Two Rivers (21 page)

“Will we?” Her lips were still trembling, but at the sound of
her name, the insane spark disappeared, bringing back the girl he hugged and
promised to fight for earlier by the fence.

“Yes, we will.” Now it felt only natural to draw her closer,
feeling her warmth, and the pulses of her young body. “We’ll insist, and we
will not give up until they do. Like I promised.”

He could feel her pressing against him, as though trying to
hide inside his arms, making it difficult to keep his balance. His eyes caught
her gaze, and what it held made his heart stop.

Knees suddenly weak, he sought her lips, and this time she
didn’t move away but pressed closer, her kisses as sweet as last night, but
more ardent, more demanding, setting his body on fire, making his limbs tremble
and out of control. He just
had
to feel her and not the soft leather of
her dress, with all the beads and the fringes getting in his way.

“I don’t think we should…” he mumbled when they slipped down,
onto the welcoming softness of the grass, but she pressed her lips against his,
wriggling to make herself comfortable.

“We made the promise,” she whispered, and her eyes beamed at
him, glowing happily. “And we will seal it in the only way that will make it
real.”

His breath caught, he stared at her for a heartbeat, taking in
the beauty of her features, now ethereal, shining with an impossible light.
Having difficulty forming words, he just stared, marveling at this gift that the
Great Spirits had given him, the wonderful, thrilling, breathtaking gift worthy
only of warriors and heroes.

“You will never regret this, never,” he muttered, before giving
way to the wonderful wave of warmth, of happiness, of the delightful pleasure with
no misgivings, no fear, no pain, and no longing for home.

The time seemed to stop as they turned into one, one with the
sky and the trees and the rustling wind, one with all the good
uki
who
had surely inhabited this wonderful clearing, and most importantly – one with
each other, their entwined bodies committed, belonging to one another forever.

***

The growling of the thunder grew in frequency, drawing closer,
bringing along the scent of the nearing rain. He felt her stirring, raising on
her elbow, his shoulder still numb from the weight of her head where it had
lain earlier, leaving its print.

“It’s Heno. He is giving us his blessing,” she whispered,
beaming at him, her hair falling over her shoulders, hiding the roundness of
her breasts.

“Yes,” he said dreamily, still floating, not wishing to come
back to the real world. “He is not angry with us. He understands.”

“Oh, yes, he does. Before he was allowed to marry his Rainbow
Goddess he had to overcome many difficulties. So he always helps lovers in trouble.”

“Did he?” He pulled her closet, enjoying the sight of her but
wishing to feel her back inside his arms.

“Oh, yes. Don’t you know this story?”

He shook his head, shutting his eyes in order to feel her
better.

“What is your real name?” she whispered.

He didn’t hesitate. “Tekeni.”

“Tekeni,” she purred, rolling the word around her tongue.
“Tekeni.” The touch of her fingers sent shivers down his spine as she slipped
them along his chest, avoiding the crusted cuts, lingering around them. “The
annoying old bear was very thorough. Promise not to challenge any more monsters
from such close proximity.”

“I promise,” he said, laughing. “But I told you before. It was
not of my choosing.”

“I don’t know. First, you bragged that it was all of your
choosing, because it was too easy to kill the beast, so you wanted to challenge
it properly. Then you said you were scared.” She beamed at him, the tip of her
tongue slipping out, sliding between her lips, teasing. “I don’t know what to
believe, so I choose to think that my man has no fear.” Her eyes flickered.
“And not much good sense, either.”

He could not help but to double with laughter. “It was not like
that at all. I have fear and I have sense. And I have the prettiest girl, too.”
He raised his head in his turn, eyeing her thoroughly, making her blush. “I
don’t know about the Rainbow Goddess, but my woman is as beautiful as the Sky
Woman herself. And as courageous.”

Her smile shone at him, wonderful in its open delight. “Do you
think so?”

“Oh, yes, she is! Her eyes are shining like stars, and her body
is beautiful and strong, fitting the brave woman who created our world and all
that it has, even the Great Spirits. If this girl I love would have to create
another world, she would do it easily, I know that.”

