100- A priestess
A priest-king
not a chief, I reck'ned, in such a wondersome palace. She got to work mem'ryin' ev'ry inch o' that doomin' place on her orison while I 'proached nearer that priest-king from the world o' perfect Civ'lize. His hair straggled an' his nails was hooky an' the years'd shrunk'n'sagged his face some sure, but his Smart sky clothes was spiff'n'fine, sapphires pierced his ear, an' he mem'ried me of Unc' Bees, same hoggy nose, yay.
List'n to me, Valleysman, the soosided priest-king spoke, yay, list'n. We Old Uns was sick with Smart an' the Fall was our cure. The Prescient don't know she's sick, but, oh, real sick she is. Thru that arch o' glass waves o' snow was tossin'n'turnin' an' drownin' the sun. Put her to sleep, Zachry, or she'n'her kind'll bring all their offland sick to your beautsome Valleys. I'll minder her soul well in this place, never fear. The Shipwoman was movin' 'bout with her orison, hummin' a Prescient babbybie what she'd teached Catkin'n'Sussy Tick-tockin' was my thinkin'. Wasn't killin' her barb'ric'n'savage?
Ain't no right or wrong, the 'stron'mer king teached me, jus' protectin' your tribe or judasin' your tribe, yay, jus' a strong will or a weak un. Kill her, bro. She ain't no god, she's only blood'n'tubes.
I said I cudn't, the yibber'd tag me murderer an' Abbess'd call a gath'rin' what'd exile me from the Valleys.
Oh, think, Zachry, the king micked me. Think! How'll the yibber know? Yibber'll say, "That knowed-all offlander ignored our yarns'n'ways an' went trespyin' up Mauna Kea an' brave Zachry went 'long to try'n'minder her, but it turned out she weren't so Smart what she thinked."
Beats passed. All right, I answered fin'ly'n'grim, I'll spiker her when we step outside. The priest-king smiled, pleased, an' din't speak no more. Fin'ly my victim howzitted me. Fine, said I, tho' I were nervy, see, the big- gest thing I ever killed was goats an' now I'd vowed to kill a Prescient hu- man. She said we should set off 'cos she din't want to get stranded in no blizzard up here an' leaded us back out the gen'rator.
Outside, the boulders'd falled silent in the ankle-snow. One snowstorm'd gone but another, bigger un was comin' so I reck'ned.
We walked t'ward the steely gate, her in front, me grippin' Jonas's spiker an' testin' its sharp on my thumb.
Do it now! say-soed ev'ry murd'rous stone on Mauna Kea.
Nothin' to be gained by dillyin', nay. Hushly I aimed at the top o' the Prescient's neck, an' Sonmi have mercy on my soul, I thrust that sharky point home as hard as I could.
Nay, I din't murder her, see in a split-beat b'tween aimin' an' thrustin', Sonmi had mercy on my soul, yay, she changed my aim an' that spiker went flyin' high over that steely gate. Meronym din't even cogg she'd near- ly had her skull skewered, but I cogged sure 'nuff I'd been magicked by the devil o' Mauna Kea, yay, we all know his name, cuss him.
You see sumthin' up there? asked Meronym, after my spiker.
Yay, I lied, but it weren't no un, nay, it was jus' the tricks o' this place. We're leavin', she said, we're leavin' now.
Old Georgie was outwitted, see, there weren't no means I could kill her quicksharp without my spiker, but he'd not jus' lay down an' watch my vic'try, nay, I knowed that slywise buggah of old.
As I climbed up the rope with the gearbag, Mauna Kea took a lungsome breath an' howled giddyin' snow so I cudn't see the ground clearly an' ten winds tore our faces an' my fingers was stiff with cold an' halfway up I slid halfway down an' that rope burned my hands but fin'ly I hauled myself up top an' bringed up the gearbag with my painful stingin'n'raw palms. Mer- onym weren't so fast, but she weren't far from the top o' the wall when suddenwise time stopped.
Time stopped, yay, you heard right. For Hole World 'cept me an' a cer- tain cunnin' devil, yay, you know which un came swagg'rin' along the wall, time was jus' … stopped.
Snowflakes hanged specklin' the air. Old Georgie swished 'em aside. I tried reas'nin' with you, Zachry, you stubbornsome boy, now I got to use warnin's an' augurin's an' say-so. Get out your blade an' cut this rope thru. His foot touched the rope what was holdin' time-freezed Meronym. Worn face screwed 'gainst the blizzard it was, an' her muscles strainin' to climb that rope. Twenty feet o' nothin' below. Her fall may not kill her when I let time flow again, Old Georgie seen my thinkin', but them rocks b'low'll bust her spine'n'legs an' she'll not s'vive the night. I'll let her consider her folly- in's.
I asked him why he din't jus' kill Meronym himself.
Why-why-why? Old Georgie micked. I want you to do it, an' here's why- why-why. See, if you don't cut that rope, inside o' three moons your dear- some fam'ly be dead, I vow it! I vow it. So you got a choosin'. On one side you got Brave Ma, Strong Sussy, Bright Jonas, Sweet Catkin, all dead. Cowardy Zachry'll live on an' regret'll flay him till his dyin' day. On th' other side you got jus' one dead offlander no un'll miss. Four you love 'gainst one you don't. I may even magick Alessio back from Kona.
No bolt-hole out o' this. Meronym had to die. Yay, no bolt-hole, boy. I'm countin' to five …
I got my blade. A seed sprouted thru the crust o' my mem'ry, an' that seed was a word Georgie'd speaked jus' then, augurin'.
Quicksharp I chucked my blade down after my spiker an' looked that devil in his terrorsome eyes. He'd got the s'prised curio, an' his dyin' smile'd got a bucket o' dark meanin's. I spat at him, but my spit boom'ranged back on me. Why? Was I crazed'n'loonin'?
Old Georgie'd made a diresome mistake, see, he'd mem'ried me o' my augurin's from my Dreamin' Night. Hands are burnin', let that rope be not cut. My decidin' was settled, see, my hands was burnin', so this was that rope Sonmi'd say-soed me not to cut.
My blade chimed on the ground an' time started an' the mil'yun hands'n'screams o' that devil's blizzard tore'n'pummeled me but cudn't hurl me off the 'closure wall, nay, somehow I pulled up Meronym an' got us down the other side too with no bones busted. We leaned 'gainst the furyin' white'n'dark snowstorm back to the 'stron'mers' village, we stag- gered'n'tripped an' got back more freezin'n livin', but a dry faggot was waitin' by Sonmi's grace an' I somehow got a fire cracklin' an' I vow that fire saved our lifes all over again. We boiled ice to water an' unfroze our bones an' dried our furs best we could. We din't speak none, we was too icy'n'drained. Did I regret spurnin' Old Georgie?
Nay, not then, not now. Whatever Meronym's cause was for scalin' this cussed mountain, I din't b'lief she'd ever judas no Valleysman, nay, not in my heart, an' the Kona'd o' done to the Valleys what happened sooner or later anyhow. That was in the future that first night from the summit. My friend gived us both med'sun pills after grinds an' we sleeped the no-dream sleep o' the 'stron'mer king.