Copper Falcon (7 page)
Authors: W. Michael Gear
I was just straightening when I was grabbed from behind, held by powerful arms, and lifted. I filled my lungs to scream, only to have one of Seven Skull Shield’s men stuff a wad of cloth into my mouth. Within moments, I was bound and helpless.
Treachery stings the worst when it comes entirely by surprise.
Seven Skull Shield’s men callously threw me into the canoe. And there I remained as our warriors arrived from Horned Serpent Town. Father hugged them one by one and issued his final orders. Stunned, they shot disbelieving looks my way. Nevertheless they obeyed their high chief, stowed their packs around my thrashing body, and climbed into the canoe.
Father laid the copper falcon—still neatly bound in its protective cloth—at my head, saying, “Carry this safely home. See to its placement on the rear wall of the palace, behind the dais. This is our heritage, the symbol of our ancestors, our blood, bones, and spirit power. It is to be honored and handed down from generation to generation. I leave you this as a reminder to keep Cooper Falcon Town’s honor, and your own.”
“Why?”
I screamed into my gag.
With gleaming eyes, Seven Skull Shield and his men watched from the side.
Father glanced at them and smiled sadly at me. “I’m an old man, my son. And I know the Morning Star, the Tonka’tzi, and the Keeper in ways you do not. Were I to escape, that’s not a slight either their prestige or honor could allow. All of our people, all Copper Falcon Town, would suffer as a consequence.”
He reached down and laid gentle fingers on my head. “I’ve made my own deal with Seven Skull Shield. I’ve promised him that before his men hand me over, I’ll ensure he receives an even greater reward for me than what our copper falcon would have brought.”
Father stepped back, and we were pushed out into the river.
They didn’t untie me for seven days, being ever faithful to Father’s orders.
I’ll never know the details of his last days, or what he suffered. I’ve been told that he mysteriously died the day they tied him to the Morning Star’s square. Some deal he brokered with Seven Skull Shield?
Perhaps.
But to my surprise, despite the defeat of Makes Three, a squadron of the Morning Star’s warriors arrived less than a half moon after my return home. With our forces augmented, we swept through the T’so winter towns and drove the barbarians south of the divide. Somehow Father managed that, too, though the squadron first assured me of his ignorance of the politics involved.
And me?
I stand on the high bank, looking out over the broad Tenasee River with its wide valley patterned by cornfields. The tree-clad uplands rise to the distant ridges that mark the northern horizon.
Every time I look at the copper falcon I think of what my father sacrificed for honor, of a man’s word as his bond. Seven Skull Shield kept his word. And now, every time I toss her white stone high and feel its perfect balance as it smacks into my hand, I think of perfidy and bad bargains. And I am ashamed.
Perhaps the scoundrel never discovered that I tricked him. That day in the sweat lodge, I offered up my red granite chunkey stone. The one he took, fully believing it was Lady Night Shadow Star’s.
I could make a fortune trading Lady Night Shadow Star’s stone.
Instead, no one will ever know.
Tor and Forge titles by Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear
Note: Within series, books are best read in listed order when noted.
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NORTH AMERICA’S FORGOTTEN PAST
Thousands of years ago, small hunting bands crossed the fragile land bridge linking the Eurasian continent to the Americas and discovered a land untouched by humankind. Over the centuries that followed, their descendants spread throughout this land.
Bestselling authors and award-winning archaeologists W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear bring the stories of these first North Americans to life in this magnificent, multi-volume saga.
People of the Songtrail
(forthcoming)
Children of the Dawnland
(for ages 9–12)
Short Fiction in the series (prequel to
People of the Morning Star
):
Trilogy within the series (in order):
Duology within the series (in order):
Iroquois Quartet (in order):
The Dawn Country: A People of the Longhouse Novel
The Broken Land: A People of the Longhouse Novel
People of the Black Sun: A People of the Longhouse Novel
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THE ANASAZI MYSTERIES
(in order)
The Gears breathe new life into the vanished world of the Anasazi. Dive 800 years into the past—a world of danger, murder, and a power that transcends time.
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OTHER TITLES BY KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR AND W. MICHAEL GEAR
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BY KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR
IN ME SERIES (in order)
A tale of prehistoric politics and erotic passion surrounding a Native American High Chieftess, struggling with her own inner turmoil and the troubles of her tribe.
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BY W. MICHAEL GEAR
MAN FROM BOSTON DUOLOGY
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New York Times
bestselling author
W. MICHAEL GEAR
holds a master’s degree in archaeology and has worked as a professional archaeologist since 1978. He is currently principal investigator for Wind River Archaeological Consultants. He is the author or coauthor of forty-six novels, with nearly seventeen million copies in print worldwide.
KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR
is a former state historian and archaeologist for Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska for the U.S. Department of the Interior. She has twice received the federal government’s Special Achievement Award for “outstanding management” of our nation’s cultural heritage. Their First North American series hit the international as well as
USA Today
and
New York Times
bestseller lists. They live in Thermopolis, Wyoming.
Visit their website at
www.Gear-Gear.com
.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.
COPPER FALCON
Copyright © 2014 by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear
All rights reserved.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Tor
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
e-ISBN 9781466863910
First Edition: March 2014