Kaltegg Shaman was a wizened old man with piercing blue eyes. Those eyes-very un-mongol eyes, and his outspoken attitude, had been the principal reasons for his falling out of favor with the clan-heads, and particularly with their father and uncle. Bortai was more than a little nervous about going to see him.
They went through the appropriate rituals of greeting and gifting before business could be discussed.
"It is good that you have overcome your father's prejudices and come to see me, Khan Kildai, Princess. You will need a battle shaman soon. Much evil has been raised against you. "
Bortai did not, or not directly anyway, want to point out that she was here more out of worry about her brother's health, than a desire to re-instate the shaman. But perhaps… they'd lost a powerful shaman back at the kurultai. "Kaltegg Shaman, the Parki Shaman said we should bring Kildai to you when his Suns soul wandered in the lands of Erleg Khan. He is better now. But I thought it might be wise to consult you."
"You have your mother's wisdom. She was very angry with your father over the decision to make Parki the clan shaman. He was a good man, my apprentice. But times like these we need more than good. Come. I need to examine your brother, and visit the worlds above and below to check on his souls."
Bortai had been-now that she thought about it, aware that her mother and father had not seen eye to eye on the subject of the shaman Kaltegg. Well, that did raise him in her estimation a little. Her father had been an excellent Orkhan. But her mother, with her descent from Princess Khutulun, had had great status. And, as Bortai remembered, a lot more common sense than her father about social issues. Father had been rigid about tradition.
The shaman began his rituals and his dancing and drumming. And then went off into the spirit-worlds.
A little field mouse, striped and inquisitive, peered from the slumped man's shirt. Bortai found herself wanting to laugh during what was a very solemn rite.
At length the shaman surfaced again. "I have made you whole, Kildai Khan," he said. "You suffered a very powerful magical attack. Someone wanted you dead, young Khan. You will need some protections. I shall see to it."
"I told you I never fell!" exclaimed Kildai. "I was pushed off by a big hand."
The shaman nodded. "A hand from the north, young Khan."
He raised an eyebrow at Bortai. "It is acceptable to laugh at Kreediqui, my mouse. He does not mind. And he is very curious."
"I think," said Kildai, decisively, "That we need you to come back to the great camp of the clan, Shaman. I ask this the Khan of my people."
The old Shaman gave her brother a wintery smile. "And how do you feel about marriage, young Khan?"
Kildai's forehead wrinkled. "I think I would like to avoid it for a while. I have people trying to arrange one for me already." He looked warily at the shaman, expecting the next arrangement.
The old man gave a little snort of laughter. "That was what I fell out with your father and his brother about, finally. Arranging marriages. It might be useful for the clans, but it's not always good for the people. I get to see the results. Besides the children, I saw the sickness caused by the conflicts of souls. Some souls do not bind well together, and a marriage must be a melding of souls if it is to be a healthy place to raise young warriors."
Kildai frowned. "That makes sense."
"That was what your mother thought. Your father thought it caused problems if women chose their own bridegrooms," said the shaman, gathering his possessions. Some were prosaic like little bottles and a tools. Others were decidedly odd. Stones. Some wing pinions. Small bones. A tooth.
"Oh," Bortai could see that her little brother was out of his depth here. So was she, a little. "But there is always the challenge for the bridegroom. Princess Khutulun did that. It must always be acceptable. And father always let me choose…" She'd turned down a number of suitors. And fought with seven. She had of course beaten all of them.
"The rules for his own daughter were different. It is often like that." His tone said Kaltegg did not approve.
"That is true, I suppose," admitted Bortai.
Kaltegg smiled. "There is a spiritual selectivity to these things. Just as there is in the creation of a Shaman. You can train and try… but the tengrie choose who they will work with. It is not arranged. Not at the final point."
Mercedes Lackey Eric Flint Dave Freer
Much Fall Of Blood