“But she won’t have to, will she?” She almost purred, her
delight at his words too open to conceal. “You will not grow jealous as her
divine husband did, throwing her through the hole in the sky and onto our
earth?”

“No, of course not. He was stupid to do that. I’m sure he is
regretting his deed until this very day, angry and alone in his Sky World.”

“Yes, he must be feeling this way.” She stretched and half
closed her eyes. “You will not treat me badly. You will always trust me, won’t
you?”

“Yes, always.”

The fresh gust of wind brought the first drops, and they looked
up, but the sky was still clear if now grayish in coloring, with the sun
diminishing, hurrying toward its resting place.

“We better make ourselves presentable.” She sat up and looked
at him, eyes glittering. “You look as though your bear just came back, and this
time to chase you all over the place, rolling down the hills.”

He regarded her with a glance, unable to suppress his laughter.
“I can imagine that while looking at you. So very proper and prim, an impeccable
member of the Beaver Clan, with all those leaves in her hair and the earth
smeared all over her body.”

“Oh, so that was the end of the pretty talk? Stars for eyes and
all the beautiful colors, eh?” She narrowed her eyes and looked even funnier in
her half amused indignation. “Maybe I should use some of my divine powers
against you.”

Chuckling, he tied his loincloth in place, slipping his girdle
on, making sure the sheath with his knife was again within easy reach, as
always, just in case.

She was smoothing her hair, trying to braid the wandering
tendrils. Picking up her trampled dress, she shook it to clean it of leaves and
small insects, who seemed to be happy to find a home in its folds.

“It hurts?” he asked guiltily, seeing her face twisting when
she got to her feet, remembering nothing but the divine pleasure. He should
have been thinking about her too, should he not?

“No, not really.” She smiled demurely, eyes gleaming with smug
female superiority. “But they say the first time is never the best for the
girl. I’m yet to enjoy our lovemaking better.”

“Yes, I heard that, too.” He frowned. “I’m sorry about that. I
didn’t notice…” For the life of him, he could not take his gaze away, although
he now really wanted to. “I’m sorry.”

But she came closer, her smile wonderful, brushing his guilt
away. “Of course not. You had done it just the way I wanted to. I loved the way
you loved me. It was inspiring.” Tilting her head, she regarded him with a
measuring gaze. “I shall make a beautiful quill ornament for your moccasins,
that inspired I feel. And, although I may have some difficulty working the
fields tomorrow, I know our Green Corn Ceremony will be better, thanks to the
inspiration you gave me.”

He grinned in spite of himself. “I will give you more
inspiration every time you will need one.” Sobering, he pressed her closer when
she tried to break free. “So what was your plan? What do we do with the Mothers
of your Clan?”

“We just won’t hide our feelings,” she said, sobering in her
turn. “We will go on with our lives, loving each other and not hiding it, until
they give up. They can’t go on refusing us for summers on end. Some time their
resistance will crumble.” Her smile turned smug, pleased with herself. “Until then,
you will prove yourself more and more, and will be accepted and loved, and I
will gain more influence in our clan because I won’t be such a young girl
anymore. You see? It’ll work.”

“It’ll take summers to happen,” he stated, his mood
deteriorating, reminded of his troubles back at the town, mounting with every
passing day.

“Maybe a few summers, maybe less.” Smiling into his darkening
face, she kissed him lightly, suggestively. “And in the meanwhile, we will love
each other in the woods, every time one of us will need an inspiration. How
about that?”

“It can work, yes.”

He bent to pick up her prettily embroidered girdle, wishing to
conceal his expression. Summers upon summers? It didn’t seem like a very
alluring prospect. In fact, the prospect of going back to the town now was not
truly beckoning. Maybe he would better bring her back and then go to talk to
Two Rivers as he promised. The sun must have already been nearing the trees on
the other side of the lake, but if they hurried he may not be too late. The
strange man would surely linger, remaining on his favorite spot for some time,
for the entire night most likely.

Her gasp jerked him back from his reverie, making him
straighten up so abruptly his head reeled. He didn’t waste his time glancing at
her. Instead, his eyes darted toward the place where his instincts told him
there was a foreign presence, taking in the silhouettes, counting them before
his mind could absorb this information, his senses screaming danger.

