Vessia
After he kissed her, Vio let her go and said nothing more about it.
To him, the moment was over.
But Dindi touched her lips. Her heart pounded strangely. No man had ever kissed her before. The feeling left her shaken.
Vio called for his warriors to bring the other three prisoners into the tent. His "little brother," Vumo, arrived too.
Vio moved the sleeping furs to the edges of the tent. In the middle, he placed the magic Looking Bowl.
"Sit," he told the prisoners.
Danumoro rushed to Vessia's side. He didn't speak, but his eyes asked if she had been hurt. She shook her head.
Obran stayed close to Finna. She held her stomach and sat slowly on the fur rug.
Shula didn't sit. She stared at the Looking Bowl, her body stiff.
"You see, Corn Maiden?" Vio pointed to Shula. "She knows what it really is."
Then he turned to Vumo, more serious now. "Gidio and Nangi?"
"Gidio is inspecting the far side of the tribehold," Vumo said, "to see if there's any risk of attack. Nangi is at the trial of the Banded Pot warrior who tried to eat his horse."
"That won't take her long." Vio crouched by the bowl. "Let's begin."
"I'll sit next to Vessia," Vumo offered.
"You'll sit here and shut up," Vio snapped.
Vumo made a face but obeyed. Only Shula was still standing.
"Waterfall Dancer," Vio said, "the time has come for me to ask your favor."
Anger and fear spread across her face. "You hypocrite," she said. "You want me to dance with the Looking Bowl. But you sentence people like me to death for using Many-Banded magic. What do you want now, a trick show? Like I'm one of your tamed horses?"
"It took me years to find people I could trust," Vio said. "People with the right Chroma colors. I needed a water seer to bring it all together. It has to be you. It has to be now."
Shula crossed her arms. "Unless you have your master's bone flute, there's nothing you can do to force me."
"What about a target?"
"What?"
"Would you dance the bowl if I gave you a worthy target?"
"No target of yours—"
"I want to kill the Bone Whistler."
Silence.
The prisoners stared at him. Shula's mouth dropped open.
She snapped it shut again. "So you can replace him? What's the difference if it's the master or his loyal dog killing the Imorvae?"
Vio didn't answer. He ran his fingers around the edge of the Looking Bowl.
"This is no ordinary bowl," he said. "It was forged by the Blue Lady. One small use is to show how many Chromas a Tavaedi has."
He nodded at Danumoro. "Lean over the bowl."
Danumoro hesitated.
"Don't make me tell Vumo to smack you," Vio warned.
Danumoro leaned forward. His reflection shimmered in the water—and around it, four glowing bands of color. The strongest was yellow, but blue, purple, and green also glowed.
"There," said Vio. "Even someone like Vumo, who only has one Chroma, can see the rest in the bowl's reflection."
"Very useful for hunting Imorvae," Shula said. "Still not a reason for me to help you."
Vio leaned over the bowl himself.
Five colors glowed around his face: purple, blue, yellow, orange, and red.
Shula paled. "You're an Imorvae?"
Vio nodded.
"Five colors—Lady of Mercy!" Shula turned toward Vumo.
He waved his hand over the bowl. Green light glowed around it. "I'm a real Morvae."
"You just found out?" Shula asked. "Is that why you want to kill your master? You're scared he'll kill you first?"
"I've always known," said Vio. "So has my brother."
He paused. "When we were boys, the Bone Whistler gave us a choice. Join him—or die. I thought maybe Vumo should turn me in, prove his loyalty. At least one of us would survive."
"I didn't like that plan," muttered Vumo.
"So we decided together. We would join the Bone Whistler's ranks. Pretend. Wait. Get close enough to strike. I would act like a Purple Morvae."
"But there was still Nangi to worry about," he went on. "She reads thoughts like a dog sniffing meat. The Bone Whistler used her to test all new recruits."
Vumo grinned. "But I found her weakness. Green cancels Orange. She can't read the thoughts of someone she's in love with."
"In other words," said Vio, "he seduced her. She was young. Ugly. Lonely. And easy for Vumo to fool."
"How awful," said Finna. "To trick her like that."
"Worse than her turning us over to be tortured and killed?" Vio asked. Then he shrugged. "Still, you're right. Vumo married her later. But our plan stayed the same. Get close. Find a weakness. Kill the Bone Whistler."
"But all this time, you worked for him," Shula said. "You killed for him."
"And yet, when you led the resistance in the Rainbow Labyrinth," Vio said, "you were helped by someone. The Imorvae who reached you didn't know who led them out. They only knew his Shining Name. They were told to speak it to no one but you."
Shula shook her head. "No… it can't be you!"
"The name," Vio said quietly, "was the Maze Zavaedi."
"You could have tortured that name out of someone. Nangi could've read someone's thoughts—"
Vessia spoke up. "You said you were looking for the Bone Whistler's weakness. Did you find it?"
Vio's face turned grim. "That depends on Shula."
She rubbed her temples. "You want to ask the Looking Bowl."
"Exactly."
"You don't know how hard that is."
"I do," said Vio. "You need the bowl, a water seer, and six Tavaedies to dance all six Chromas. I know how hard it is. Will you help?"
Shula sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this to you, Vio the Skull Stomper… Purple Zavaedi of the Bone Whistler…"
She looked down at the glowing bowl.
"…but yes. I'll help you."