Page 33 of The Last Warrior

However, perhaps she worried needlessly. Indeed, Black Lion had his life to lead, she had hers. There really should be no trouble at keeping the man at a distance.

She sighed.

As Black Lion rubbed down his pony, he wondered again how he should proceed. His luck, it would appear, had changed, for at last he had found the owner of the voice from his dreams. Of course he couldn’t be certain, but he believed she could be the one who owned the sacred song.

Why had he not recognized before now that her voice was the one from his dreams? Surely he had heard her sing on the first day he had found her in Irena’s tent. Perhaps he had been too bewildered by her requests at the time. Or mayhap he had found her beauty too distracting.

But, regardless of the reason, he pondered what he should do now. How should he approach her? Undoubtedly, she was his wife, and, although a man might solicit his wife’s help with ease, this was not the situation between the two of them.

Could he sing the song to his wife? Perhaps. But if she were not the one, and he did sing it, would he lose forever his only chance to help his people?

It was a good question, an important question, and one he could not answer.

It was hard to know what to do, and he wished fervently for guidance. If only someone else were here to help him, or better yet, if only White Claw, the wise man from the Lost Clan, were here. White Claw would know what to do.

Black Lion instinctively wanted to seek out his wife, to sing to her and to free his people. How happy he and the Clan would be. Yet, he must control himself, for if he acted in a way he should not, all could be lost.

He frowned.

He could seek out a medicine man here amongst the Lakota with the show. But, though he had grown to manhood amongst the Lakota, they were not truly his people. And except for Two Bears, Black Lion had never confided to anyone the truth of who he was. Fear of the consequences of doing so had made him hesitate. Instead, he had sought out advice from the Great Spirit, He who spoke to him through his spirit protector.

Black Lion paused in his train of thought. Why had he not thought of this before now? His spirit protector would know what to do, for the mountain lioness spoke words which came directly from the Creator.

Yes. He would go into the mountains.

Speaking gently to his pony and leading her back to her stall, Black Lion closed the door on the animal, petted her down and left the stables to seek out the wisdom from his spirit protector.

Chapter

Ten

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

The rehearsal for the show had ended hours ago. At present, Suzette and Irena were at their leisure, seated within what amounted to Irena’s best attempt at a parlor. The murky white tent’s flaps were closed, and the music box sounded in the background, giving the two women a feeling of privacy. Indeed, it was as perfect an atmosphere as any, were a person of the mind to admit the secrets of her heart. However, Suzette was not so inclined.

She said, “Tell you about what?”

“Come now, Suzie. This is me you are talking to.”

Suzette scowled at her grandmother. “I have no idea what it is you are asking of me.”

“Today. You. Black Lion. You threw your hat to him.”

“Only because he greeted me.”

“Yes, but why did he greet you?”

Suzette paused.

“Yes?” Irena encouraged.

“Well, we do know each other. We met in England, actually.”

“In England?”

“Yes, he ran over me. He hadn’t meant to, of course, but…”

“He did what?”