“No, no, that’s okay, Emily,” I said, but she’d already zipped away.
Marcellious stood holding the two baskets, a sheepish look on his face.
“Emily told me she’s falling in love with you,” I said, giving him a stern look.
“It’s true. I can’t believe it. I never dreamed I’d find love again after Theodora’s death,” Marcellious said, sounding sincere.
“You’d better not break her heart. We’re family now, but I’ll still fight with you if you ever hurt her. She’s mysister,” I said.
“You have my word,” Marcellious said solemnly. “No harm shall ever come to her. I will always protect her.”
Our gazes locked. I believed he meant what he said.
Emily skipped back, holding a platter of food for me. “Here you go, Olivia.”
“Thank you. I don’t think I can eat that much,” I said, taking the food.
“Eat what you can. There’s plenty.” She gave Marcellious a warm smile, and he returned the smile.
Someone grabbed my arm. I handed the platter back to Emily, and the woman who seized me ushered me away for the next rounds of congratulations.
Finally, Leaping Deer and Red Bird approached me, bearing a blanket. They spread it at my feet, and Leaping Deer pointed at it, saying, “Sit.”
What now?I grumbled inside.When can I be with Roman?
I politely sat in the center of the finely-woven blanket.
Leaping Deer, Red Bird, and four other women grabbed a part of the blanket and lifted me in the air. They talked excitedly and marched me toward the teepee that Roman and I had sat in earlier.
Excitement bloomed in my chest. Would this be when we got to be together, alone at last?
The door flap had been tied open, and a warm fire burned inside.
The women all squeezed through the opening.
Roman sat before the fire, gazing at me with as much longing as I had for him.
The women maneuvered me around the fire and deposited me unceremoniously at Roman’s feet.
“Say it,” Leaping Deer told him, smiling broadly. “Say the words.”
Roman glanced up at her and back at me.
“Forgive me, Olivia, but this is part of the ritual,” he whispered in English.
I blinked at him. “What are you talking about?”
He grabbed a handful of my hair, picked up a stick next to him, and gently whacked the side of my head.
“And now you are mine,” he said in Sioux. In English, he said, “That’s an act of counting coup and claiming you.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
The tribeswomen shrieked and laughed as they exited the teepee, closing the hides behind them.
I glanced toward the door. “Is that it? Will we be left alone for a while?”
“That’s it,” Roman said. “What a ritual!”
