"Well, I have this to say: I think you are in need of a good lesson." Again, she spoke these last two words in English.
"What is the 'good lesson' you speak of?"
"It is this. You are arrogant and conceited about this, and I would like the chance to put you in your place."
"Put me in my place? I do not understand."
"It means that I wish to show you the error in your thinking. Just because you are a man does not mean you can easily best me, a woman." She nodded. "While I welcome speaking with you of our deep-seated beliefs as long as you desire, I will agree to this only after we play the game ofCos-soó. And, it is to be played without cheating." Then she said in English, "You need, Mr. Eagle Heart, to learn a little humility, and I intend to be your teacher."
"What did you say?"
"I said," she signed, "I think you are greatly conceited and arrogant about this, and since I believe you shouldn't be this way, I intend to bring you to realize you have been too proud. So, I will take your challenge to use this game to free me from you. But, this will be a fair game, and I will insist you promise me you will play with all your cunning and strength of reasoning. And, after I win—which I hope I will—I will give your 'life' back to you by returning all of my winnings to you. Then, I will be free of my obligation to you, and we shall see if we still like each other at the end of the game. Only then will I agree to speak to you of our 'deeply held beliefs.'"
"And, what if you lose?" he asked in sign. "Do not think you will win if I play fairly and without the rules I have spoken of. I am good at this game and have never lost it...not once."
"Never? You have played this before and have utterly ruined another? You, a medicine man—a healer—have done this?"
"Several men have I played," he admitted. "I remind you, this is a man's game, and I am a warrior, too. This is a good way to best an enemy without killing him. And, these are the rules ofCos-soó."
"You have never lost? You have won even a man's wife?"
"I have." He raised his chin. "I have always given her back, however, for I do not wish to hear a woman cry."
Cry at the thought of marrying this man? It didn't seem possible.
"Huh! I think you are overly confident, Mr. Eagle Heart," she said aloud, then continued in sign, "If you win, you get it all...even me. Now, shall we play? After all, what have you to lose but everything you own? And, look at what you might gain by your cunning...everything I have and a wife you claim you want, but who will be a burden to you."
He frowned at her, then shook his head as he looked her straight in the eye as though she were an adversary. And, after a short pause, he declared in sign, "Are you seeking to tell me that I would be more of a woman than a man if you should win against me?"
"Never," she signed. "Simply being male, however, does not make you smarter than I am." Her smile at him was deliberately sassy.
He frowned, looked hard at her and signed, "We play."
CHAPTER SEVEN
––––––––
"MR. EAGLE HEART," LAYLAHsaid, putting her words into sign at the same time. "You have not taken the points for the two claws that are red side up. They count five each, yet you have not counted them by giving me ten sticks. Are you cheating so as to influence the game to favor me?"
He grinned at her. "I do not cheat. There were only two red claws turned up against three black claws on the throw. There are more black claws turned up than red, therefore it counts as nothing."
"Oh? You have to throw a majority of the red turned up in order for it to count?"
"It is so."
"Is it counted this way for the plum stones, the china, the buttons and even the brass tacks?"
"Áa."
"Well, this makes the game interesting, doesn't it?"
His answer was merely a smile. He signed, "Do you not wish to playCos-soówith me, then? Do you desire to talk instead? Perhaps you might tell me why your people insist on owning other people."
She frowned at him. "Behave yourself," she said and signed the meaning of her words. "I have already told you that, if you still wish it, we will talk when we finish the game. Not until then. I am intending to play this game with you, whether you like it or not."
He laughed, causing Laylah to look long at him. He was so very handsome, yet seemed unaware of his masculine beauty. Though they were both clothed for warmth in deerskin robes, his obvious physical strength was in evidence in his wide shoulders tapering to a small waist, thoroughly outlined by the robe. His face shape was more round than oval, his eyes black as night and his cheekbones were high. Full lips and a nose shape that was only slightly aquiline complemented his virile attraction.
His black hair, loose from its braids, fell down his back in waves put there only because his hair had been set in braids for so long. Silver earrings hung from his earlobes, yet no feathers adorned his hair, even though he had worn them in his hair at the fort. Probably their being alone in this tiny shelter accounted for his lack of hair ornamentation. A portion of his hair—similar to bangs—hung down over the center of his forehead, although he often used his fingers to press those bangs upward.
