Sky Child by T. M. Brenner Page B

length down from his chin. There is gray in it, but not much. I would guess that he has seen as many snows as me, and that many more again.
    "People of the Crag," he starts, waiting for the chamber to become silent. "As many of you have heard, we have lost our Leader of the Hunt. Lagan died bravely in battle, killed by the fire of a dragon. In that same battle, we lost many others. But many hunters returned. It is because of Sam's quick thinking and leadership that we are still alive. Sam was the one that brought down the dragon and then showed us the way home. The hunters owe their lives and their loyalty to Sam. To Sam!"
    The hunters all stand up, place their right fists on their heart, and slide them downward. It is a sign of loyalty and respect, meaning that they would rather cut out their own heart than to dishonor or be disloyal to me.
    I stand up, look around at each of the hunters one at a time. I then return the gesture, so that they know I will honor, respect, and be loyal to them. I realize right then the weight of what it means to lead; that each of their lives are in my hands, and are my responsibility. I will do what needs to be done to make sure that they are all protected and treated as fairly as possible.
    "Thank you, but I cannot celebrate this as a victory, for we have still lost many hunters that were good, and loyal, and brave. I will do whatever I can to help the hunters stay safe, so that this sort of tragedy never happens again. The Sky Gods were watching us today, protecting us. They are the ones that deserve your thanks," I say.
    Everyone sits back down and continues eating. I go back to eating my stew. I tear off pieces of the bread and dip them in the sauce. It is delicious, and when I finish my meal, there aren't any spots of stew left in my bowl. I swallow the last of my water then lean back in my chair.
    I look over at Chaff. Even after Helm's speech he continues acting like I'm not there. I try not to let it bother me, but it makes me realize just how powerful he thinks he is.
    I decide to ignore it for now. At some point he will need to talk to me, which I don't look forward to. Better to wait and see what happens than to anger him. I think there have been enough deaths today. I don't want him to try and kill me, and I don't want to have to kill him.
    A woman comes up to Chaff. I think her name is Fallow. I believe that she's part of the harvest. She's very thin and sickly looking. Her skin has no color, her eyes have no light.
    "Chaff, please, I'm begging you! Please let us eat! My children are starving," says Fallow.
    Chaff doesn't look at her.
    "Please!" she yells, grabbing his shirt sleeve.
    Chaff pulls her fingers away from his clothes.
    "Fallow, when your husband died, I gave you a pair of choices: make up for the lost work by having your children tend the fields, or the other... option that we had talked about," said Chaff, licking his lips.
    "You're disgusting! I would never do that with you! And my children haven't seen enough snows to work in the fields! You know that," said Fallow.
    "I gave you options, and you chose neither. How is that my problem?" asked Chaff, an evil smile on his crooked face.
    I start to stand up, but I feel Helm's hand on my arm, holding me down. I quickly turn to look at him, and he looks back. I see both worry and sadness in his eyes. They also tell me not to fight Chaff on this. I turn back to see Fallow crying into her hands.
    "Let me know if you change your mind," said Chaff.
    She turns and runs away from him. He looks up at each of us.
    "I have to keep people motivated somehow. Otherwise they won't work hard. They stand around in the fields all day, talking," said Chaff.
    I can feel my face warming, turning red with anger. Chaff looks at me and smiles. I have to shut my eyes and take in some breaths before I can calm the rage inside me. Eventually, I am able to calm down. I stand up, pick up my bowl and add it to the growing stack of used bowls in the