The men came closer, sure of themselves but wary, watching them
like hunters watching their prey. Stomach filling with ice, he recognized
Yeentso’s tall, arrogant bearing before being able to see the man’s face.
Others, two more of them, were coming from among the trees, in a perfect
arrangement of hunters closing on a trapped deer.

“Well, well,” said Yeentso, slowing his pace, as though wishing
to see them better, to take the whole picture in. “If I hadn’t seen it with my
own eyes!”

He laughed, and the other men joined them, three more voices
and not two. There was another man coming from behind, realized Tekeni, his
hand straying toward the sheath of his knife.

“It’s not going to help you, wild boy. You realize that, don’t
you?” The tall man laughed again. “Better drop it now. Drop it!” The laughter
died away, replaced by the curt order. “Yeandawa there behind you has an arrow
pointed at you, so if you don’t throw away that pitiful knife of yours in two
more heartbeats, it’s going to flutter in you. Or better yet, in the pretty
back of your girl.”

He could hear Seketa swallowing a gasp, but what made him
release his grip and let the knife slip was the look in his rival’s eyes. The
man meant what he said.

“Good. So now we have the wild boy disarmed and as harmless as
a newborn spawn of a forest rat.” Yeentso didn’t move, savoring the moment.
“Then let us hear what do you think is going to happen now, pretty boy? Eh? Let
us hear what you think.”

He tried to make his mind work, his body frozen, turned into
stone, the tickling in his palms and feet the only sensation making it alive.
He was going to die, of that he had no doubt. And it wouldn’t be an easy death,
either. Would he manage to die in dignity, like a captured warrior, or would he
scream and cry and beg for the final blow, shaming himself before these people?
And before her, too.

The thought of her made his heart leap in fright, bringing him
back to his senses. He needed to make her go away, somehow. These men would
harm her too, especially the dirty Yeentso who now took his eyes off him and
was staring at her with an unpleasantly strange, playful grin on his lips.

“So, as the boy seemed to lose his ability to speak, maybe you,
pretty Seketa, will tell us what was happening here in the woods just now? Such
a prim, upright girl of the Beaver Clan, have you been teaching the filthy
foreigner good manners?”

The other men laughed again, but it was a forced laughter. He
could feel that most clearly. Glancing at the man nearest to him, he saw him
frowning, holding his bow, ill at ease.

“Come on, pretty girl, have you lost your tongue, too? You
always have something to say, don’t you? Running all over our longhouse,
righteous and irreproachable, the model of behavior, always knowing what should
be done and how. Unlike this friend of yours, that other girl, the one who is
not above sneaking away for an occasional kiss with boys, and even men. What is
her name?” He turned to his friends. “Have any of you enjoyed the kisses of
that other girl? I bet you did.”

One of the men chuckled. “Be sure of that. And she is good at
it, too.”

“And the other favors?” The smile of pure satisfaction was
stretching the man’s lips as he turned back at them. “Like the ones our Seketa
was bestowing on the filthy cub. Have any of you enjoyed that?” The silence
lasted for only a heartbeat as the question was clearly rhetorical. Why would
anyone admit that? They were all married men. “So, today we learned that the
appearances can misleading, and that our virtuous, impeccable Seketa was the
one doling out her favors with a true generosity.” Shaking his head in an
exaggerated manner, the man turned to his friends again. “Who would have
thought the haughty thing could turn out to be such a loose girl?”

With their tormenter’s attention temporarily away, he leaned
toward her, feeling her numb, frozen by his side.

“Run the moment we start fighting,” he breathed, trying to will
her back to life with the sheer power of his words. “Run like you have never
run in your life.”

She seemed to awaken all at once. “No!”

The short word echoed between the trees, startling them all. He
wanted to scream with frustration.

“No?” Yeentso’s attention was back on them. “Oh, so the
honorable member of my wife’s clan had found her tongue, and she is pleading
that she has not been lying around with men, although caught all disheveled and
hardly dressed, with none other than the filthy foreigner, spreading her legs—”