Campfire CouncilThe spring evening was rapidly darkening into a pitch-black night. The fires lit by the Kainu reflected a play of flickering lights and shadows onto the faces of those who were sitting in a ring around the flames. Aure stood in the center of the ring, close to the fire. The red of the flames played with her hard features as she explained what had happened at the gathering. The hood she had pulled over her head highlighted the furrows of her face.
“The great women of the Kainu were in discord, as you guessed,” Aure said, pointing to Rika. “And, by following your advice, I persuaded them to stand with me.”
Aure took a small break.
“The speaker for our southern tribes is a man,” she continued.
“I told you it would be so,” Rika said, with a smile in her eyes; a smile which
