for a change.

Zena wondered if she should say that to Pila or if it was too forceful. She decided to take a chance.
“You sounded exactly like Teran
when you spoke to Runor, and you
did just what
Teran
would have done,” she remarked.
“I am afraid that I will call you Teran, you are so like her.”

Pila smiled, the big, encompassing smile Zena remembered so well.
“Then
you must call me
Teran
,
”
she decreed
. “I am sure I am, and perhaps if everyone called me
by the name I once had
, it would help me to remember. That would be fine indeed.”

Zena
returned the smile
; then s
he did
what she had longed to do since she had first seen Teran. Taking her sister into her arms, she hugged her
, a long, joyous hug of gratitude, love and relief. Teran was back.

*********************

Later that day, Durak
took
Zena
’s hand and led her into a grove of trees where tiny white flowers flourished in the dappled light.
“I came here many times after Rofina died,” he explained. “This was the only place I found peace.”

Drawing her down on the ground beside him, he placed a finger across his lips, indicating that she should not speak. For a long time they sat in complete silence. Durak’s mouth was curved up in a smile, and for no reason she could understand,
Zena
found her lips did the
same.
He was right.
Something in this place seemed to give comfort,
and pleasure. It was like the feeling she had often had with Lief when they sat together, not needing to speak because they knew each other so well
. Here, she could do that again.
And suddenly she understood what Durak was trying to tell her: Lief
was
here; he was here for her, just as
Durak had found
Rofina
here.
Lief would never leave her completely; how could she have believed such a thing for so long? His spirit remained with her, and that would sus
tain her as she
learn
ed
how to live again.
And now, blessedly, Teran was there to help.

“Oh, Lief, I am sorry,” she said, though she did not speak aloud. “I am so sorry. I did not understand.” The words seemed to float away from her, and
Zena
found herself waiting, listening, for a response. Slowly, it came. A radiant joy filtered into her, and she was certain that Lief
understood and
felt the joy
too
because finally she had let him return to her, had ceased to allow her grief and guilt to keep him away.