Oihana held her shoulders tensely, her heart pounding in her chest. The day was warm; it was summer now. But she felt cold with nerves, and her hands shook. She made her way toward the stand of trees where she sometimes went to work on her bead embroidery. The sun slanted through the trees, white liquid gold, but she hardly noticed.

Arnas knew where she was. Only Arnas, and he'd said he might meet here there today. They hadn't really spoken for almost two seasons, though she knew that he knew.

She took a long breath. Maybe he wouldn't come, but she knew he was thinking the same things she was.

That Hibai's plans for the tribe would kill them all. She was in the position to hear his most intimate conversations, and he planned to take over the Zerui. To challenge Zeru himself. In three days they would go on another raid, and too many more of those might bring the Thiasans upon them, and doom not only the Hibaii but all of the Zerui, because the Ekaini wouldn't support them. She who had grown up among them knew that.

Add to that Hibai's increasing madness...

Oihana sometimes felt that only she saw it. And even then, it shocked her sometimes to wake up and realize all of the things she had, slowly, come to accept. That Hibai spoke casually of killing his son, or sacrificing Renna, whom she had come to regard as a friend. And though she had been so careful not to let anything slip, she felt the weight of his eyes on her sometimes, and wondered what he thought.

She lowered herself carefully to the ground, holding her growing belly. The baby would be born at the end of the summer, but this thought brought only fear...

Oihana shook her head and took out some of her pouches of beads and thread. Her hands were still trembling, and she whirled at a slight, perhaps-imagined sound, her breath catching in her throat.

Arnas froze and lifted his foot carefully off the dry undergrowth, his eyes following along the lines of Oihana's figure. He hadn't wanted to confront her yet; he'd wanted just to sit and watch for awhile. She was dappled warm in the sunlight, with her hair glinting like light off the black stones in the river....it wasn't often he got to see her like this. Alone. He wanted to enjoy it.

But even now he knew that she must be tight with fear. Eguzki knew he was. So he stepped out of his hiding place and called a soft greeting, giving her a timid smile. "...Aizu."

How did you greet a woman who was risking her life by carrying your child? The young warrior longed to step forward and take her in his arms and tell her that he would keep her safe, but...he couldn't dare that. "I was careful; I wasn't followed. If we're quiet we'll be all right."

An awkard silence followed, and he shifted and held his hands clasped behind his back. "....How are you?"

Oihana tensed and then relaxed when she saw that it was indeed Arnas.

"Aizu," she said at last, smiling, though the expression was strained. She felt a tenderness in his presence that was a little similar to the one she felt with her daughter... but entirely different. It was touched with protectiveness. She recalled how he had been when she had first been taken, an orphan, defiant and quiet in a way that she felt no one but she could fully recognize.

Oihana put a smile on her face--she was used to false smiles, but this was less false than merely brazen--and motioned for him to sit. "I'm fine... not sleeping so much these days, this one has more energy than Idoya did--Renna says it will be a boy." She frowned fleetingly, and her voice lowered to an intense whisper. "Hibai says he may sacrifice her, but he speaks of so many things... and you're friends with Izotz, I know it. Arnas, the things he says about Izotz--" She looked up helplessly. "He thinks he's in love with the interloper girl, and Hibai doesn't like it--I don't know why--but I'm sorry." She looked up at him helplessly, one hand going to the push of a tiny hand or foot against her belly. "How are you?"

"...All right." Out of his mind with jealousy, seeing his friend hold his woman any time he wished while he had to stay far back. "...A son." He sank to sit on the grass across from her and folded his legs, cursing his frozen tongue. But it was all he could think to say at the moment, and he leaned forward to rest a hand cautiously on Oihana's belly. Arnas' eyes flashed wide in surprise when there was a movement against his palm, and he darted a glance to her. There was so much he wanted to say, and here he was, mute as a stone. Arnas frantically bade his mind to work and swallowed, finding his tongue again. "I'm sure he'll be strong."

