Nirrin (Forestfolk, Book 3)

Chapter 21a

"You're right, I don't like it." Meresh scrubbed a hand over his face. "But I can also see how it might work."

"Of course it'll work!" I had no idea if it would actually work. But it seemed better than the other options.

"I don't know if my people will agree."

"Then you'd better brief them soon, because I don't know how much time we have."

He sighed, obviously hating the predicament he and his people were in. "I will call a gathering."

***

"Are you out of your mind?" Not surprisingly, Pimo was the first to voice his opposition to the plan. "A bunch of freaks are coming here to attack us, and you expect us to just sit here and do nothing?"

Meresh squared his shoulders, his proud posture reminding everyone who was chief. He stood on a thick block of wood in the middle of the compound and fixed an imperious glare on the young warrior. "We will not be doing nothing. When they arrive, all of us will gather outside our perimeter to greet them. We will sit on the ground to prove we intend no violence."

"So, we'll have warriors in hiding, right?" said someone, who obviously didn't get it. "To attack them from behind while you distract them?"

The chief furrowed his brow. "This is not a trick! We are demonstrating to them that we will not attack. That we only want peace."

"Well, I'm bringing a knife," someone else mumbled.

"What part of 'no weapons' do you not understand?" I shouted, too annoyed to stay quiet. If all Plainsmen were this dense, I could see why Niralessa wanted to eradicate them.

Meresh glowered at me. I had promised to let him do all the talking. Oops.

"This was her idea, wasn't it? I should've guessed." Pimo didn't bother hiding his disdain. "You are soft in the head if you listen to her. She's not even part of this tribe."

"Thank goodness for that," I mumbled under my breath.

The Zurbos around me began murmuring among themselves. They seemed divided about the idea. Some were open, while others were reluctant. None were completely convinced.

"Do you want to die?" The chief's loud question silenced all the chatter. "Because I don't see any other way out of this. We fight, we die. We run, they hunt us down. I know facing them—unarmed—will require immense courage, but I would not suggest this if I thought we had better options. And I wouldn't ask this of you if I didn't think you had the strength."

His words drifted across the silent crowd, their impact made apparent when many of them nodded, acknowledging the merit of the idea.

"Are you all insane?" Pimo's arms flailed in frustration. "We'll be making it so easy for them to kill us all!"

"We are giving them reasons not to kill us," Meresh corrected. "We have so few warriors left in this tribe, thanks to the aggressive actions of my father and . . . others." His eyes lit briefly upon Ulika, obviously thinking about Bolden and his brash actions. "What chance do we have of surviving if we fight?" He shook his head with agitation. "My father is dead! Your father is dead. All the fools who loved war are dead! War is not the answer, don't you see? We have a chance to do things a different way." He stepped down from the stump and grasped the hand of a very pregnant woman who stood nearby.

Pride shone in her eyes. She was pretty, with dark hair flowing down her back and a brilliant smile just for him.

Who was she?

"My Elna thinks half the things I do are crazy," Meresh said, grinning back at her. "But she agrees with me on this." He placed a gentle hand on her swollen belly. "This is the safest course of action for our child. For all of us."

This was his pregnant mate? Way to go, Meresh!

With reluctance, he pulled his hand away and faced the crowd. "Who's with us?"

Several moments passed as Pimo and the people around him contemplated the idea. I could see the indecision in all their faces. I was thinking hard about something convincing I could say, when—

"I will sit with you." Fen stepped out of the shadows where he'd been keeping himself unnoticed. "My people are coming here for violence, but they are not animals. They are angry. They think Plainsmen are animals. We can show them that you are not." He stopped next to Meresh and linked arms with him. "The bloodshed ends today."

I was bursting with so much pride I nearly exploded. Instead, I marched to Fen's side and linked arms with him. He gave me a huge smile.

Tessia and Kibi, who had probably been hiding with Fen, scurried over to my side.

This is so scary, Tessia said. But good. The people are starting to understand the need for a different way.

Kibi's mother stepped away from the crowd.

"Ulika, no." Kibi's father grabbed her arm to hold her in place.

She slapped his hand away. "I swear, Eyrik, if you cause me to lose my daughter a second time, I will kill you myself!" She approached Kibi and knelt in front of her. "My darling child, I'm so sorry. None of this is your fault. I was just so angry. I had no right to blame you. Bolden made his own choices."

Eyrik stared in disbelief as the two embraced.

Ulika stood. "Don't you want peace?" She turned her gaze to the crowd. "Don't any of you want to stop the endless fighting?" She focused on Eyrik again. "Come stand with me. This is the way. I can feel it." She held her hand out to him.

He gawked at her hand like it was growing thorns.

Her other four children scampered to her side, and she beamed with pride at them. Eyrik watched, dumbfounded, as Ulika and her children linked arms with us. He grumbled, making a nose-scrunching face before coming to a decision. Ulika's face fell when the man crossed his arms and lifted his chin in silent refusal.

"You never were very bright," a large woman muttered as she passed him to stand next to Ulika. The two exchanged hugs like they were friends.

Another Zurbo ambled over and stood with us, followed by another, and another. Soon, the entire tribe stood in a meandering, misshapen circle with their arms linked in solidarity.

Well,almost everyone.

Trying to sway an entire crowd is never easy. I wonder if we can convince them to vote?