When he had finished he was about to sit down again, only to check as a voice rose up from among the cats in the clearing. “Blackstar, may I speak?”
Lionblaze glanced across to where the ShadowClan cats were sitting, and saw that Dawnpelt had risen to her paws, her cream-colored fur luminous in the moonlight. Blackstar blinked in surprise, then dipped his head. Instantly Dawnpelt leaped up onto a tree stump. Her neck fur was bristling and her tail fluffed up to twice its size.
“There is a murderer among us!” she yowled.
Silence crashed down on the clearing. Lionblaze tensed, and wrapped his tail more firmly around his sister’s shoulders. Oh, Great StarClan! How could she have found out about Hollyleaf?
But Dawnpelt raised a paw and pointed toward the pine tree where the medicine cats were sitting. “Jayfeather killed Flametail!”
The cats in the clearing exploded into yowls and screeches of horror. At first Lionblaze couldn’t make sense of what any of them were saying. Then Brambleclaw rose to his paws on the root of the Great Oak and made his voice heard above the clamor.
“We all know about Flametail’s death, and we grieve for him, too. But how was Jayfeather involved?”
“And why speak up now?” Graystripe added.
Dawnpelt turned her gaze onto the ThunderClan cats; her eyes were filled with hatred. “Jayfeather was there when Flametail drowned,” she hissed. “We all saw him struggling in the water beside him. Why do we believe his story that he was trying to save Flametail?”
“Why not believe him?” Brambleclaw challenged her.
“Since when has Jayfeather shown compassion for cats in other Clans?” Dawnpelt snarled. “I believe that he deliberately drowned Flametail in front of all of us!”
Firestar sprang to his paws, thrusting his way out of the leaves. “That’s ridiculous! It goes against the warrior code and the medicine cat code. Jayfeather would never murder Flametail!”
Lionblaze, too, had risen to his paws, his fur bristling. He wanted nothing more than to rake his claws across Dawnpelt’s accusing face. Feeling a nudge from Hollyleaf, he glanced down at her.
“Sit down,” she murmured. “Don’t give Dawnpelt the satisfaction of provoking a fight.”
Lionblaze flexed his claws, then realized the sense of what his littermate was saying, and forced himself to sit down. This is a Gathering, he reminded himself. ShadowClan would be delighted if ThunderClan broke the truce.
“I met Dawnpelt on border patrol,” Hollyleaf continued quietly. “She was doing her best to pick a fight then, too.”
“What’s her quarrel with ThunderClan?” Lionblaze asked, bewildered.
Hollyleaf gave him a long look. “Her brother drowned and Jayfeather was there,” she mewed. “That’s enough.”
The clearing had descended into turmoil again, with no cat able to make themselves heard. Lionblaze spotted Dovewing and Ivypool weaving their way among their Clanmates until they reached his side.
“I knew Dawnpelt was planning something,” Ivypool whispered. “But I didn’t know this was it.”
Lionblaze wondered if Ivypool had heard something in the Dark Forest, perhaps from Dawnpelt herself. But he didn’t want to ask where other cats might overhear.
“It’s ridiculous!” Dovewing exclaimed. “I… I heard Flame-tail drown. I know Jayfeather was trying to save him.”
But there’s no way we can tell that to Dawnpelt and get her to believe it, Lionblaze thought. Gazing across the clearing at the medicine cats, he saw that his brother had risen to his paws. He looked icy calm, though Lionblaze could guess at the emotions that must be surging through him. Jayfeather waited, not even trying to speak, until the noise in the clearing died down.
“Dawnpelt, I was there when your brother died,” he began. There was an edge to his voice, telling Lionblaze of his resentment that he had to defend himself in public over such an absurd accusation. “But I was trying to save him. That I failed is a tragedy for all of us.” His voice shook on the last few words and he paused until he could go on steadily. “I had no reason to want him dead. And the water would have killed him on its own; he didn’t need me as well.”
Muttering rose from the ShadowClan cats around Dawnpelt. “Are you sure you weren’t just helping the water kill him?” Ratscar called out.
“The medicine cats have been very separate recently,” Rowanclaw, the ShadowClan deputy, added more thoughtfully. “Is their code changing? Are they even still allied across Clan borders?” He stared straight at Jayfeather. “Perhaps Flametail knew too much about you?”
Lionblaze stiffened. Do any other cats know about the prophecy? I never thought of that!
“Enough!” Firestar ordered from his place in the Great Oak. “This accusation is groundless! Jayfeather could have drowned in that water just as easily as Flametail. He risked his own life by going to help him. Surely no cat takes this accusation seriously?” Firestar gazed around at Mistystar, Blackstar, and Onestar. All three Clan leaders were looking uncomfortable.
“I find it hard to believe that any cat would do something like this,” Mistystar mewed.
Onestar nodded. “I’m sure Jayfeather could have found an easier way to eliminate an enemy.”
Blackstar said nothing at all.
That’s hardly the best defense they could come up with! Lionblaze thought angrily. But when he looked back at Dawnpelt, he saw that she had begun to look small and uncomfortable, as if the force of her accusation was ebbing like floodwaters after the rain is over.
While Firestar still waited, as if he were hoping that Blackstar would speak, Tigerheart rose to his paws from the clearing below.
“I believe what my sister says,” he announced. “Jayfeather murdered our littermate, and he must be punished.”
Beside Lionblaze, Dovewing drew in her breath in a gasp of horror.
“I will punish no cat for a crime that cannot be proved,” Firestar answered coldly.
“It’s not a case of not being proved,” Dovewing hissed. “Jayfeather didn’t do it!”
“But it’s hard to ignore the accusation,” Onestar meowed in response to Firestar. To do the WindClan leader justice, Lionblaze thought, he sounded reluctant, as if his respect for Jayfeather as a medicine cat outweighed his hostility toward ThunderClan. “Firestar, perhaps you should suspend Jayfeather from medicine cat duties until he has proven his innocence.”
Mistystar dipped her head in agreement. “That would be sensible. With StarClan’s help, it might not take long.”
Lionblaze noticed that the other medicine cats had suddenly started to talk among themselves, their heads close together as quick meows passed from one to another. Then Littlecloud, the ShadowClan medicine cat, rose to his paws.
“We agree to this, too,” he announced, his voice regretful as he looked at Jayfeather. “Without determining the truth, this accusation could poison the Clans for seasons, like an infected wound.”
“Then how do you propose finding out what happened?” Brambleclaw challenged him. “It’s impossible, unless Flame-tail returns to tell us himself. Have any of you seen him in dreams?”
The medicine cats conferred together quickly, then Littlecloud shook his head.
“I’ve seen Flametail,” Ivypool confessed, leaning closer to Dovewing to murmur into her ear. Lionblaze could just pick up her quiet words. “But he’s in StarClan, not the Dark Forest.”
“Did you ask him if Jayfeather killed him?” Dovewing whispered back.
“No!” Ivypool’s eyes stretched wide in astonishment. “Why would I ask him a thing like that?”
All the other medicine cats turned toward Jayfeather; Lionblaze could see that his brother was trying not to flinch. Though Jayfeather couldn’t see them, he would be able to feel the force of their attention, all focused on him.