The brief joy in his eyes vanished and his hand moved to clasp around hers, gently. "As for Hibai..." He didn't want to think about Hibai and Oihana. "...I think it's time that enough is enough." Arnas was quiet. "I don't know about Izotz, really...I know he likes her. But at this point it's bigger than us. Our tribe is more endangered with every new game he plays, and with that, the Zerui. We can't deal with the interlopers, the Ekaini, and the Zerui all at once. We can't. Izotz is smart, he'll understand that. " He hoped. "And maybe...something can happen, to convince him...this is a big thing. Our words probably won't be enough. Not even mine. But if he could see, with his own eyes...this has to stop."

Oihana felt suddenly filled with relief, and she clutched Arnas's hand tightly in her own.

"You have no idea how I've felt, as though I'm mad and the rest of the tribe are the ones who see the truth, even though I know what's happening," she said, trying to control the tears that threatened to well up in her eyes. "It's almost enough just to know. But what do you mean by something that will..."

Oihana leaned toward Arnas, his hand still in hers, her other hand going to his shoulder. She still felt desire for him, of course, but at the moment she could only think of her fear. Later, she would notice the tingle all through her body. "I know about the raid. Hibai keeps talking about a sacrifice, he thinks it will give him legitimacy..." She shut her eyes and swallowed; this was a concept she had never been able to accept, even after years away from her birth tribe. "... if he spills the blood of an interloper soldier. Maybe when he kills a soldier, Izotz will see--but that could start a war!" She let go of his hand and clutched at his upper arms, looking into his eyes. "Arnas, why can't we do something to prevent more deaths?"

His first instinct was to protect her. The moment Oihana clutched at his arms, Arnas swept her to his chest. Strong arms traveled down her back as he buried his face in her hair and murmured to her, hoping to make every shadow go away. "We will. We will. Don't worry, we will... We can talk with Renna, can't we? She's afraid of him too, and surely she won't want one of her own to be sacrificed...she can see reason. If we talk to her maybe she'll speak with Izotz. He listens to her."

He hadn't the faintest idea why, but then again he didn't really delve into his friend's love life...mostly because Izotz hadn't felt the need to share any details since the first few days of Renna's captivity. "Don't worry, Oihana. This will work out. It has to."

"I don't know if Izotz will listen." Oihana let go and buried her face in the crook of his neck, her arms going around his body. "Sometimes I worry he's just like his father. Hibai is insane, Arnas. And I talk to Renna, and she says Izotz still worships him. But I'll talk to her, and you can talk to him--he's our only chance if he tribe is going to survive." She was in his arms now, the bulge where their baby lay (it had to be theirs, she had counted, and could only hope that it would be born early or late) pressed between them. There was little more she could do that wouldn't already be a death sentence if anyone saw them. They were alone.

So she kissed him, the memory of two seasons ago searing its way across her brain. But Oihana pulled away quickly. Her watchfulness never ceased these days. Ever since she had found out she was pregnant she'd woken up every day terrified that Hibai would somehow see into her soul. His eyes had some strange light about them, and though she was not superstitious (how could she be, after all this time?) she almost thought sometimes he was a witch.

"I'm sorry, Arnas." She looked down; they were still pressed together. "I'm sorry about all of it. And you know that this is..." She reached down and took it in her own, then placed them both between them on the high roundness of her belly. "This is ours."

This is ours.

Oihana's words only confirmed his worst suspicions. Arnas bowed his head, feeling the life stirring under his palm as his thoughts raced. What would happen if the child wasn't born early or late? Would Hibai just assume that his own son was born slightly off-schedule? Or would he become suspicious? If the latter were true...Oihana would be the one in danger, not him. Paranoid as the jaun was, Arnas couldn't see how he would pick him out of every warrior in the Hibaii camp.

The thought made him slump with guilt, and he tightened his arm around Oihana's back as he bent to press a gentle kiss to her lips. "Don't be sorry. You aren't to blame for any of this. My beautiful..."

He was going to go too far again. Arnas forced himself to pull his mouth away and simply tightened his arms around her shoulders, crushing her to his body. She wasn't his anyway. She belonged to Hibai, who was every bit undeserving of her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm putting you through this."

His hand carressed her belly, then moved to stroke down her hair. "But I promise...I'll do what I can to keep you safe. If Hibai tries something..." His words faltered. What would he do, fend off one of the chief's hard metal blades with a stick? Well, he'd do what he could. "I promise I'll keep you safe. You and our child both."

