第30节

minds and he could see no way to

reverse the situation.

Drawing back, Prime-Cut pointed a finger at his victim and addressed

the ring of wordsmiths in a voice loud enough to carry to the expectant

crowd beyond.

'You have heard our brother speak! His name is renowned, his memory

legend! Yet even he is bound, as we are, by the wordsmith's oath to

forswear all falsehoods, to faithfully chronicle the deeds of the

Plain-folk and reveal, in their full majesty, the revelations of the

Sky Voices!

'To relay the truth, adorned and embellished by his art but sure and

solid as a rock, clear and pure as a mountain stream' - his voice

hardened - 'not buried beneath shifting sand, or muddied by deceit!

You were witness to his claim that the Sky Voices had told him that

Cadillac, Clearwater and Cloud-Warrior were born in the shadow of

Talisman. Is that not so?!" 'Aye! I' chorused the wordsmiths.

'Were those your words?" demanded Prime-Cut.

Mr Snow sensed the trap but could see no way out.

'They were."

Prime-Cut could hardly contain himself. 'You hear?!" he thundered.

'He stands condemned out of his own mouth! The young brave known to

the Kojak as Cloud-Warrior, and who our revered brother' - he indicated

Mr Snow with an elaborate gesture - 'claims as one of the three M'Calls

chosen to lead the Plainfolk towards nationhood is not a Mute at all!'

The charge provoked roars of anger and cries of disbelief.

'"Cloud-Warrior" is a name as false as the colour of his skin! He is a

sand-burrower from the dark cities - known to his masters as Brickman!'

More shouting. Prime-Cut demanded silence and faced Mr Snow. 'How do

you answer?!" Mr Snow eyed his accuser calmly. 'Is that it?"

'No, there is more!" 'Then I'll wait till you've finished."

Prime-Cut appealed to his audience. 'Evasions! You see how his

serpent tongue wriggles to avoid the truth?!

Well I shall reveal it! All of you seated here who played host to The

Chosen have been cruelly deceived! Cadillac, Clearwater and

Cloud-Warrior are agents of the Federation!

And they are not alone! Mr Snow - who would have us believe he is our

brother - and the entire clan have sold their souls to the

sand-burrowers!" Once again the meeting erupted with cries of protest

and condemnation. Charges and counter-charges were hurled back and

forth by the opposing camps and the D'Troit and C'Natti wordsmiths set

up a strident chant: 'OUT-OUT-OUT-OUT!" The confusion and bitterness

spread amongst the spectators outside the bullring, leading to angry

exchanges and physical violence. Fortunately there were enough

line-capos on hand to restrain the D'Troit hot-heads who were clearly

out to cause trouble. Mr Snow had foreseen this and following his

midnight meeting with the leaders of the She-Kargo and M'Waukee

delegations, their clanfolk had been given strict instructions not to

succumb to any provocation from the rival camps.

In the midst of this commotion, Mr Snow stood firm. Seemingly

oblivious of the jostling mass of bodies crowded around him, he

radiated a deceptive calm like the eye of a hurricane.

Prime-Cut's accusations were highly damaging but Mr Snow could not

allow himself to be drawn into answering specific accusations. By

remaining silent and allowing the torrent of charges to wash over him,

he hoped to tempt Prime-Cut into revealing all his cards and - with

luck the R'Nato wordsmith might even end up as the accused instead of

the accuser.

But it was hard to resist the cries of 'Answer! Answer!" from his own

camp, and it was clear from the anguished expressions on all sides that

many of his friends were in despair at his failure to defend himself.

Prime-Cut ran through a devastating list of questions to which Mr Snow

had no answer. Had the sand-burrower not descended from the skies?