Page 97 of The Last Warrior

Two Bears did as asked, and, heading through the entrance, he delivered her into the arena. As he helped her down from the horse, he said, “You should know that Rabbit Leggings is my wife. She is not married to your husband.”

Suzette smiled at the man. “I know.”

And that’s when she saw him. Her stomach turned and twisted, and she grabbed hold of her belly as though in protection. Could this be true? Were her eyes really seeing her husband engaged in a struggle with a man who appeared to be a god? She pinched herself.

Indeed, she was awake.

Had her husband lost his mind?

She had to do something, but what? The men slashed out at each other, both waving knives. If she did nothing, she would lose Black Lion.

“No!” she cried out. Unfortunately, it was the exact wrong thing to do.

Black Lion hesitated. It gave the Thunderer the chance he had been waiting for. As though looking at a play in slow motion, Suzette watched in horror as the Thunderer plunged his knife deeply into Black Lion’s body.

“No!” she cried again. “No!”

But Black Lion wasn’t dead. He sat up, desperately motioning for her to run away, but the Thunderer knocked him down again and drew back his arm, lifting his knife high into the air. He was ready to strike.

She had to do something to help, but what?

That’s when she knew what she was perhaps destined to do.

Without thinking further, she began to sing, shyly, tentatively at first, treading ever so slowly forward toward the two enemies.

“O mio babbino caro,

mi piace è bello, bello;

vo’andare in Porta Rossa

a comperar l’anello!

Sì, sì, ci voglio andare!

e se l’amassi indarno,

andrei sul Ponte Vecchio,

ma per buttarmi in Arno!

Mi struggo e mi tormento!

O Dio, vorrei, morir!”

It was a well-known aria, written by the composer Puccini. In the opera, a rich man’s daughter pleads with her father to allow her to marry the man of her choice. Though Suzette doubted this was the song her husband sought, what difference did it make? At least her actions were having an effect, for the Thunderer had stopped and was listening to her, though he still held the knife high in the air.

So she continued to sing in the six-eight time of the aria:

“O mio babbino caro,

mi piace è bello, bello;

vo’andare in Porta Rossa

a comperar l’anello!

Sì, sì, ci voglio andare!