It felt so odd to be discussing his child with her. His mind was still trying to wrap around it. What if the babe killed her? "Oihana..." It was too much to bear.

Oihana smiled, though she could read the fear in Arnas's eyes. It was hard to be one of two sane people in the tribe, but at least there were two of them. One outsider was prey, but two could survive--Oihana knew this from her hunting. Lone wolves were killed, but two could begin their own pack.

"Don't worry, Arnas." She took his face in her hands, forcing his gaze toward hers. She recalled that he was, after all, younger than she. And in some ways he still had the innocence that had frozen around him when he was a boy. Oihana often wondered if he kept his sanity by refusing to believe the worst of human nature. She knew she did. It was why meeting Renna had been a breath of fresh air.

"We'll think of something we can do. If nothing else, Hibai won't live forever." Her face paled, but she didn't look away.

"...No, he won't live forever."

Arnas let his face nestled into the curves of her palms, only admiring her courage as she reassured him. She was comforting him, when the every danger lay with her...it was amazing to him. "And when that day comes..."

He tightened his embrace. You'll be mine.

The young warrior didn't say it aloud for fear of jinxing them both, but he smiled at her and twined a hand into her hair. With any sort of blessing the day would come soon-soon enough to save the tribe from utter destruction and soon enough so he could welcome his son as his own. "Well, it will be wonderful, won't it?"

His tone was simple, and he gave her another smile before he stepped away and folded his arms. "We don't have time to waste. The raid is coming up very, very soon...I'll get Izotz on his own as soon as I can; you speak with Renna. She shares his bed; he has to have a softness for her. He has to. He worships his father but...he's not the same. I'm sure he's not."

They wouldn't be friends otherwise; that was certain-not to mention Arnas wouldn't have tried to shield his friend from his own thoughts about his father.

"Be careful on the raid. I wouldn't put it past Hibai to do something to Izotz, the way he's talking. Watch out for him, all right? Without Izotz we don't have any power." Oihana got carefully to her feet, her mouth twisted into a rueful smile. "I sound so cold. But it's true. Without Izotz, we don't have any power. I'm only a murroi-emazte and you're only an orphan whose mother was insane. I don't mean to be--look, just make sure nothing happens to Izotz, yes?"

Oihana brought one hand up to her forehead and kneaded it, then drew her hands back through her long hair, fancying she could feel the lingering warmth of Arnas's touch. After so long, even being near him without constant watchfulness was like food to a starving woman.

The fact was, Hibai had been suspicious of her since she had announced her pregnancy. After eleven years, he had assumed, somewhere in the back of his mind, that his seed no longer had potency. Oh, he'd never admit it... but Oihana thought it might well be true. There was of course no way to prove it.

That had never mattered to him before.

Was her desire to save the tribe motivated only by her desire for Arnas? She couldn't deny that was part of what led her into such desperation. But it was also how she felt about Idoya and the unborn child she was sure was a boy... and even Renna, in whom she saw shades of herself (before she had become so hardened by long wear and bitter disappointment)... and even Hibai himself, who reminded her of nothing so much as the maddened wolf she had once seen, foaming at the mouth, making the other wolves, as it turned on them, feel the pain it so clearly suffered inside.

"Of course I'll look out for him; he's my friend." Arnas' tone was slightly reproachful, but in a moment he relented. "...And we have no power without him. Tell you what, I can wait for horses and weapons and I have no interest in a concubine. I'll just ride with him, okay? He's the son of the chief; one day he will be chief-it's only fitting that he has a brave to protect him. I think I'll talk to a few other warriors and see what they think...I could make up some danger from the interlopers; some imaginary threat. A rumor. If everyone is on edge, everyone will be doubly watchful. We'll be careful."

The young man looked at her for a moment, just admiring, then he stepped forward and placed both hands on her belly. Important as Izotz was, this was his child. His first child. He was a father. Arnas let his hands travel over the bulge, his eyes widening when a sturdy little kick met his palm. The light in his eyes traveled down into a smile, and he bent forward to press a kiss to Oihana's stomach. "Aizu, little one."

Arnas straightened and took her hands in his, smiling into her eyes. "I'll be careful, I promise. I want to be here to see his face."