Chapter 17

“Dark Horse, we are working as hard as we can to prepare for the wedding,” Red Sun said a week later. “Why are you in such a rush?”

“I am just ready to begin our married life. It is so strange to be living apart from her when we are already married. I understand why we must have the second wedding, and I am looking forward to the celebration, but...,” Dark Horse said.

Red Sun studied her son. She hadn’t seen him this anxious since his father had passed, but this was different. Instead of grieving, he was impatient and irritable.

She chuckled. “Are you developing feelings for Sky Dancer?”

Dark Horse put his chin in his hands and propped his elbows on his knees, much the way he had when he was a boy. “I do not know. I think I am, but do you not think it is soon for that? We hated each other two weeks ago. How can I be falling in love with her already?”

This was something he felt completely comfortable talking with his mother about. He’d always valued her insights and she was experienced in this area. He knew that his parents had had a loving relationship and he wanted the same kind of marriage.

“I want you to ask yourself something and think about it carefully. Forget for now that she is Kiowa. Do you like her for the woman she is inside? Do not let her tribal affiliation influence your answer,” Red Sun said. “That will be your first clue as to your true feelings. I knew the moment I saw your father that I wanted to marry him. He was all I could think about, and I let him know right away because I was afraid that another maiden would choose him.”

Dark Horse grinned. “What did you do?”

Red Sun smiled at the memory. “Well, I was quite bold. I found excuses to be in his presence and looked at him often and perhaps longer than I should have. He understood my interest in him, and I was glad that it was mutual.”

“How did he let you know?” Dark Horse listened eagerly because he hadn’t heard this story before.

Red Sun let out a girlish laugh that made Dark Horse laugh with her.

“One night when I was on my way back from fetching water, he pulled me off the path and stole more than one kiss. Then he gave me his favorite necklace and I gave him the bracelet I was wearing,” she said. “And a few nights later we eloped.”

Dark Horse stared at her, speechless for a few moments as he absorbed that information. “You eloped? You never told me that. Father never mentioned it, either.”

She grinned. “It never came up before. We had the official feast later on, of course. Our parents were not pleased at first, but there was nothing they could do about it.” Her expression sobered. “But you cannot do that. Your status does not allow for that.”

Dark Horse frowned but nodded. “I know.”

Red Sun turned away, pretending to look in one of her baskets for something so he didn’t see her smile over his glum expression.

The next instant, someone burst through into the tipi. Dark Horse leaped to his feet and pulled his knife, ready to defend his mother from an enemy. When he saw that it was his little brother, Spider, he relaxed, but his temper burned white-hot.

“What is the matter with you! You are lucky that I did not attack you!” he reprimanded the youth, who stood laughing at them.

Red Sun also scolded him. “I am getting older! Are you trying to make my heart stop or make my hair turn white?”

The fear in her eyes and the way she held her hand to her chest made Spider turn contrite.

“I am sorry,” he said. “I was just playing a joke.”

Dark Horse sat back down. “Do not do that again.”

Spider just smiled and jumped over to his mother. He grabbed her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Like Dark Horse, he was close to her, but he had a more exuberant personality than his brother.

She brushed him away but laughed. “Behave yourself and sit down so I can feed you.”

Spider immediately complied. “I am starving after eating the food we cooked out on the trail. We survived, but it was not very tasty.”

Like most mothers, Red Sun enjoyed feeding her children, and it made her feel good that they liked her food so much. “I can imagine.”

Spider looked at Dark Horse. “I understand that you got married while I was away.”

Dark Horse sighed at his brother’s disappointed expression and told the story one more time.

“I am glad that you will have a proper wedding so I can be here,” Spider said when he’d finished. “I also heard that she is quite beautiful.”

Dark Horse grinned. “Yes. You will see when you meet her. In fact, she should be coming along any time. She was helping Laughing Eyes with a few things before she came here. I will go see what is keeping her.”

Spider nodded absently as Red Sun handed him a plate of leftover roasted venison and some fry bread. He dug into the food like a ravenous wolf. Dark Horse chuckled and grinned at Red Sun as he left their tipi.

“She is in the women’s lodge,” Laughing Eyes told Dark Horse quietly.

Dark Horse’s mood turned dark. “Oh. Thank you. Have a good evening.”

He quickly left his cousin’s tipi. Propriety demanded that he not say anything further about it being Sky Dancer’s moon time. It was a sacred time and not to be mentioned by men. His disappointment was twofold. They hadn’t been able to have any private time for several nights, but he’d irrationally been hoping that his seed might’ve taken hold.

He chided himself about how stupid it was of him to have wished for something like that so soon. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized how badly he wanted to have children with Sky Dancer. That brought him up short and he stopped walking.

His mother’s question came back to him. Was he in love with Sky Dancer? Had he come to feel such a strong emotion for her or was he confusing intense lovemaking with love? He walked to the edge of the camp and sat in the dark just beyond the reach of any firelight to think.

As he had so many times, he wished his father was still alive so that he could talk to him about the situation. He lay back and looked up at the stars. A smile graced his lips as he wondered if Cricket was doing the same thing and whether the boy would be up late again. He laughed quietly as he remembered Cricket’s reaction when Soaring Falcon had chosen him to marry Hummingbird.

It had been extremely amusing to see the tables turned on the Kiowas. But based on the way Cricket and Hummingbird had flirted, it seemed as though it would work out between the youngsters.

Turning his mind back to Sky Dancer, he put the physical part of their relationship and her tribal affiliation to the side and thought about her qualities. Yes, she was stubborn, opinionated, and willful, but she was also kind, intelligent, fun, and brave. And gorgeous and erotic and exciting...

With a disgusted sound, he sat up again, knowing he was going to drive himself crazy with those thoughts. The problem was that he’d never yearned for a woman the way he did Sky Dancer. Even when sated, he wanted her again. His desire for her was intertwined with his appreciation for all of her fine qualities and he couldn’t imagine his life without her now.

Joy sent him surging to his feet. He loved his woman, but he couldn’t tell her because she was in the women’s lodge and who knew how long she’d be in there? Each woman’s moon cycle was different. He thought about his mother saying that they might be ready to hold the wedding in a week and he hoped Sky Dancer would be out of the women’s lodge by then.

However, he decided that he wanted her to be his wife the next time they made love. It was going to be incredibly hard staying away from her, but he could do it. He hoped. Needing a distraction, he went to find Rushing Bull or one of his other friends and strike up a game of some sort.

Being in the women’s lodge was both fun and stressful. Unlike when she’d been at home, she didn’t know any of the women. Unbeknownst to the men, being in the women’s lodge was usually fun and relaxing. There were no families to take care of and they didn’t have to cook since women in the tribe brought them their meals.