‹ Prequel: A Good Run
Status: 2 of 7 volumes. Active.
The White Doe
Twenty-One
As Ceremonial Fox had known he would, Seal of the Ocean delightedly accepted the unusual courtship initiated by White Doe and within a day they were formally betrothed.
Ceremonial Fox did not participate in the celebration; there was much he needed to plan.
.
The next day, after making the necassary preparations, he took White Doe aside and asked her to come to his house after nightfall.
Obedient, she did so, sitting in front of him and looking at him expectantly.
"White Doe, we need you to go to Roanoke."
White Doe looked at Ceremonial Fox askance. "We're not permitted to go there. You yourself have forbidden it, because of the spirits who--"
"There are no spirits." Said Ceremonial Fox. He leaned forward intently. His dark eyes were deep pools in his face. "That was a lie we had contrived to tell you, White Doe. For your own good."
"Why would you need to tell me a lie about Roanoke?"
"Because you came from there." The conjurer said intently. "You were not found in the wild, a gift from the mantoac. You are the daughter of men like us. Pale men, with hair the color of sunlight." He reached, as if to touch her long yellow hair, then curled his fingers into a fist and braught it back to his lap. "They came from across the sea. When you were but a few months old, the Walkers came for them. They slew your family, White Doe. Killed, feasted upon and perhaps even Turned them. The only reason you survived was because your mother made the holy mark on your forehead. When Takes From Eagle and I came the next morning, we found only you alive. We took all the canoes, filled their ship with bodies and set it afire and stranded the Walkers on Roanoke. I commanded the water spirits to prevent them even trying to leave. There they have remained, feasting upon the wild beasts and hungering for human blood."
White Doe stared. She didn't want to believe him. She couldn't believe him. It would mean that everthing Takes From Eagle, her beloved father, had told her was a lie. She began to breathe shallowly, her fertile imagination racing with images of people who looked more like her than Ceremonial Fox or Takes From Eagle or Seal of the Ocean, people with pale skin and sea blue eyes and corn yellow hair.
Her parents. Her true parents, slain by the Walkers. Left to rot on the beaches of the Forbidden Island--
--or else Walking the beaches themselves--
Gorge rose in her throat and she choked it down. Tears burned in her eyes, her eyes that were not brown like of the Croatoan, but sea blue. "Why do you tell me this?" She whispered and she could feel her heart breaking inside her chest.
"Because you are the Slayer," Ceremonial Fox replied, whispering the word fiercely. "It is time you freed us from the fear that somehow, someday, the Walkers of the Forbidden Island will be able to cross to our home. For now, the water spirits accept my commands. But someday I will be gone and I do not know that the water spirits will obey my successor. And someday, the people across the sea might return to Roanoke, bringing canoes with which the Walkers could cross. These Walkers will be worse, far worse, than the others."
"Because... Because they are the Walkers from across the sea. Because the are... They were... Like me?" She lifted her tear-stained face to his, silently pleading for denial.
"Yes. And because for many years, they have hungered and been denied. You are the Slayer and they were your people. It is only right that you destroy them." The conjurer paused, then added, "Takes From Eagle thought you too weak to know. He feared you would go soft inside, knowing that they were your family. He would not approve of my telling you this, of asking this of you."
Anger rose inside White Doe, chasing out the crippling sense of betrayal. "He would rather put our people in danger than let me do what I was born to do? He lied to me for that?"
When Ceremonial Fox nodded, she squatted back on her heels, thinking.
Finally, she looked at him and knew by his expression that her eyes were as stormy as the sea could come.
"I will go to Roanoke. I will slay the Walkers. And when I return, I will speak with Takes From Eagle."
"When you return." Ceremonial Fox agreed silkily. "Then Takes From Eagle will be shamed by your bravery."
Ceremonial Fox did not participate in the celebration; there was much he needed to plan.
.
The next day, after making the necassary preparations, he took White Doe aside and asked her to come to his house after nightfall.
Obedient, she did so, sitting in front of him and looking at him expectantly.
"White Doe, we need you to go to Roanoke."
White Doe looked at Ceremonial Fox askance. "We're not permitted to go there. You yourself have forbidden it, because of the spirits who--"
"There are no spirits." Said Ceremonial Fox. He leaned forward intently. His dark eyes were deep pools in his face. "That was a lie we had contrived to tell you, White Doe. For your own good."
"Why would you need to tell me a lie about Roanoke?"
"Because you came from there." The conjurer said intently. "You were not found in the wild, a gift from the mantoac. You are the daughter of men like us. Pale men, with hair the color of sunlight." He reached, as if to touch her long yellow hair, then curled his fingers into a fist and braught it back to his lap. "They came from across the sea. When you were but a few months old, the Walkers came for them. They slew your family, White Doe. Killed, feasted upon and perhaps even Turned them. The only reason you survived was because your mother made the holy mark on your forehead. When Takes From Eagle and I came the next morning, we found only you alive. We took all the canoes, filled their ship with bodies and set it afire and stranded the Walkers on Roanoke. I commanded the water spirits to prevent them even trying to leave. There they have remained, feasting upon the wild beasts and hungering for human blood."
White Doe stared. She didn't want to believe him. She couldn't believe him. It would mean that everthing Takes From Eagle, her beloved father, had told her was a lie. She began to breathe shallowly, her fertile imagination racing with images of people who looked more like her than Ceremonial Fox or Takes From Eagle or Seal of the Ocean, people with pale skin and sea blue eyes and corn yellow hair.
Her parents. Her true parents, slain by the Walkers. Left to rot on the beaches of the Forbidden Island--
--or else Walking the beaches themselves--
Gorge rose in her throat and she choked it down. Tears burned in her eyes, her eyes that were not brown like of the Croatoan, but sea blue. "Why do you tell me this?" She whispered and she could feel her heart breaking inside her chest.
"Because you are the Slayer," Ceremonial Fox replied, whispering the word fiercely. "It is time you freed us from the fear that somehow, someday, the Walkers of the Forbidden Island will be able to cross to our home. For now, the water spirits accept my commands. But someday I will be gone and I do not know that the water spirits will obey my successor. And someday, the people across the sea might return to Roanoke, bringing canoes with which the Walkers could cross. These Walkers will be worse, far worse, than the others."
"Because... Because they are the Walkers from across the sea. Because the are... They were... Like me?" She lifted her tear-stained face to his, silently pleading for denial.
"Yes. And because for many years, they have hungered and been denied. You are the Slayer and they were your people. It is only right that you destroy them." The conjurer paused, then added, "Takes From Eagle thought you too weak to know. He feared you would go soft inside, knowing that they were your family. He would not approve of my telling you this, of asking this of you."
Anger rose inside White Doe, chasing out the crippling sense of betrayal. "He would rather put our people in danger than let me do what I was born to do? He lied to me for that?"
When Ceremonial Fox nodded, she squatted back on her heels, thinking.
Finally, she looked at him and knew by his expression that her eyes were as stormy as the sea could come.
"I will go to Roanoke. I will slay the Walkers. And when I return, I will speak with Takes From Eagle."
"When you return." Ceremonial Fox agreed silkily. "Then Takes From Eagle will be shamed by your bravery."