Volemak was surprised. "And how should I know that, Nyef? I'm not a hunter."
"I have to know where to find game that is so tame that I can creep up on it very close," said Nafai. "And where it's so plentiful that I can find more when I miss my first attempts."
"Take Vas with you, then, to track," said Volemak.
"No," said Elemak quickly. "No, Nafai is right. Neither Vas nor Obring will go with him this morning as trackers."
Luet knew perfectly well why Elemak insisted on that - but it still left Volemak nonplussed. "Then let Elemak tell you where to go to find game like that."
"Elemak doesn't know this country any better than I do," said Nafai.
"And I don't know it at all," said Volemak.
"Nevertheless," said Nafai, "I will only hunt where you tell me to. This is too important to leave it up to chance. Everything depends on this, Father. Tell me where to hunt, or I'll have no hope."
Volemak stood in silence, looking at his son. Luet didn't really understand why Nafai was doing this - he had never needed Volemak to tell him where to search for game before. And yet she sensed that it was very important - that for some reason the success of the expedition hinged on its being Volemak who decided where the hunt would take place.
"I will ask the Index," said Volemak.
"Thank you, Father," said Nafai. He followed his father into his tent.
Luet looked around the company as they waited. What do they make of this? Her eyes met Elemak's. He smiled a tight little smile. She smiled back, not understanding what it was he thought was going on.
It was Hushidh who clarified it for her. "Your husband is the clever one," she whispered.
Luet turned in surprise - she hadn't noticed Hushidh coming to her.
"When he came back with the bow and arrows, it weakened Volemak. It weakened him yesterday, in fact, when it was Nafai who insisted on trying to continue. All the bonds that held this company together weakened then. I could see it when I got up this morning - fracture. Chaos verging. And something worse, between Vas and Elemak - a terrible hatred that I don't understand. But Nafai has now handed the authority back to his father. He could have snatched it for himself and torn us all apart, but he didn't - he gave it back, and already I can see us settling back into old patterns."
"Sometimes, Shuya, I wish I had your gift instead of mine."
"Mine is more comfortable and practical sometimes," said Hushidh. "But you are the waterseer."
Since Chveya was tugging away on Luet's breast, slurping obscenely, as if passionately eager to get all she could before Luet took off running somewhere again, it was hard for Luet to take her noble calling all that seriously. She answered Hushidh with a laugh. Her laugh was heard by those who could not have heard their hushed conversation; many turned to look at her. What could possibly be amusing, they seemed to be wondering, on a morning like this, where our whole future is being decided?
Nafai and Volemak emerged from the tent. Volemak's air of puzzlement was gone. He was firmly in command now; he embraced his son, pointed toward the southeast, and said, "You'll find game there, Nafai. Come back soon enough and I'll allow the meat to be cooked. Let the Dorovyets wonder why there's a new column of smoke coming from across the bay! By the time they can come and investigate, we'll be on our way south again."
Luet knew that many heard those confident words with more despair than hope - but their longing for the city was a weakness in them, nothing to be proud of, not a desire to be indulged. Vas's sabotage might have turned them back, but that would have made all their lives meaningless, at least compared to what they were going to accomplish when Nafai succeeded.
If he succeeded.
Elemak spoke to Nafai then. "Are you a good shot with that thing?" he asked.
"I don't know," said Nafai. "I haven't tried it yet. It was too dark last night. I do know this - I can't shoot far. I don't have strong enough muscles in the right places yet, for drawing a bow." He grinned. "I'm going to have to find some animal that's very stupid, very slow, or deaf, blind, and upwind of me."